The occupational risk system

System and programme

Colombia's system that prevents and covers work accidents and occupational diseases; ARLs run it and the employer pays for it.

Updated Nov 13, 2026

Key points

Law 1562 of 2012: a work accident is any sudden event caused by or arising from work that produces an organic injury, a functional or psychiatric disturbance, disability or death.
Occupational disease: one acquired through exposure to risk factors inherent to the work or its environment; if it is not on the official table, it is recognised when a causal link is shown.
Enrolment is mandatory for employees, contractors with a formal service contract, students whose training involves risk, and self-employed people in high-risk activities.
For employees, only the employer pays the contribution; under Law 1562 it ranges from 0.348% to 8.7% of the contribution base, depending on the risk class.
Decree 1072 of 2015: every employer runs an SG-SST, a step-by-step continuous-improvement system built on the PDCA cycle (plan, do, check, act).
Common origin: the EPS pays sick leave; work origin: the ARL. Disputes about origin go to the Disability Rating Boards (Juntas de Calificación de Invalidez).

What it is

The General Occupational Risk System (Sistema General de Riesgos Laborales) is the set of public and private bodies, rules and procedures that prevents, protects and cares for workers facing accidents and diseases caused by or arising from their work. Decree-Law 1295 of 1994 organised it and Law 1562 of 2012 updated it: it replaced ‘occupational health’ with occupational safety and health and redefined work accident and occupational disease. It runs alongside the health system: when the cause is work-related the ARL pays for care and benefits; when it is not, the EPS does.

How it is organised

Ministry of Labour: leads occupational risk policy, inspects workplaces and sanctions breaches.
ARLs (occupational risk administrators): enrol, collect contributions, advise on prevention and pay health and cash benefits for work-related events.
Employer or contracting party: enrols workers, pays (or passes payment to the contractor), runs the SG-SST and reports accidents and diseases.
Workers: follow safety rules, take part in the joint occupational safety and health committee or monitor, and report hazards.
Regional and National Disability Rating Boards: settle disputes on origin and loss of working capacity.

Worked example

A made-up plant with 250 workers records 10 work accidents in a year; 4 happened on the same staircase.
Frequency: 10 / 250 = 0.04, that is, 4 accidents per 100 workers per year.
The staircase accounts for 4 / 10 = 40% of accidents: it becomes the first priority of the SG-SST plan.
Plan and do: with ARL advice, the floor is replaced with a non-slip surface and a handrail is installed.
Check: the next year there are 5 accidents and none on the staircase; 5 / 250 = 2 per 100 workers.
Act: frequency halved (from 4 to 2 per 100); the committee reviews the remaining 5 for the next cycle.

Common origin versus work origin

Aspect	Common origin	Work origin
Who pays for care	EPS	ARL
Temporary sick leave	EPS	ARL
Who contributes (employee)	Employer and worker (health)	Employer only (occupational risk)
Example	Heart attack at home on a Sunday	Fall from scaffolding during the shift

Markers

ARL
SG-SST
PDCA
Law 1562 of 2012
Decree 1072 of 2015

In practice

When a worker is injured, the doctor records in the chart how, where and when it happened: this is the basis for rating the origin.
Under Law 1562, an accident while commuting between home and work is work-related when the employer provides the transport.
A suspected occupational disease (for example, hearing loss in a worker exposed to noise) is documented with the type of exposure, its duration and the time sequence.
The employer reports serious and fatal accidents and diagnosed occupational diseases to the Ministry of Labour's regional office within two working days.

Reference norms

Decree-Law 1295 of 1994: organises the system; several of its articles were amended by Law 1562 of 2012.
Law 1562 of 2012: amends the system, defines work accident, occupational disease and SG-SST, and sets the contribution range.
Decree 1072 of 2015, the single regulatory decree of the labour sector: regulates the SG-SST (book 2, part 2, title 4, chapter 6) and the reporting of serious and fatal accidents.

Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

Which 2012 law redefined work accident and occupational disease in Colombia?

Law 1562 of 2012, which amended the system created by Decree-Law 1295 of 1994 and replaced ‘occupational health’ with occupational safety and health.

Who pays the occupational risk contribution for a worker with an employment contract?

The employer alone. Under a service contract, the contracting party enrols and the contractor pays, except in high-risk activities.

What is the SG-SST?

The occupational safety and health management system: a step-by-step continuous-improvement process (policy, organisation, planning, implementation, evaluation, audit and improvement) that every employer must run.

Who pays sick leave if a disease is rated as common in origin?

The EPS. If it is rated as work-related, the ARL pays; disputes go to the Disability Rating Boards.

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Connections

← All of epidemiology

Educational content on epidemiological and statistical methods; the examples use made-up numbers to teach the calculation. Not a clinical or legal guide: current Colombian rules are in the official sources.

Sources: Ley 1562 de 2012 (Departamento Administrativo de la Función Pública, Colombia (Gestor Normativo), 2012); Decreto 1072 de 2015 Sector Trabajo (Departamento Administrativo de la Función Pública, Colombia (Gestor Normativo), 2015).

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Representative model, for educational purposes only.