Occupational Safety and Health Program Mexico (Programa de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo)

An Occupational Safety and Health Program Mexico (Programa de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo) is the master planning document through which an employer in Mexico establishes, implements, and monitors its annual occupational safety and health management system — covering hazard identification, risk assessment, preventive and corrective measures, worker training, emergency response, accident investigation, and compliance monitoring across all operations subject to Mexican labour law.

The legal foundation for the Programa de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo rests on Chapter I of Title IX of the Ley Federal del Trabajo (LFT), specifically Articles 509 through 514, which mandate that every employer constitute and maintain a Comisión Mixta de Seguridad e Higiene (Joint Safety and Hygiene Commission) and comply with all applicable Normas Oficiales Mexicanas (NOMs) on occupational safety and health issued by the Secretaría del Trabajo y Previsión Social (STPS) pursuant to its authority under Article 512 LFT.

NOM-030-STPS-2009, titled 'Servicios Preventivos de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo — Organización y Funciones,' published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 22 December 2009, is the primary regulatory standard governing occupational safety programs in Mexico. NOM-030 applies to all employers in Mexico and establishes that organizations must maintain an organized occupational safety and health service (servicios preventivos de seguridad y salud) that: (a) identifies and assesses workplace hazards and risks; (b) develops and implements preventive measures; (c) promotes health and safety culture among workers; (d) investigates accidents and occupational diseases; and (e) maintains required documentation for STPS inspection.

The Programa de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo under NOM-030-STPS-2009 integrates and coordinates all other applicable NOMs issued by the STPS under the framework of the Ley Federal sobre Metrología y Normalización (LFMN). Mexico currently has more than 80 NOMs on occupational safety and health, grouped into categories: construction safety (NOM-031-STPS-2011), electricity (NOM-029-STPS-2011), machinery and equipment (NOM-004-STPS-1999), noise (NOM-011-STPS-2001), thermal stress (NOM-015-STPS-2001), chemical agents (NOM-005-STPS-1998), fire prevention (NOM-002-STPS-2010), and psychosocial risks (NOM-035-STPS-2018). The annual safety program consolidates the employer's compliance obligations under all applicable sector-specific NOMs.

The Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) has a parallel role in occupational safety through its Ley del Seguro Social (LSS) riesgos de trabajo provisions (Articles 41–78 LSS) — the IMSS classifies employers into activity-based risk classes (clases de riesgo I through V under Article 73 LSS) that determine the employer's IMSS premium rate. Employers with strong occupational safety programs may qualify for premium reduction (reducción de la prima de riesgos de trabajo) under the IMSS Decreto de reducción de prima, while employers with high accident or occupational disease rates may face premium increases through the Sistema de Administración de la Seguridad en el Trabajo (SIAST) mechanism.

Article 509 LFT establishes that the Comisión Mixta de Seguridad e Higiene must develop an annual safety program (programa de trabajo) and verify its implementation — the Programa de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo is the document that satisfies this statutory obligation and forms the primary record reviewed during STPS inspections of the Commission's activities.

An Occupational Safety and Health Program Mexico is required for every employer operating in Mexico, as the obligations of NOM-030-STPS-2009 and the Comisión Mixta de Seguridad e Higiene under Articles 509–514 LFT apply to all employers regardless of size, sector, or industry.

The program is urgently needed when the employer has received a STPS inspection citation (acta de inspección) identifying deficiencies in safety management documentation. The STPS Programa de Corrección issued after an adverse inspection requires the employer to present a complete Programa de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo as the primary corrective action — typically within 30 to 90 days of the inspection finding.

An Occupational Safety and Health Program Mexico is essential when the employer is constituting or renewing its Comisión Mixta de Seguridad e Higiene under Articles 509–514 LFT. The Commission's first formal act is typically to review and approve the annual safety program — without a documented program, the Commission lacks a substantive mandate and its Actas de Reunión will not satisfy STPS inspection criteria.

The program is needed when the employer is subject to multiple sector-specific NOMs — for example, construction companies must comply with NOM-031-STPS-2011, chemical companies with NOM-005-STPS-1998, and energy-sector employers with NOM-029-STPS-2011 — and requires a consolidating document that integrates all NOM-specific prevention plans, inspection schedules, training calendars, and emergency response procedures into a single management framework.

A Programa de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo is required when the company is pursuing ISO 45001:2018 (Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems) certification — the ISO standard is broadly aligned with NOM-030-STPS-2009 requirements, and a documented annual safety program is the foundational artifact reviewed by certification auditors. Many large Mexican and multinational employers require their suppliers to present an occupational safety program as part of the supplier qualification process.

