Standards

What Are Regulatory Standards

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Discover what Regulatory Standards are, how many NRs are currently in force in Brazil, and get an overview of the main EHS standards.

By: Vitória Willemann

Brazil's Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) legislation is one of the most extensive and detailed in the world. So that companies can protect their employees' physical integrity and shield the operation itself from severe labour liabilities, the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MTE) sets out mandatory technical guidelines.

Whether you are taking over the management of a new SESMT, structuring your company's compliance, or simply looking to consolidate your technical knowledge, this article works as a central starting point. Here, we explain what Regulatory Standards are, how many currently exist, and map out the essential content for your operational management.

What are Regulatory Standards (NRs)?

Regulatory Standards, known by the acronym NRs, are provisions that complement Chapter V of Brazil's Consolidation of Labour Laws (CLT). They consist of a set of mandatory technical requirements and procedures related to occupational safety and medicine.

Compliance with these standards is compulsory for all private and public companies, direct and indirect government bodies, and even the Legislative and Judicial branches, provided they have employees governed by the CLT.

In practice, the NRs standardise everything from the correct way to provide protective equipment to the ventilation parameters of a basement, aiming to reduce occupational disease and prevent accidents on the ground.

So, how many NRs exist in Brazil?

One of the most common questions for people starting out in EHS is: how many NRs are there?

Since they were created in 1978, the list of regulations has been through several updates and expansions to keep pace with the modernisation of productive sectors. The official numbering goes up to NR-38 (Occupational Health and Safety in Urban Cleaning and Solid Waste Management Activities).

However, it is worth noting that two standards have been revoked over the years: NR-02 (Prior Inspection) and NR-27 (Professional Registration of the Occupational Safety Technician). So Brazil currently has 36 Regulatory Standards in force.

To make technical interpretation easier, the government classifies the NRs into three categories:

  1. General Standards: apply to all companies and employment relationships (e.g. NR-01).
  2. Special Standards: regulate work carried out in specific activities or with specific equipment, regardless of sector (e.g. NR-06, NR-35).
  3. Sector-specific Standards: apply only to certain economic sectors (e.g. NR-18 for construction).

Mapping the main NRs in EHS routines

To guarantee technical compliance, the safety department has to juggle several different requirements at once. Below, we map out the most critical regulations. (You can click the highlighted terms to dive deeper into the dedicated articles on each topic.)

Management and Occupational Health:

  • Everything starts with NR-01 and its General Provisions, which establishes Occupational Risk Management (GRO) and the PGR.
  • How the technical and representative teams are structured is set out by NR-04, which regulates the SESMT, and by NR-05, which governs the CIPA.
  • On the health side, NR-07 governs the PCMSO, ensuring clinical monitoring of workers, while NR-09 deals with assessing and controlling occupational exposures.

Protection and Environmental Risks:

Critical Risks and Specific Operations:

Infrastructure and Sectors:

  • Construction has its own, highly dynamic rules, governed by NR-18.
  • Finally, any company's physical facilities must comply with NR-23's fire protection rules and the comfort parameters set out in NR-24 for sanitary conditions.

Guaranteeing simultaneous compliance with dozens of Regulatory Standards is safety professionals' biggest challenge. Tracking working-at-height training, clinical examinations, machinery inspections and electrical reports using manual processes or scattered spreadsheets opens the door to human error, fines and shutdown orders.

Centralising these requirements in a single ecosystem is essential. Digitalisation lets your department manage compliance end to end, connecting the requirements of all these standards directly to field routines and to the ongoing monitoring of your employees and contractors.

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