Italy-based Sarpom refinery in Trecate, Novara province, has confirmed a serious workplace accident that left a 35-year-old contractor employee in critical condition after being struck by a heavy vehicle during scheduled maintenance operations on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. The injured worker was transported to Maggiore della Carità Hospital in Novara for further assessment and treatment.
Why This Matters
• Contractor safety spotlight: The incident raises fresh questions about workplace safety protocols for subcontracted workers in Italy's industrial facilities, where legal responsibility is shared between host companies and external firms.
• Serious injuries: The worker was struck by heavy-duty equipment while performing maintenance work at the facility and required hospitalization for treatment and evaluation.
• Regulatory scrutiny: Spresal (Italy's workplace accident prevention service) and Carabinieri are investigating whether safety procedures were properly followed during the maintenance activity.
• Legal accountability: Under Legislative Decree 81/2008, both the refinery operator and contracting firms bear joint responsibility for worker safety, with potential criminal liability in serious incidents.
The Incident Details
Emergency calls went out around 9:30 AM on Wednesday morning from the Sarpom industrial complex in Trecate, a municipality in northwestern Italy's Novara province. According to initial reconstructions by investigators, the 35-year-old employee of a subcontracting company was performing programmed maintenance work on one of the refinery's large storage tanks when he was struck by a heavy-duty transport vehicle operating within the facility.
The internal emergency response team at Sarpom provided immediate first aid before 118 emergency medical services arrived and transported the victim to the hospital for further treatment and assessment.
What This Means for Contractors and Industrial Workers
This accident underscores the elevated risks faced by external contractor employees working in Italy's industrial sectors, particularly in high-hazard environments like refineries. Italy's Testo Unico sulla Sicurezza sul Lavoro (Legislative Decree 81 of April 9, 2008) establishes a complex web of shared responsibility between host facilities and subcontracted firms.
Under Article 26 of that decree, Sarpom as the host facility bears legal obligations that include:
• Verifying the technical and professional qualifications of all contracting companies and their workers before permitting access to the site.
• Providing detailed information about site-specific risks and the protective measures already in place.
• Promoting active cooperation and coordination between multiple companies operating simultaneously on site.
• Drafting a DUVRI (Documento Unico di Valutazione dei Rischi da Interferenze), a unified risk assessment document that identifies hazards created when multiple firms work in shared spaces.
Recent Italian jurisprudence from the Corte di Cassazione has progressively strengthened host company liability, making it insufficient for facility operators to simply claim non-interference in a contractor's work methods. In serious injury or fatal cases, prosecutors increasingly pursue charges against both the direct employer and the host facility if safety coordination failures are identified.
For workers employed by subcontractors in Italy's industrial sector, this legal framework theoretically provides multiple layers of protection—but accidents like Wednesday's incident demonstrate the gaps between regulatory intent and operational reality.
Investigative Process Underway
The Carabinieri and Spresal personnel have launched parallel investigations to determine whether all mandated safety protocols were followed. Key questions investigators will examine include:
• Was the DUVRI properly compiled and communicated to all workers on site?
• Did the heavy vehicle operator have clear visual lines and appropriate safety procedures for the work zone?
• Were physical barriers or exclusion zones established around the maintenance area to prevent vehicle-pedestrian conflicts?
• Had all workers received site-specific safety training as required under Italian law?
• Were there adequate supervision and coordination between the contractor's crew and Sarpom's safety personnel?
Sarpom has stated it is conducting an internal investigation and providing "maximum collaboration" to authorities. The company emphasized in its official statement that "the safety of people represents our absolute priority" and extended thoughts to the injured worker and his family.
Context: Italy's Workplace Safety Challenge
Italy continues to struggle with workplace safety, particularly in the construction, manufacturing, and industrial services sectors where subcontracting is prevalent. Workplace injury statistics show that the industrial sector consistently ranks among the highest-risk categories for serious and fatal incidents.
Subcontracted workers face disproportionate risk. They often work in unfamiliar environments, may receive less thorough site orientation than permanent employees, and can face pressure to complete work quickly—factors that compound inherent hazards in industrial settings.
Sarpom's Safety Record
The Sarpom refinery in Trecate is an established industrial facility operating under Italian safety regulations. Sarpom publicly states it maintains "rigorous professional standards" through continuous training, information provision, and safety processes that extend to contractor personnel. The company claims all evaluated structures benefit from lightning protection and other safety margins.
Broader Implications for Industrial Safety
This incident arrives as Italy faces mounting pressure to reduce workplace fatalities and serious injuries, particularly in sectors where cascading subcontracting creates fragmented safety responsibility. Labor unions and safety advocates have long argued that the appalto system—Italy's contracting and subcontracting framework—dilutes accountability and creates economic incentives to cut corners on safety investments.
The investigation's findings will carry weight beyond this single case. If authorities determine systemic safety coordination failures, the incident could prompt regulatory enforcement actions affecting how refineries and other high-hazard facilities manage contractor operations across Italy.
For now, a 35-year-old worker remains hospitalized following the workplace accident, while investigators work to piece together how a routine maintenance operation at an Italian refinery resulted in this serious incident.
