Chile's Joint Health and Safety Committee: A Guide

The joint health and safety committee (comité paritario de higiene y seguridad) is the body where the company and the workers, in equal numbers, review the plant's risks and agree on measures the company must adopt. It is mandatory in every company, site, branch or agency with more than 25 people, it meets once a month and its decisions are binding on the company. Since February 1, 2025 it has been governed by DS 44, which replaced the former DS 54. This guide explains how it is formed, how meetings and agreements work, what it does during an inspection, and provides a spreadsheet with minutes, an agreements log and an inspection checklist. How what DS 44 asks of the joint committee fits with the rest of the regulation's records is covered in a separate guide.

The articles cited are from Supreme Decree 44 of 2024 of Chile's Ministry of Labor and Social Security, checked against the official text on Ley Chile. The guide summarizes; when a specific question arises, the Labor Inspector is the one who decides.

What is the joint committee? #

Article 23 of DS 44 defines it as a technical and social dialogue body on occupational safety and health, made up of representatives of the employer and of the workers, whose decisions, adopted in the exercise of its legal powers, are binding on the company and its employees. It is not a welfare committee or an advisory forum: what it agrees within its functions gets done.

When is the joint committee mandatory? #

• More than 25 people: every company, site, branch or agency where more than 25 people work must have a joint committee, under article 66 of Law 16.744 (Chile's workplace accident and occupational disease insurance law) and article 23 of DS 44.
• One per site, branch or agency: if the company has several, each organizes its own committee. It can also form a permanent joint committee for the whole company (art. 24).
• Between 10 and 25 people, without a committee: an occupational health and safety delegate is elected by assembly, for up to two years (art. 66).
• When in doubt, the Labor Inspector decides.

How is a joint committee formed? #

1. Composition. Three representatives of the company and three of the workers, each with an alternate (art. 25).
2. Company appointment. 15 days before the end of the previous committee or the election, communicated to the workers (art. 26). They should preferably be people who supervise the work, with a criterion of equitable participation between men and women (art. 31).
3. Workers' election. Secret, direct vote, called by the outgoing committee's chair at least 15 days in advance (art. 27).
4. Requirements for workers' candidates (art. 32): over 18, able to read and write, at least one year at the company (unless more than half the staff have less than one year) and having attended a risk prevention orientation course from the administering body. If an elected member has not, the company must make it possible for them to take it in the first half of their term.
5. Election record. With the total number of voters, each person's name and votes and the list of those elected (art. 33).
6. Formation. The outgoing chair, or whoever ran the election, forms the new committee. At the first meeting a chair and a secretary are appointed and minutes are taken (arts. 35 and 41).
7. Registration with the Labor Directorate. The company registers the formation record on the Dirección del Trabajo website within 15 business days after the election (art. 36).

Members serve for two years and can be re-elected; in medium and large companies, for up to two consecutive terms (art. 43). They cease if they leave the company or miss two consecutive sessions without just cause (art. 44). If the company has a Risk Prevention Department, the expert who leads it is a member of the committee by right, with a voice but no vote (art. 38).

How often does the joint committee meet? #

Article 39 sets the rules:

• Ordinary, once a month.
• Extraordinary when one representative from each side jointly requests it, and mandatorily every time there is a fatal or serious workplace accident, or work must be stopped because of a serious and imminent risk.
• During working hours, and the time counts as time worked. If the company decides to hold them outside working hours, they are paid as overtime.
• By remote means, if the committee agrees.
• With minutes of what was discussed and the agreements, preferably digital, available to the Labor Directorate.

The committee can hold a session with at least one company representative and one workers' representative; those present hold all their side's votes (art. 40).

How are agreements made and followed up? #

Agreements are adopted by simple majority. When the committee asks the company for a preventive measure, the agreement must state the deadline and be recorded in the minutes. In the event of a tie, the administering body is asked to decide. Agreements are communicated to the company in writing, and the company can appeal them under article 66 of Law 16.744 (art. 42).

This is where the most common failure lies: the minutes say what was agreed, but nobody keeps track of what happened afterward. Three months later the same finding comes back to the meeting. An agreements log with number, session, owner, deadline, status and closing evidence fixes that, and it is the first thing worth showing if someone asks what the committee does.

