The Regulatory Standard No. 3 (NR-3) was first issued on June 8, 1978, by Ministry of Labor Ordinance No. 3,214. It sets out procedures for embargo and interdiction to prevent serious and imminent risks to workers’ health and safety. These measures are preventive and not punitive.
Embargo and interdiction are administrative actions taken to avoid accidents or illnesses that could result in severe injury to workers. Since NR-3 outlines administrative measures for Labor Inspectors to identify serious and imminent risks (GIR), no specific National Tripartite Thematic Commission has been created to oversee this standard.
NR-3 has undergone three revisions: two minor ones in 1983 and 2011, and a comprehensive review in 2019. The 2019 revision aimed to establish clear, objective technical criteria for consistent, proportional, and transparent decision-making by Labor Inspectors. A Technical Group, mainly composed of Labor Inspectors, prepared the revised text, incorporating suggestions from various stakeholders, including Fundacentro, the Public Ministry of Labor, and representatives of employers and workers in the Tripartite Parity Commission (CTPP).
The updated standard introduces clear parameters to assess the “imminence” and “severity” of risks based on a combination of event consequences and the likelihood of their occurrence. The evaluation process involves three steps: determining the current risk during inspection, establishing the reference risk based on legal preventive measures, and identifying the excess risk by comparing the current and reference risks.
NR03 – Embargo and Interdiction
(SEPRT Ordinance No. 1068, of 09/23/2019, DOU 09/24/2019)