The program is essential following a workplace accident or occupational disease incident — the STPS accident investigation requirements under NOM-021-STPS-1994 and the IMSS riesgos de trabajo reporting obligations under LSS Article 51 both require the employer to implement corrective measures, which should be documented within the annual safety program update. Failure to update the program following a serious accident is itself an STPS inspection finding.

A complete Occupational Safety and Health Program Mexico under NOM-030-STPS-2009 and LFT Articles 509–514 must contain the following elements to satisfy STPS inspection requirements and the functional mandate of the Comisión Mixta de Seguridad e Higiene.

Organizational Information and Scope: The employer's legal name (razón social), RFC (Registro Federal de Contribuyentes), IMSS risk class (clase de riesgo I–V under LSS Article 73), STPS employer registration number, workplace address(es), total number of workers by category and shift, a description of principal activities and processes, and the period covered by the program (calendar year). The section must identify the person responsible for safety (Coordinador de Seguridad y Salud) and the legal representative who approves the program.

Comisión Mixta de Seguridad e Higiene Integration: Name, RFC, and position of each Commission member (employer and worker representatives in equal numbers), the Commission's registration number with the STPS (Número de Registro de la Comisión), meeting schedule for the year, and the Commission's specific functions within the safety program — inspection rounds (recorridos de verificación), accident investigation, corrective action follow-up, and annual program review. NOM-019-STPS-2011 governs the constitution, organization, and functions of the Commission in detail.

Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment: A systematic inventory of the hazards present in each work area — physical hazards (noise, thermal stress, radiation, vibration), chemical hazards (solvents, dusts, toxic substances), biological hazards, mechanical hazards (machinery, manual handling, falls), electrical hazards, ergonomic risk factors, and psychosocial risk factors identified under NOM-035-STPS-2018. Each hazard must be assessed for probability of occurrence, severity of potential harm, number of workers exposed, and existing controls — producing a risk priority matrix (matriz de riesgos) that guides the preventive measure schedule.

Applicable NOM Compliance Schedule: A table identifying all Normas Oficiales Mexicanas applicable to the employer's activities, the compliance status for each NOM, and the actions and dates required to achieve or maintain compliance. The STPS maintains an online register of applicable NOMs by sector — the safety program must reflect the current version of each applicable NOM and any pending reviews or updates to the NOM catalogue.

Preventive Measure Plan (Programa de Medidas Preventivas): Specific engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (EPP — equipo de protección personal) requirements for each identified hazard, with the person responsible, implementation date, and budget allocated. Article 132, Fraction XVI LFT requires employers to provide EPP at no cost to workers; Article 134, Fraction II LFT requires workers to use EPP correctly. EPP standards must comply with the applicable NOMs (NOM-017-STPS-2008 for EPP selection and use).

Emergency Action Plan: A documented plan for emergency scenarios applicable to the workplace — fire, explosion, chemical spill, earthquake, medical emergency — specifying evacuation routes, assembly points (puntos de reunión), emergency equipment locations, designated emergency brigade members (brigadas de emergencia under NOM-002-STPS-2010), emergency contact numbers including IMSS, Bomberos, Protección Civil, and STPS emergency line. The plan must be physically posted at the workplace and reviewed with workers in annual drills.

Training and Capacity-Building Calendar: An annual training schedule for all workers and supervisors covering: safety induction for new workers, NOM-specific training (confined spaces, hazardous substances, electrical safety, etc.), first aid (NOM-005-STPS-1998), fire extinguisher use, psychosocial risk awareness under NOM-035-STPS-2018, and Comisión Mixta member training. Training records (constancias de capacitación) must be maintained under Articles 153-A through 153-X LFT and Article 804 LFT.

Accident and Near-Miss Reporting Procedure: A step-by-step procedure for reporting workplace accidents (accidentes de trabajo) to the IMSS within 24 hours under LSS Article 51, to the STPS under NOM-021-STPS-1994 for serious accidents, and internally through the Comisión Mixta. The procedure must specify who receives the internal report, who completes the IMSS ST-7 form (aviso de accidente de trabajo), who conducts the root-cause investigation, and how corrective actions are tracked to closure.

Performance Metrics and Annual Review: Key performance indicators for occupational safety — accident frequency rate (tasa de frecuencia de accidentes), severity rate (tasa de gravedad), near-miss frequency, days lost to occupational injury, and NOM compliance percentage — with baseline data and annual improvement targets. Forms-legal.com provides this program template as a compliance framework; the program must be tailored to the employer's specific industry, processes, and applicable NOMs by a competent Técnico en Seguridad e Higiene registered with the STPS or a certified Médico del Trabajo.