What are the joint committee's functions? #

Article 47 lists eight:

1. Advise and instruct workers on the correct use of protective devices, which include not only PPE but also machine guards and contaminant capture systems. It does so with periodic visits to workplaces, with support from the administering body and with informational meetings or talks.
2. Monitor that the company and the workers apply the prevention measures, with its own work program defining activities, deadlines and owners.
3. Investigate the causes of workplace accidents, occupational diseases and dangerous incidents, using the methodology indicated by the administering body.
4. Decide whether an accident or disease was due to the worker's inexcusable negligence.
5. Call for the adoption of safety and health measures.
6. Promote training courses.
7. Inform the company when it detects a serious and imminent risk.
8. Any other functions assigned to it by the administering body.

To do this, the company must give it the means: let its members accompany the expert, the administering body and inspectors on their visits, inform it of accidents, coordinate the preventive program with it and allow it free access to workplaces (art. 37). It must also provide it with the prevention documentation: risk matrix, programs, procedures and technical reports (art. 46), safeguarding sensitive information.

How do you carry out a committee inspection? #

Article 47 asks the committee for a "complete and thorough" review of machinery, installations, material storage and handling, processes, procedures, staff traffic and protective equipment. In practice, a good inspection:

1. Has a checklist. Decide beforehand what will be reviewed in the area: traffic, machines, PPE, chemicals, electricity, fire, emergency. The DS 594 checklist works as a base for workplace conditions.
2. Goes with one representative from each side. They see different things.
3. Takes a photo of every nonconformity. And its exact location.
4. Talks with the people who work there. Article 37 allows workers to be interviewed, without disrupting production.
5. Ends in agreements. Each nonconformity goes to the next session and comes out with an owner and a deadline.

Inspections and agreements are cross-checked against the company's risk matrix and preventive work program, which DS 44 requires to be sent to the committee (art. 8). How that matrix is built is covered in the guide to DS 44 and the IPER matrix. And the findings make good material for the 5-minute safety talks at the start of the shift.

Who oversees the joint committee? #

Oversight of the formation and operation of joint committees belongs exclusively to the Labor Directorate (art. 77 of DS 44). During an inspection, it is reasonable to expect questions about the registered formation record, the monthly minutes, agreements with deadlines and what happened to them, accident investigations and the committee's work program.

The minutes and investigations contain personal data and, sometimes, health data. DS 44 requires investigations to be carried out safeguarding sensitive or confidential information. Where those records are kept and who can see them is also part of the job; we cover it in industrial data protection.

What does the joint committee spreadsheet include? #

• Members: full members and alternates for each side, with the end of the term calculated at two years and an alert if a workers' representative is missing the orientation course.
• Minutes: one row per session, ordinary or extraordinary, with a quorum check and a count of agreements.
• Agreements: number, session, owner, deadline, status and evidence, with a calculated status (on time, due soon, overdue, no deadline, completed) and the days overdue.
• Inspection: checklist by aspect, with result, finding, photo and agreement number; it flags nonconformities that do not yet have an agreement.
• Summary: sessions, unsigned minutes, completed and overdue agreements, and nonconformities.

It comes with a worked example from a food plant committee. It can be downloaded for free on this page and in downloads. It does not replace the official minutes or their registration with the Labor Directorate.

Frequently asked questions #

From how many workers is the joint committee mandatory?

From more than 25 people in the company, site, branch or agency, under article 66 of Law 16.744 and article 23 of DS 44. Between 10 and 25 people, without a committee, an occupational health and safety delegate is elected.

How many members does the joint committee have?

Six full members, three from the company and three from the workers, and one alternate for each. If there is a Risk Prevention Department, the expert who leads it takes part with a voice but no vote.

How often does the joint committee meet?

Once a month in an ordinary session. It also meets in extraordinary session when one representative from each side jointly requests it, and mandatorily after a fatal or serious accident or a work stoppage due to serious and imminent risk.

How long is the joint committee's term?

Two years, with the possibility of re-election. In medium and large companies, members can be re-elected or re-appointed for up to two consecutive terms.

Are the committee's agreements binding on the company?

Yes, decisions adopted in the exercise of its powers are binding on the company and its employees. When they call for a preventive measure they must include a deadline, and the company can appeal under article 66 of Law 16.744.

Where is the formation record registered?

On the website of the Dirección del Trabajo, within 15 business days after the election of the workers' representatives (art. 36 of DS 44).

Do it in the app #

The spreadsheet organizes minutes, agreements and inspections. If you would rather have each inspection finding recorded on the spot and each agreement followed until it is closed, with iGromi you can log them from your phone with photo, author and time. Request early access.