Social protection, social security and occupational health and safety

Social protection systems are facing profound changes: demographic shifts, diversification of employment patterns, the growth of the informal economy, rising expectations among beneficiaries, financial constraints and the need to extend coverage to groups that are still inadequately protected.

The issue is no longer simply the existence of schemes or benefits. It lies in their ability to remain accessible, sustainable, well-administered and effective enough to meet beneficiaries’ needs in the long term.

At the same time, occupational health is shifting from a primarily corrective approach towards a more preventive approach to risk management. Organisations are called upon to better anticipate accidents, manage critical risks, strengthen their safety culture and integrate prevention into management decisions, investments and ways of organising work.

The digitalisation of services, the use of social data, changing occupational risks and the emergence of new factors linked to artificial intelligence, automation, climate change or new forms of work are also redefining the skills expected of managers.

The main challenges relate in particular to:

• Effective extension of coverage: developing mechanisms capable of better protecting the self-employed, those in the informal economy and groups with insufficient cover.
• Sustainability of schemes: maintaining financial balance, anticipating future liabilities and informing decisions on the basis of sound financial and actuarial analyses.
• Performance of social security organisations: improving governance, productivity, processing times, the quality of services and relations with insured persons and employers.
• Securing social security revenue: professionalising registration, declaration, collection, employer monitoring and the management of arrears.
• Governance of reserves and investments: strengthening the allocation, oversight and performance of assets intended to underpin the long-term sustainability of the schemes.
• Fraud prevention: detecting and addressing vulnerabilities affecting contributions, benefits, identities and social security schemes.
• Digital transformation of social services: modernising processes, digitising services and utilising data to improve decision-making and service quality.
• Prevention of occupational risks: moving from a reactive approach to accident management to a structured policy of risk anticipation and control.
• Governance of health and safety at work: integrating prevention into the responsibilities of senior executives, managers, committees and steering bodies.
• Resilience in the face of emerging risks: preparing institutions and organisations for new risks arising from technological, climatic and occupational changes.

The central challenge is to build social systems and prevention mechanisms capable of providing greater protection, serving people better and remaining effective in the face of the transformations that are redefining work, protection and institutional responsibility.

The Area of Excellence ‘Social Protection, Social Security and Occupational Health’ brings together expertise covering both the governance of social systems and the management of work-related risks.

• Governance of social protection systems: system architecture, policy directions, reforms, coverage and coordination of protection schemes.
• Management of social security organisations: leadership, steering, institutional performance, quality of services and the transformation of socialsecurity funds and organisations.
• Extension of social protection coverage: designing strategies targeting the self-employed, the informal economy and under-protected groups.
• Collection, contributions and social compliance: registration, reporting, employer monitoring, management of arrears and securing revenue.
• Benefits management and relations with insured persons: processing of entitlements, processing times, accessibility, beneficiary experience and quality of service.
• Pensions, retirement and social health insurance: governance, funding, sustainability, coverage and performance of specialised schemes.
• Financial governance, reserves and actuarial management: financial balance, projections, reserves, assets, demographic scenarios and decision support.
• Audit, internal control, risks and combating social security fraud: management of institutional risks, prevention of irregularities and safeguarding of social security schemes.
• Digital transformation and social data governance: digitisation, automation, digital services and the use of data for management purposes.
• Health and safety at work governance: management responsibilities, prevention policies, health and safety management systems and safety culture.
• Prevention and management of occupational risks: critical risks, serious accidents, subcontracting, concurrent operations, major construction sites and high-risk sectors.
• Investigation, learning and prevention performance: accident analysis, identification of systemic causes, prevention indicators and continuous improvement.
• Social dialogue and participatory governance of prevention: the role of OSH committees, employer-worker consultation and shared responsibilities.
• Resilience and forward-looking approaches to occupational risks: business continuity in the face of major incidents and anticipating emerging risks linked to changes in the world of work.

These areas of expertise enable us to approach social protection and occupational health as two complementary dimensions of a single objective: to protect people whilst strengthening the robustness and performance of the systems that organise this protection.

Programmes in this field build the capacity needed to manage complex social systems, improve services and organise more effective prevention of occupational risks.

• Analysing the structure of a social protection system: understanding schemes, coverage mechanisms, benefits, funding and institutional responsibilities.
• Design or support social security reform: identify areas for change, assess options and structure the necessary transformations.
• Manage the performance of a social security organisation: monitor coverage, quality, productivity, turnaround times, revenue and institutional outcomes.
• Improve collection and compliance: strengthen systems for registration, declaration, monitoring and securing of contributions.
• Optimise benefits management: improve processes, service quality and the experience of insured persons and beneficiaries.
• Interpret financial and actuarial balances: use projections, demographic scenarios and financial data to inform decisions.
• Manage social security reserves and investments: assess the principles of asset allocation, control, risk and performance.
• Prevent and detect social security fraud: identify vulnerabilities, put in place appropriate controls and deal with high-risk situations.
• Leading the digital transformation of a social organisation: modernising processes, rolling out digital services and strengthening data-driven management.
• Developing an occupational health and safety policy: defining priorities, responsibilities, prevention mechanisms and monitoring systems.
• Identifying and managing occupational risks: prioritising critical risks, anticipating serious incidents and organising preventive measures.
• Analysing accidents and organisational failures: investigating root causes and translating lessons learnt into sustainable corrective actions.
• Managing occupational health and safety performance: using relevant indicators to measure, anticipate and improve prevention.
• Prepare the organisation for emerging risks: incorporate the effects of AI, automation, climate change and new ways of working into prevention strategies.

