New Regulation of occupational health commissions and departments No. 45166-MTSS

CONTENT WRITTEN BY ERIKA HAMERS, SENIOR ATTORNEY.

On September 29, 2025, Executive Decree No. 45166-MTSS was published, establishing the Regulation on Occupational Health and Safety Committees and Departments.

According to Article 288 of the Labor Code, employers with 10 or more employees are required to have an occupational health committee:

c) Committee: A bipartite preventive structure, established in every workplace with ten or more employees, composed of an equal number of representatives from the employer and the employees, in accordance with Article 288 of the Labor Code. If a company has one or more workplaces, a separate committee must be formed for each of those workplaces. When several companies belong to the same economic interest group, corporate group, business group, or financial group or conglomerate, share a common purpose, and are located in the same building or on the same land, a single committee may be established.

According to Article 300 of the same law, all employers with more than 50 permanent employees must have an occupational health office or department:

e) Department: A preventative structure staffed by specialized occupational health personnel. For the purposes of this regulation, this encompasses the concepts of occupational health office or department, established in accordance with Article 300 of the Labor Code.

The principal reforms introduced by the new decree include the following:

Mandatory registration of committees/departments with the Occupational Health Council (CSO) through its website (www.cso.go.cr): Employers must register the company using the legal representative’s details, the corporate name, and the information of the workplaces for which a Committee or Department will be registered, as applicable.
Registration of an email address: This will be used by the Council's Executive Directorate to receive notifications of all actions taken; all documentation sent to this address will be considered duly notified.
New function assigned to the commissions: To investigate the causes of workplace hazards, as well as determine measures to prevent them in workplaces, with the support of the Department, where such a Department exists, in accordance with the provisions of Article 288 of the Labor Code.
Registration of the person in charge of the department in the database: In order for a person to serve as head of the Department, they must be previously registered in the database of occupational health professionals maintained for this purpose by the CSO Executive Directorate. Those interested in being included in the list of occupational health professionals of the CSO Executive Directorate must send a series of requirements to the email address notificacionescso@mtss.go.cr , and only after their admission may they register as the person in charge of the Department.
Description of the professional training required for the person in charge of the Department regarding “occupational health”: It integrates the disciplines of Workplace Safety (Work Safety, Occupational Safety), Environmental Hygiene (Occupational Hygiene), Ergonomics, Occupational Medicine, and Psychosociology of Work. The Council may approve other disciplines related to occupational health, which will be included in an official manual issued by the institution.
Removal of the person in charge of the department: In addition to existing requirements, a digital deregistration request form must be completed, including relevant information, the effective date of removal, and the justification.
Content of the reports from the committees and departments: The information that the reports must contain is specified:
- For the individual registration of activities: Inspection activities, Information and dissemination actions, Follow-up actions
- For the registration and updating of workplace accidents: Workplace, Employee data, Employment status, Accident data, Analysis of causes, Proposed control measures.
- For the registration and updating of occupational illnesses: Workplace, Employee data, Employment status, Illness data, Cause analysis, Control measures.
- For the registration of hours worked (Departments): male and female hours per month during the year.
- Deregistration of committees and departments: In addition to the steps already known, you must download, complete, and upload a digital deregistration request form and a sworn statement.
Single transitional provision applicable to Departments: If you had an Occupational Health Department appointed before January 2016, with a person in charge who met the requirements at that time, but you never registered it with the CSO, you are granted a period of 30 business days to register the department. You must submit an application and a sworn statement containing:
- Full name and identification number of the employee.
- Date on which the employee was appointed or designated as head of the Department.
- Date on which the employee was enrolled with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social).
- Date of entry into the company or institution (the employer registration number is not accepted as proof).
- Copy of the corresponding academic degree.

If the Council accepts the request, employers or their legal representatives will have a non-extendable period of ten (10) business days to complete the corresponding registration. If registration is not completed within this period, the applicant must submit a new application and comply with all requirements established in the Regulation, without prejudice to the application of sanctions for non-compliance with labor laws.

Once the peremptory period of thirty (30) business days has elapsed, any person who fails to meet the requirements set forth in Article 49 of the Regulation may not be registered as head of the Department.