Chile's DS 44: IPER Hazard and Risk Matrix Guide

DS 44 is the regulation on preventive management of occupational risks that has been in force in Chile since February 1, 2025. It replaced DS 40 and DS 54 of 1969 and organized prevention around one central document: the hazard identification and risk assessment matrix, known as the IPER or MIPER matrix (matriz de identificación de peligros y evaluación de riesgos). From that matrix come the preventive work program, the information each worker receives before starting (the IRL), training and the risk map. This guide explains each piece with its article and provides an IPER matrix in Excel with the evaluation method of Chile's Public Health Institute already calculated. The rest of the records DS 44 requires are gathered in a separate guide.

The guide summarizes the decree; it does not replace its text or the advice of a prevention expert. Every article cited was checked against the official text published on Ley Chile.

What is DS 44 and when did it take effect? #

It is Supreme Decree 44 of Chile's Ministry of Labor and Social Security, which "approves a new regulation on preventive management of occupational risks for a safe and healthy work environment". It was enacted on August 3, 2023 and published in the Diario Oficial on July 27, 2024. Its first transitional article set its entry into force on the first day of the sixth month after publication: February 1, 2025.

The same decree repealed DS 40 of 1969, the former regulation on occupational risk prevention, and DS 54 of 1969, which governed joint committees. References that other regulations make to those decrees are understood as references to DS 44.

What changes in practice? #

Instrument	What DS 44 requires	Article
IPER matrix	Identify hazards and assess risks by process, task and job, with a gender perspective; review it at least once a year	7
Preventive work program	Built from the matrix within 30 calendar days, with measures, deadlines and owners, approved by the legal representative	8
Hierarchy of controls	Eliminate, control at the source, administrative measures and, last, PPE	9
Occupational risk information (IRL)	Before starting work and whenever processes, technologies or substances change	15
Training	A course of at least 8 hours, at the frequency set by the program and never more than two years apart	16
PPE training	At least one hour, reinforced every year and when joining or changing PPE	13
Risk map	Layout of the workplace with the main risks from the matrix, visible to everyone	62 and 63
Joint committee	Its formation and operation move to DS 44	23 to 49
Records	All preventive management backed by reliable documentation, preferably electronic	72

What used to be called the ODI, the duty to inform under DS 40, is now the occupational risk information of article 15. The substantive change is that this information is no longer a generic list: it is determined by the matrix and the program.

What must the DS 44 IPER matrix contain? #

Article 7 requires the employer to prepare a hazard identification and risk assessment matrix covering processes, tasks and jobs. It must be available at the workplaces and communicated to workers, to the joint committee or the health and safety delegate, and to union leaders.

At a minimum it contains:

1. The identification of the hazards of each job: any source, situation or condition that could cause injury or affect health, taking into account the people exposed.
2. The assessment of the risks: the magnitude or level of each risk, considering at a minimum the probability of harm, using a validated methodology.

It must consider ergonomic and psychosocial risks, violence and harassment, accidents and occupational diseases that have already occurred and occupational surveillance programs, with a gender perspective. The entire chain of command must know it, and it is reviewed at least once a year or when working conditions change, an accident occurs, an occupational disease is diagnosed or a serious and imminent risk arises.

The assessment procedure is governed by the technical guide of the Public Health Institute (ISP). For companies with up to 25 workers, article 64 allows using the matrix format provided by the administering body under Law 16.744, Chile's workplace accident insurance law (the mutual insurer or the ISL), based on a self-assessment instrument.

How is risk assessed with the ISP guide? #

The ISP guide for identifying and assessing risks in workplaces, version 3, approved by Exempt Resolution 668 of 2025, assesses safety, disaster and emergency risks with the Expected Loss Value (VEP, Valor Esperado de la Pérdida) method: probability times consequence.

• Probability: low = 1 (the harm will rarely occur), medium = 2 (it will occur on several occasions), high = 4 (it will always or almost always occur).
• Consequence: slightly harmful = 1 (superficial injuries), harmful = 2 (lacerations, burns, minor fractures, temporary disability), extremely harmful = 4 (amputations, major fractures, permanent disability or death).

VEP	Level	What to do
2 or less	Tolerable	No need to improve preventive action; check that controls are still working
4	Moderate	Reduce the risk within a set period
8	Significant	Do not start the work until the risk is reduced; if it is already under way, remedy it before the moderate ones
16	Intolerable	Do not start or continue until it is reduced; if that is not possible, prohibit the work

Hygiene risks (noise, silica, chemicals), ergonomic and psychosocial risks are not handled with the VEP: the guide refers to the Ministry of Health's surveillance protocols and to specific assessments. They are still recorded in the matrix, but with the appropriate method.

What is the hierarchy of controls in article 9? #

It is the mandatory order in which measures are chosen:

1. avoid or eliminate the risk;
2. control it at the source with engineering or technical measures;
3. reduce it with organizational or administrative measures, including safe work methods;
4. provide personal protective equipment while a residual risk remains.

Article 12 adds that collective protection is preferred over personal protection, and article 13 that PPE is used only when the risk could not be avoided or sufficiently controlled. In a real matrix, the most common mistake is a significant risk with a single measure: "use of PPE". The spreadsheet in this guide flags it.

For machines with entrapment, cutting or amputation hazards, article 10 also requires a safe work procedure that includes a preventive operation and maintenance program, control of the machine's operation and the presence of guards. If that maintenance program does not exist, the preventive maintenance plan template is a starting point.

What is the preventive work program? #

It is the plan that turns the matrix into actions. Article 8 requires it to be drawn up or modified within 30 calendar days of the matrix being prepared or updated, with at least the preventive and corrective measures, the deadlines and the owners. It must be in writing, approved by the legal representative with the date of approval, circulated at the workplaces or by email, and a copy sent to the joint committee. It also includes promotion activities to prevent alcohol and drug use and to encourage healthy living.

