Guide · Occupational health and safety

Joint safety committee: duties, election and job protection

Above 25 people, Chilean law has the company and its workers review risks together in a Joint Health and Safety Committee (comité paritario) and agree on binding measures. Here are its duties, who must have one, how it is elected and who has job protection, with each article.
Committee templateGet early access

Informational guide, not legal advice. Check the current regulation at Ley Chile (Chile's official law library) and consult your safety professional or your mutual insurer (mutualidad).

iGromi app with the day's pending and overdue joint committee agreements

Who must have one

Does your company need a joint committee or a delegate?

How many people work at the worksite, branch or agency?

A joint committee at each worksite, branch or agency

Three regular members from the company and three from the workers, each with an alternate. One of the workers' regular members has job protection (fuero).

The headcount is per worksite, branch or agency: a company with two plants of 40 people has two committees. It may also form a standing company-wide committee. When in doubt, the Labor Inspector decides (art. 66, Law 16.744).

What it does

Joint committee duties, from the law to DS 44

CompanyWorkersFregular · alternateselected by voteAgreementsPrevention expertvoice, no vote (art. 38)F = protected (fuero)

Its agreements, made within these duties, bind the company and the workers. The company can appeal them before the administering body (its mutual insurer or the ISL).

Advise and instruct

What it means

On the correct use of protective equipment: PPE, machine guarding and contaminant extraction. Through visits and talks.

Source

Law 16.744 art. 66 · DS 44 art. 47

Monitor

What it means

That the company and workers apply prevention measures, with the committee's own work program.

Source

Law 16.744 art. 66 · DS 44 art. 47

Investigate

What it means

The causes of accidents, occupational diseases and dangerous incidents.

Source

Law 16.744 art. 66 · DS 44 art. 47

Rule on inexcusable negligence

What it means

Whether an accident or disease was due to the worker's inexcusable negligence.

Source

Law 16.744 art. 66

Recommend measures

What it means

The health and safety measures that help prevent the risks.

Source

Law 16.744 art. 66 · DS 44 art. 47

Promote training

What it means

Occupational health and safety training courses.

Source

DS 44 art. 47

Report serious and imminent risk

What it means

To the company, so it acts under art. 184 bis of Chile's Labor Code. A new duty under DS 44.

Source

DS 44 art. 47

Tasks assigned by the administering body

What it means

The mutual insurer (mutualidad) or the ISL (public occupational insurer) may assign other tasks.

Source

Law 16.744 art. 66

How it is elected

The joint committee election, step by step

Tap a step to see what DS 44 requires. The term lasts two years and members can be re-elected.

Step 1 of 6

Appointment

The company appoints its three regular members and alternates 15 days in advance and informs the workers. Preferably people who supervise the work, with equitable participation of men and women (arts. 26 and 31).

Candidates and job protection

Who can run and who gets job protection

1Three workers' regular members2They designate the protected member3Written notice to the company the next business day4Job protection for the whole term
  • Over 18 and able to read and write.
  • Currently working at the company with at least one year there, unless more than half of the staff has less than a year.
  • The administering body's risk-prevention orientation course, or one year in the Prevention Department.
  • Job protection goes to one workers' regular member (art. 243 of the Labor Code); with a fixed-term or project contract, it lasts until the contract ends.

Sources: ACHS, FAQ · Labor Directorate, job protection · IST, DS 44 and committees.

After the election

Committee meetings, minutes and agreements

App screen with a record's detail and its open non-conformities

Once formed, the committee meets once a month, keeps minutes and tracks each agreement against a deadline. How to run the meetings, minutes and inspections is covered in the blog article.

Committee meetings, minutes and inspection →

Free template

Joint committee template: members, minutes and agreements

The committee meets, but agreements get lost between minutes and the same finding comes back to the meeting three months later.

  • · Members with their two-year term end date and a warning for pending orientation courses
  • · Minutes per session with a quorum check and an agreement count
  • · An agreement log with owner, deadline, evidence and days late
  • · An inspection guide that flags nonconformities without an agreement

It does not replace the official minutes or their registration with Chile's Labor Directorate.

In the app

The joint committee in the app

Committee records live in iGromi's free app: the finding is logged during the inspection, the agreement is tracked until closed and the month exports to PDF with its signatures.

App screen for recording a joint committee inspection finding with photo, time and place
Get early accessFree app, in early access.

Frequently asked questions

Joint committee FAQ

What are the duties of the joint safety committee?
Law 16.744 (art. 66), Chile's occupational accident and disease insurance law, gives it five: advise and instruct on the use of protective equipment, monitor prevention measures, investigate the causes of accidents and occupational diseases, rule on whether there was inexcusable negligence and recommend health and safety measures, plus any tasks assigned by the administering body. DS 44 (art. 47) adds promoting training and reporting serious and imminent risk to the company.
Who has job protection (fuero) on the joint committee?
One of the workers' regular representatives, for their whole term (art. 243 of the Labor Code). The workers' regular members designate that person themselves, and the company is notified in writing no later than the next business day. At worksites, branches or agencies with more than 250 people, a second regular member also has job protection.
Who can run for the joint committee?
People over 18 who can read and write, who work at the company and have been there at least one year (unless more than half of the staff has less than a year), and who have taken the administering body's risk-prevention orientation course or worked at least one year in the Prevention Department (art. 32 of DS 44).
What if the company has between 10 and 25 workers?
It is not required to have a joint committee. The workers elect an occupational health and safety delegate in an assembly, for up to two years (art. 66 of Law 16.744).
Can the joint committee election be electronic?
Yes. DS 44 allows voting in person or by electronic means that safeguard the anonymity, security, transparency, integrity and auditability of the process.
What is a worksite joint committee?
The one the principal company must form when, counting its contractors and subcontractors, more than 25 people work at the project or worksite for more than 30 calendar days (art. 66 bis of Law 16.744 and art. 14 of DS 76).
What course must members take?
Anyone elected without the risk-prevention orientation course must be able to take it in the first six months of the term. DS 44 also requires facilities so that at least one company representative and one workers' representative take, during the term, a 20-hour course on committee duties, the risk matrix, accident investigation and the work program.

Sources: DS 44 on Ley Chile (BCN) · Law 16.744 on Ley Chile · Labor Directorate, job protection · Labor Directorate, worksite committee · SUSESO Compendium: joint committees · ACHS. Reviewed on November 1, 2026.

Keep reading

Occupational health and safety guides

DS 44: the records it requiresThe hub: every preventive-management record, with its article.DS 594 summarizedWorkplace sanitary and environmental conditions, title by title, with their limits.Risk matrixHow a risk is assessed, with worked plant examples.5-minute safety talksReady-made topics by hazard, plus the attendance record.IRL under DS 44What the occupational risk information must say and when it is delivered.Risk mapWhat the DS 44 risk map includes, with a plant example.Internal safety regulationsWhat the health and safety regulations contain and how they are published.PPE issue logWhat to record when personal protective equipment is handed out.Cause tree analysisAccident investigation step by step, with a worked example.Accident rate calculatorAccident, lost-day, frequency and severity rates with their formulas.TMERT protocolChecklist, risk levels and deadlines of the MINSAL musculoskeletal protocol.Safe work procedureWhat an SWP is, its sections and a food-plant example.Committee meetings and minutesMeetings, agreements with deadlines and inspection, with a template.

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