Occupational risk prevention

What is Occupational Risk Prevention?

• Prevention means the set of activities or measures adopted or foreseen for all the stages of a company’s work processes in order to avoid or decrease work-related risks.
• An occupational risk means the possibility that a worker could sustain a certain work-related injury.
• Diseases, pathologies or injuries sustained because of work or while working are considered work-related injuries.

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Right to protection from occupational risks

The framework standard of reference is Law 31/1995 of 8 Novembere, on Occupational Risk Prevention (LPRL) .

The LPRL expressly establishes the right of workers to effective occupational health and safety protection, which means that employers have a corresponding duty to protect their workers from occupational risks.

The rights of information, consultation and participation, training on prevention, cease of business activity in the event of a serious and imminent risk, and worker health monitoring are all part of workers’ rights to effective protection as regards occupational health and safety.

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Principles of preventive action

Article 15 of the LPRL urges employers to apply measures that are part of the duty of prevention, in accordance with the following principles:

• Avoiding risks.
• Assessing risks that cannot be avoided.
• Combatting risks at their source.
• Adapting work to the individual.
• Taking into account technical advancements.
• Replacing the dangerous by the non-dangerous or the less dangerous.
• Developing a prevention policy.
• Giving collective protective measures priority over individual protective measures.
• Giving appropriate instructions to workers.

An employer will consider the professional skills of the workers when entrusting tasks to them.

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Management of occupational risk prevention at a company

Occupational risk prevention must be integrated in the general management system of a company, both in its work as a whole and at all hierarchical levels of the company, by implementing and applying an occupational risk prevention plan.

This occupational risk prevention plan must include the organisational structure, responsibilities, functions, practices, procedures, processes and resources that are necessary for taking preventive actions at a company, under the terms set forth in the rules and regulations.

The essential instruments for applying a risk prevention plan are the occupational risk assessment and planning of the preventive activity.

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What is a risk assessment?

Royal Decree 39/1997 of 17th January, by virtue of which the regulations for prevention services are approved, defines in it´s article 3 the risk assesment as an occupational risk assessment is a process designed to estimate the magnitude of risks that could not be avoided, thereby obtaining the necessary information so that an employer is able to make the appropriate decision about the need to adopt preventive measures and, in such a case, about the type of measures that must be adopted.

Further information

• More information about ‘What must be assessed and how?’, ‘When must a risk assessment be done?’ and ‘Who can conduct a risk assessment?’ is available in the Labour Guide of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy and Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.
• Key Guidelines for The Occupational Safety and Health Development in The Company (Spanish)

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An employer’s responsibilities

Employers, including the Public Administrations, have the duty to protect their workers from occupational risks, ensuring their health and safety in all work-related aspects, by integrating preventive activities at their company and adopting all the necessary measures.

More information available in the Labour Guide of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy and Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

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Organisation of resources for preventive activities

An employer will organise the necessary resources for developing preventive activities depending on the number of workers who are exposed and the magnitude and category of the risks, using any of the following arrangements:

• The employer personally takes on the preventive activity.
• Designating one or several workers to do it.
• Setting up an in-house prevention service.
• Setting up a joint prevention service.
• Resorting to an external prevention service.

Annex I of the Regulation on Prevention Services sets forth the activities to be considered when organising prevention resources for processes that are hazardous or have special risks affected by specific provisions in some aspects of ORP (Occupational Risk Prevention), such as conducting the ER (Risk Assessment) or ensuring CAE (Coordination of Business Activities).

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Rights and obligations of workers

Rights of workers

• To be informed directly.
• To receive sufficient and suitable theoretical and practical training.
• To interrupt their activity and, if necessary, leave the workplace due to a serious and imminent risk to their life or health.
• To periodic monitoring of their state of health according to the risks inherent in the job.
• To have specific preventive measures available.
• To be consulted and to participate in all matters that might affect occupational health and safety.

Obligations of workers

• To use machines, tools, dangerous substances, equipment and any work tool appropriately.
• To use the protective means and equipment provided by the employer correctly and according to the instructions given.
• To use safety devices correctly.
• To report immediately any situation that, in the worker’s opinion, might involve a risk to worker health and safety.
• To contribute to compliance with the obligations established by the competent authority.
• To cooperate with the employer so that the employer can guarantee working conditions that are safe and do not put workers at health and safety risks.

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Protection from labour risks for ‘specific groups’

The following sets of workers are considered to be specific groups:

• either they are covered by specific regulations on occupational risk prevention that regulate their health and safety;
• or they could be more vulnerable to occupational risks, and special attention must be paid to assessing the job they do and to taking the necessary measures to ensure their safety and protect their health.

These groups include the following:

• female workers who are pregnant or who have recently given birth;
• workers who, due to their personal characteristics or a known biological condition, including those who have a recognised physical, mental or sensory disability, are especially susceptible to work-related risks;
• young people under 18 years of age, due to their lack of experience, their immaturity for assessing potential or existing risks or due to their incomplete development.

An employer will ensure the protection of workers included in these groups, and to do so, the employer will conduct a risk assessment of the jobs that are done or likely to be done by these workers, considering their specific characteristics (pregnancy or recent childbirth, special sensitivity to certain risks, minor) and adopting the necessary preventive and protective measures. Law 31/1995 of 8 November, on Occupational Risk Prevention (LPRL) , details these obligations in Articles 25, 26 and 27 thereof.

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Management of occupational risks for self-employed workers and SMEs (small and medium enterprises)

Prevencion10.es is a free public advisory service on occupational risk prevention targeted at:

• self-employed workers and
• SMEs (small and medium enterprises).

Its purpose is to not only simplify the management of occupational risks for companies of up to 25 workers but also to facilitate compliance with the coordination of business activities and to inform self-employed workers about those risks.

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Related agencies and departments

• National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety

  The National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (INSST) is the specialised scientific-technical agency of the State General Administration whose mission is to analyse and study occupational health and safety conditions, as well as promote and support the improvement thereof. You can find all the available information about this agency on the INSST website .

  Contact: The INSST places several communication channels at your disposal, whereby you can pose questions of interest in relation to the different services it offers, which are included in its Portfolio of Services.

• Labour and Social Security Inspectorate

  The Central Labour and Social Security Inspectorate is responsible for the function of ensuring and monitoring regulations on occupational risk prevention.

  All the information about this agency is available on the ITSS website .

• Directorate-General of Labour. Ministry of Labour and Social Economy

  Functions of the Directorate-General of Labour .

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Information for each Autonomous Community

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