Occupational safety and SUVA obligations

Occupational safety in Switzerland is not a formality to leave to common sense: it is a legal obligation that falls on the employer from the very first employee hired. Ignoring it exposes you to accidents, higher insurance premiums, civil liability and, in serious cases, criminal liability. Understanding who does what — and what role SUVA plays — is the starting point for staying compliant without wasting resources.

The framework: UVG and accident insurance

Every employee in Switzerland is compulsorily insured against accidents under the UVG (Federal Act on Accident Insurance, in Italian LAINF). The insurance covers occupational accidents and occupational diseases; if the employee works at least eight hours a week for the same employer, they are also covered for non-occupational accidents.

The split of premiums is clear:

the premium for occupational accidents is borne by the employer;
the premium for non-occupational accidents may be deducted from the employee’s salary.

Hiring staff therefore means affiliating the company with an accident insurer and correctly managing the payroll deductions.

What SUVA is and who it insures

SUVA is the Swiss national accident insurance institution. It does not cover every company: the law assigns to SUVA the higher-risk sectors — construction, industry, wood and metal processing, chemicals, transport and similar. Companies that do not fall into these sectors (offices, retail, many services) insure themselves with authorised private insurers or health insurers.

Beyond its insurance role, SUVA performs a function of supervision and prevention: it issues directives, carries out inspections and can impose corrective measures in the companies under its remit.

Prevention: the duty that precedes insurance

Insurance intervenes after an accident; the law, however, requires first and foremost that it be prevented. The employer must adopt all measures that are necessary and reasonably feasible to protect the health and integrity of employees. This duty stems from the Code of Obligations (the employer’s duty of care) and from safety legislation (the UVG and the Labour Act with their ordinances).

In concrete terms this means:

identifying the hazards present in the workplace;
adopting technical and organisational measures to eliminate or reduce them;
providing protective equipment and adequate training;
instructing workers on the risks and correct procedures;
involving employees in safety matters.

The ASA directive and safety specialists

The directive on calling in occupational physicians and other safety specialists (ASA, in Italian MSSL) sets out when and how companies must draw on specialist prevention expertise. Many businesses, especially those with particular hazards, join sector solutions or solutions for groups of companies, which offer a ready-made, compliant safety system.

For a low-risk SME the obligations are lighter, but not nil: the general duty of prevention remains, along with informing employees and complying with the rules on ergonomics, working hours and the working environment set out in the Labour Act.

The employer’s duties in short

Affiliate the company with the correct accident insurer (SUVA or private) and pay the premiums.
Correctly manage the payroll deductions for non-occupational accidents.
Assess the risks and adopt prevention measures appropriate to the activity.
Train and inform employees, documenting the instructions given.
Report accidents to the insurer promptly.
Apply the ASA directive when the activity requires it.

Why it pays to do it well

Prevention is not just an obligation: it directly affects costs. UVG premiums depend on accident trends; a company with many claims pays more. Added to this are the indirect costs of every accident — absences, replacements, drops in productivity — often greater than those covered by insurance.

On the liability front, an employer who neglects safety measures risks recourse actions by the insurer, civil liability towards the worker and, in the event of serious breaches, criminal consequences.

Mistakes to avoid

Believing that insurance alone is enough without doing prevention.
Failing to train new hires on the specific risks of the role.
Incorrectly deducting (or forgetting) the premiums for non-occupational accidents.
Failing to document the instructions and measures adopted: in the event of an inspection or accident, what is not written down is hard to prove.

How we work at SIH ONE

We help companies set up staff-related obligations correctly: affiliation with the right accident insurer, management of premiums in payroll, coordination with social insurance and verification of safety compliance.

Hiring staff and want to be compliant with SUVA and the UVG from day one? Discover our payroll services and set up staff management the right way.