Brazil’s NR-1 Now Treats Psychosocial Hazards as Workplace Safety Risks

Overview

• The NR-1 update took effect on 26 May 2026 and formally adds psychosocial risks—such as workplace harassment, chronic pressure, long hours and toxic management—to the country’s core occupational safety rules.
• Companies must now include identification, evaluation and mitigation of psychosocial hazards in their mandatory Programa de Gerenciamento de Riscos (PGR) using documented steps like employee surveys, absence-analysis, complaint channels, leadership training and reviews of workloads.
• Labour inspectors can request updated PGRs remotely and will use a 90-day dupla visita model that gives a first visit for orientation and pendency mapping and reserves fines or autuações for a later second visit.
• Most firms say they are not ready: a Pandapé survey found about 27% fully compliant, roughly 50% partially adapted, and many cited gaps in methodology, data and leadership preparedness that risk regulatory, legal and reputational costs.
• The rule targets organizational causes of mental ill health tied to how work is structured rather than private life, and analysts expect a rise in workplace mental-health litigation as courts and technical bodies develop objective standards.