The IMPATTO project has developed an integrated model to assess the impact of technological innovation initiatives on occupational health and safety. This model supports businesses and institutions by providing them with data and tools to help them make more effective decisions.
The IMPATTO project - Impact Assessment of Technological Innovation and Prevention Initiatives in Industrial Settings - concluded with three final events: the first was held on 30 January at Sapienza University in Rome, the second was held on 6 February at the Department of Management Engineering of the Politecnico di Milano in Milan and the third was held on 5 March at Palazzo Giustiniani in Rome. The project aimed to support companies, organisations and institutions in evaluating the effectiveness of technological innovation interventions related to workplace health and safety by providing an integrated set of tools to analyse their impact.
The project was a collaboration between the Department of Management Engineering at Politecnico di Milano with Gaia Vitrano and Guido Micheli Gaia Vitrano and Guido Micheli, the Department of Legal and Economic Studies at Sapienza University of Rome with Angelo Castaldo, Maria Alessandra Antonelli, Alessia Marrocco and Anna Rita Germani, and the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene at INAIL with Stefano Signorini and Alessandro Marinaccio. This combination of engineering, economic-legal and health expertise enabled the development of a structured and innovative approach to prevention in industrial contexts.
IMPATTO addressed the concrete need to understand and systematically measure the effects of technological innovation initiatives, paying particular attention to those related to workplace health and safety. This involved assessing their cost-benefit ratio and supporting continuous improvement. Collaboration with the Competence Center MADE played a strategic role in this process, facilitating the involvement of companies active in these areas and the analysis of real cases in different production contexts.
During the project, the main contextual factors and causal mechanisms that influence the effectiveness of interventions were identified. This enabled us to measure positive effects, such as increased health and safety levels, reduced accident rates, improved business performance and enhanced organisational resilience, as well as potential critical issues related to the adequacy of the adopted measures.
The project provides a wide range of stakeholders, including workers, employers, health and safety managers (RSPP), workers' safety representatives (RLS), local health authorities (ASL), trade associations, ministries and INAIL, with qualitative and quantitative data to support more effective decision-making. This evidence can contribute to better resource management, optimisation of incentives and definition of intervention priorities.
Overall, IMPATTO represents a step forward towards the rational, fair and effective allocation of resources, offering concrete tools to strengthen technological innovation and prevention policies, providing tangible benefits for companies and worker safety.