At least once a year, the company evaluates how far the program was carried out and how effective the actions were, and decides on improvements (art. 14). In practice, if the matrix has owner, deadline and status columns, the program comes out of filtering it.

What is the DS 44 IRL? #

The occupational risk information of article 15. Every person must receive it before starting work, and again when joining a new process or when technologies, materials or substances change. It includes at a minimum:

• the characteristics of the workplace: space, environmental conditions, order and cleanliness, machines and tools;
• the risks the person may be exposed to and the preventive measures, including those for emergencies and disasters;
• safe work procedures;
• the characteristics of the products and substances the person will handle, according to their safety data sheet.

Until the matrix and program are ready, the risks inherent to the activity are communicated. The IRL does not replace the training of at least 8 hours in article 16, which is repeated at the frequency set by the program and never more than two years apart. 5-minute safety talks reinforce both, but replace neither.

What is the DS 44 risk map? #

Article 62 requires risk maps to be kept on the premises so the main risks can be located and seen. At a minimum they include a drawing or layout of the workplace and symbols for the main risks according to the matrix. They are updated whenever the matrix changes and must be in visible places.

They can be prepared with the Risk Prevention Department or another specialized entity, with the participation of the joint committee or, if there is no committee, the health and safety delegate (art. 63). The methodology is set by the Ministry of Labor's "Guide for preparing occupational risk maps", approved by Exempt Resolution 129 of 2025 and published in the Diario Oficial on February 18, 2025. Maps previously made with a company's own methodology must be adjusted to that guide.

What is the DS 44 FUF? #

It is the single inspection form (formulario único de fiscalización) for DS 44 published by the Undersecretariat of Social Security. It goes through the decree's requirements as questions (does it have a matrix covering all processes, tasks and jobs? is the matrix reviewed at least annually?) and cites the article for each one, to be answered yes, no or not applicable. It works as a self-assessment checklist before an inspection.

DS 44 is enforced by the SEREMI de Salud (regional health authorities) and the Dirección del Trabajo (Labor Directorate) according to their respective powers; matters concerning the formation and operation of joint committees are overseen exclusively by the Labor Directorate (art. 77).

What changes depending on company size? #

Number of workers	What DS 44 adds	Article
Up to 25	Simplified management system: policy, self-assessment with the administering body's instrument, matrix and preventive program	64
Between 10 and 25, without a joint committee	Elect an occupational health and safety delegate	66
More than 25 per company, site, branch or agency	Joint health and safety committee	23
Up to 100	The legal representative requests risk management training from the administering body	65
More than 100	Risk Prevention Department led by an expert	50

How the joint committee works, its meetings, agreements and inspections are covered in the guide to the joint health and safety committee.

What records does DS 44 require? #

Article 72 requires all preventive management information to be recorded and backed by reliable documentation, preferably in electronic format, available to the inspector and the administering body. Prevention departments also keep records of incidents, accidents and people under health surveillance, and the accident, frequency and severity rates (art. 73), with data broken down by sex (art. 74). Companies without a department record at least the annual accident rate and all accidents and occupational diseases (art. 75).

Those records contain people's health data, which is sensitive data. Where they are stored and who sees them also matters; we cover it in industrial data protection.

A good starting point for the matrix is the findings of a workplace review: the DS 594 checklist goes through the basic sanitary and environmental conditions section by section.

What does the IPER matrix spreadsheet include? #

• One row per hazard with process, task, job, whether the task is routine, hazard, risk, risk type and people exposed by sex.
• Probability and consequence rated 1, 2 or 4, with the VEP and level calculated and color-coded according to the ISP guide.
• Four measure columns in the order of article 9, and the highest measure used calculated automatically.
• Owner, deadline, status and next annual review, which serve as the preventive work program.
• Alerts: risks that go to a Ministry of Health (MINSAL) protocol, high risks controlled only with PPE, rows without a measure, overdue deadlines.
• An example with ten hazards from a food plant.

It can be downloaded for free on this page and in downloads. It organizes the matrix; it does not replace an expert's assessment or the Ministry of Health's protocols.

Frequently asked questions #

When did DS 44 take effect?

On February 1, 2025. It was published in the Diario Oficial on July 27, 2024, and its first transitional article set its entry into force on the first day of the sixth month after publication.

Does DS 44 replace DS 40?

Yes. DS 44 repealed DS 40 of 1969 on occupational risk prevention and DS 54 of 1969 on joint committees. References to those decrees in other regulations are understood as references to DS 44.

How often is the IPER matrix reviewed?

At least once a year, and also when working conditions change, an accident occurs, an occupational disease is diagnosed or a serious and imminent risk arises (art. 7).

What is the difference between the IRL and the ODI?

The ODI was the duty to inform under DS 40. The IRL is the occupational risk information in article 15 of DS 44: it is delivered before starting work and its content is determined by the risk matrix and the preventive work program.

Which companies must have a risk map?

Article 62 requires it of employers, regardless of size. It must have a layout of the workplace and the main risks from the matrix, be updated when the matrix changes and be on display.

Which risk assessment method does DS 44 require?

A validated methodology, with the procedure governed by the ISP technical guide. For safety and emergency risks, that guide uses the Expected Loss Value: probability times consequence, each rated 1, 2 or 4.

Do it in the app #

The spreadsheet organizes the matrix and the program. If you would rather have measures, inspections and IRL delivery recorded on the spot, with iGromi you can log them from your phone with photo, author and time, and follow each measure until it is closed. Request early access.