These skills enable participants to take a more confident approach to the two essential aspects of the field: the robustness of social protection systems and the effective prevention of the risks to which workers are exposed.

In this Area of Excellence, the IIRCF offers programmes covering the governance of social systems, the performance of social security organisations, and health and safety at work.

• Executive Certificate in Strategic Governance of Social Protection Systems: understanding and steering the overall architecture of a social protection system.
• Executive Certificate in the Design and Reform of Social Security Systems: designing or transforming schemes, coverage, benefits and institutional mechanisms.
• Executive Certificate in Social Protection Policies and the Extension of Coverage: developing strategies for the effective expansion of protection.
• Executive Certificate in Governance, Management and Performance of Social Protection Institutions: strengthening the capacity to lead and bring about sustainable transformation within a social protection institution.
• Executive Certificate in General Management of Social Security Organisations: to develop the specific skills required for the overall management of asocial security fund or organisation.
• Executive Certificate in Social Contribution Collection Management and Performance: to improve the registration, declaration, collection and safeguarding of social security revenue.
• Executive Certificate in Benefits Management and Quality of Service for Social Security Beneficiaries: to improve the processing of entitlements, response times, accessibility and the beneficiary experience.
• Executive Certificate in Financial Governance and Sustainability of Social Security Schemes: managing financial balances, future liabilities and reserves.
• Executive Certificate in Actuarial Management and Strategic Decision-Making in Social Security: using actuarial projections and scenarios to inform reforms and trade-offs.
• Executive Certificate in Preventing and Combating Social Security Fraud: detecting, preventing and addressing fraud affecting contributions, benefits and social security schemes.
• Executive Certificate in the Digital Transformation of Social Security Organisations: managing the digitisation, automation and modernisation of services.
• Executive Certificate in Strategic Management of Pensions and Retirement Schemes: managing the demographic, financial and operational challenges facing pension schemes.
• Executive Certificate in Governance and Management of Social Health Insurance Systems: governing the funding, cover, expenditure, quality and performance of social health insurance.
• Executive Certificate in Strategic Governance of Health and Safety at Work: integrating health and safety at work into the responsibilities of senior management.
• Executive Certificate in Prevention Leadership and Safety Culture: changing behaviours, leadership and culture to reduce risks in the long term.
• Executive Certificate in Occupational Risk Prevention Strategy and Policy: designing a comprehensive prevention policy aligned with the organisation’s risks.
• Executive Certificate in the Design and Management of Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems: building and managing a coherent system for prevention, control and improvement.
• Executive Certificate in the Investigation of Serious Accidents and Organisational Failures: identifying the systemic and managerial causes of serious incidents.
• Executive Certificate in Health and Safety Management for Projects and Major Construction Sites: managing health and safety risks in complex projects and infrastructure.
• Executive Certificate in the Digital Transformation of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Prevention and Data-Driven Management: using data and digital tools to improve foresight and decision-making.

This programme enables participants to build specialised pathways tailored to their specific roles: scheme governance, organisational management, funding, coverage, prevention, health and safety, or service transformation.

The IIRCF supports social protection institutions, social security bodies, government departments, businesses and organisations seeking to strengthen their capacity in the management of social systems and the prevention of occupational risks.

• Institutional assessment of social security organisations: analysis of governance, key functions, performance, processes and capacity for transformation.
• Programmes to strengthen management teams and executives: bespoke courses in governance, management, recovery, benefits, finance, risk and service quality.
• Support for strengthening recovery capabilities: training and professional development for teams responsible for registration, auditing, contributions and arrears.
• Strengthening benefits and policyholder relations functions: improving skills relating to the processing of entitlements, service quality and the beneficiary experience.
• Financial and actuarial governance programmes: strengthening decision-making capacity regarding sustainability, reserves, projections and the financial equilibrium of schemes.
• Digital transformation of social services: developing the capabilities required for digitisation, automation and data-driven management.
• Fraud prevention and social risk management: strengthening systems for monitoring, detecting and securing operations.
• Institutional programmes in occupational health and safety: training for executives, managers, HSE officers and committees on governance and prevention.
• Assessment and transformation of occupational health and safety (OHS) systems: evaluation of the maturity, weaknesses and performance of prevention systems.
• Capacity building in high-risk sectors: tailored programmes for industries, infrastructure, construction sites, subcontractors and multi-site operations.
• Accident analysis and organisational learning: developing methods for investigating accidents and applying lessons learnt to prevent recurrence.
• Preparation for emerging occupational risks: building capacity to address changes linked to digitalisation, AI, automation, climate change and new forms of work.

These solutions enable organisations to address the challenges of social protection, institutional performance and prevention simultaneously, by tailoring interventions to the specific responsibilities, roles and risks of each organisation.