A practical guide to workplace health and safety risk assessment, written for micro and small firms, was presented at the Government Palace in Chișinău on 16 October 2026. The meeting was of a working group of the Economic Council under the prime minister, chaired by Vladislav Caminschi, executive director of the National Confederation of Employers. Logos Press reported it the next day. Their headline speaks of “simplified rules”. The document does not, however, amend Law No. 186/2008: it applies the law with checklists, templates and a step-by-step plan, so the legal duty is not left as paperwork that small employers cannot fill in.

The guide had been approved on 11 September 2026 in bipartite collective convention No. 2, signed by Ana Groza, president of CNPM, and Igor Zubcu, president of the National Trade Union Confederation (CNSM), at the House of Trade Unions. It takes effect when it is published in the Official Gazette. Until then it is a tool agreed by the social partners, not a state rule already in force.

The Economic Council described five steps: identify hazards; score them on a green–yellow–red matrix; choose measures; put them in place; review them. It includes a worker questionnaire, a risk sheet, category checklists and a model internal order. Under Government Decision 95/2009, the assessment can be done by the employer, a designated worker, an in-house service or an outside contractor.

CNPM notes that micro and small firms are about 99.2% of reporting enterprises in Moldova and employ about 65.5% of staff. For them, the confederation writes, solutions have to be proportionate, or occupational safety stays a formality. The guide stresses involving workers in spotting hazards.

The authors say a clear file also helps at inspection: the employer can show what was checked, not only that “there is a regulation”. That does not replace the law and is not a guarantee that an accident will not happen. The Economic Council says information sessions for CNPM and CNSM members will follow.

This article is not legal advice for a particular firm. Logos Press notes at the end that the piece was AI-assisted and then edited; the facts above follow the CNPM statement and the 16 October presentation.

Image: Tomasz Bladyniec, Government Palace, Chișinău, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons; archive building, not the 16 October 2026 meeting room.

Sources consulted: S-au simplificat procedurile de protectie a muncii pentru intreprinderi - Logos Press; Practical OSH guide for micro and small firms, Working Group 4 - Economic Council.