STPS inspection in Mexico: what happens when the inspector arrives

The gate calls the plant manager's office: an inspector from the STPS, Mexico's federal labor ministry, is asking for the person in charge. If no notice reached the plant, this is likely an extraordinary STPS inspection, with its own rules for paperwork and deadlines. They are set by the federal labor inspection regulation, known by its Spanish initials RGITAS, and the agency scheduled 38,455 inspections for 2026 (Inspection Program 2026, page 48). Our STPS compliance consulting prepares the evidence before a visit and can attend the inspection alongside your team.

What triggers an STPS inspection in Mexico?

The RGITAS was published in the DOF (Mexico's Official Gazette) on June 17, 2014 and last amended on August 23, 2022. Ordinary inspections take place on business days and hours (art. 27) and require a written notice (citatorio) delivered at least 24 hours ahead (art. 29). They include the initial visit, periodic visits roughly every 12 months and check visits on safety and health measures already ordered.

Extraordinary inspections can be ordered at any time, including non-business days and hours, and arrive with no notice (arts. 28 and 29). Triggers include an imminent danger, a complaint, an accident, false information and a strategy of the annual Inspection Program (art. 28). A work-related death must be scheduled for inspection within 24 hours of the authority learning of it (art. 37), and the 2026 program makes risks, complaints and accidents its main priority (page 43).

Which authority shows up? For safety and health and for training, the federal STPS is competent even when the company is otherwise under state labor jurisdiction, with state authorities assisting (Federal Labor Law, LFT, art. 527-A). In the automotive and auto parts industry, all labor rules are federal (art. 527).

The first minutes at the gate

The order goes to "the person with whom the proceeding is conducted" (art. 29), which can be whoever is at the gate. That person receives the original written order, signed by hand by the authorized official, plus a guide to the inspected party's rights and duties. The order states the work center, the scope of the visit, its legal basis and phone numbers to verify it. The inspector must show a current photo credential, and the LFT lets the employer ask for it (art. 132, section XXIV).

Phone and online systems let the employer confirm that the inspector and the order are genuine; if the data does not match, the inspection cannot proceed (art. 16). Refusing to verify, or being unable to, does not stop the visit; the inspector records it in the minutes. Train the gate team to verify the order on the spot and to call the designated representative right away.

Once the order checks out, the plant must grant access and cooperate (art. 30). Inspectors may visit during working hours on day or night shifts after identifying themselves (LFT art. 541, section II), so the night supervisor needs the same protocol. Refusing the inspection carries its own fine of 250 to 5,000 UMA, Mexico's daily unit for fines (LFT art. 1004-A), as our guide to STPS fines in Mexico explains.

Will the inspection be conducted in Spanish?

Plan for it. The interviews are where language matters most. The RGITAS says nothing about translation or interpreters, and the credential legend it prescribes is in Spanish: "Esta credencial no autoriza a su portador a realizar Inspección alguna, sin la orden correspondiente" (the credential does not authorize any inspection without the corresponding order).

A periodic visit covers only the NOMs (Mexican Official Standards) that apply to your site (art. 27, section II); an extraordinary one after a complaint, an imminent danger or an accident covers the standards presumed breached, the complaint or the causes of the accident (art. 28). The inspector describes each document shown, without subjective remarks (art. 34), asks for help from commission members and the most experienced staff (art. 32), and interviews workers and management, separately if needed (art. 33). Each worker is asked whether their personal data may be recorded.

Pick a Spanish-speaking representative who knows the safety records well enough to explain each one on the spot. Our register of STPS standards that apply to a plant in Mexico shows how to build the document list per standard.

Who signs the STPS inspection record (acta)?

Every inspection ends in detailed minutes (acta circunstanciada) drawn up with the employer, its representative or the person attending, and the workers, in front of two witnesses proposed by the company; if the company proposes none, the inspector appoints them (art. 30). Before closing, the inspector must let participants read the minutes, write observations and offer evidence (art. 35).

Signing is not what makes the minutes valid. If someone refuses, the inspector records the refusal and the minutes stand (art. 35). Copies go to the employer, the workers' representative and, where there is one, the safety and health commission, which the inspector also checks (art. 9). Facts the inspector certifies are presumed true unless proven otherwise (art. 17). If your corporate legal team needs to review the minutes, start the same day, because the five-day window opens when they are drawn up.

How long do you have to fix STPS findings?

There are two separate periods. The employer may file written observations and evidence within five days after the date of the minutes (art. 35). The regulation does not say business days, so plan as if the clock started that day. In safety and health inspections, the authority may also grant a correction period from immediate application up to 30 business days, weighing the industry, the company's economic scale, risk, headcount and how hard the fix is (art. 36).

Outside safety and health, the regulation gives no correction period, only five days to prove compliance. Readers used to OSHA citations will recognize the idea of an abatement date, but these periods and the five-day window come from Mexican rules, not from any U.S. model.

Follow-up visits, fines and repeat violations

If there is no violation, or the employer proves compliance within those periods, the file is closed (arts. 38 and 51). Otherwise a sanction proceeding starts, and its summons gives at least 15 business days to answer (arts. 51 and 53).

A fine does not end the matter. Within 60 business days after notifying the sanction, the authority must return to confirm the ordered safety measures are in place (art. 63). If the breach persists, the plant is a repeat offender, meaning the same provision was breached again within two years of the earlier minutes (art. 61, section V), and the LFT doubles the previous fine (art. 992). A finding left open until the check visit becomes a repeat violation with a doubled fine.

Getting a foreign-owned plant ready before the notice

An internal EHS audit runs on a date you set; an STPS visit comes with 24 hours of notice or none. Decide these points in advance:

• Who receives the inspector on each shift, who represents the company in the minutes and who the two witnesses will be.
• Where the gate team verifies the order and whom they call next.
• A binder per standard, with the current program, minutes and training certificates (DC-3, Mexico's certificate of labor skills), kept by someone who can explain it in Spanish.
• One owner for the five-day window and for any correction period the minutes set.

The safety and health commission and its walk-through minutes belong in that binder, since inspectors check that the commission exists and works. SIISA runs the gap review against the standards that apply to your site, organizes the evidence an inspector will ask for and, if you want, attends the visit with your team. Settle these roles while no notice is pending, because an extraordinary visit gives no time to assign them.