Occupational Health and Safety

Posted on Oct 2, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

Work and Health

Concept of Health

According to the World Health Organization, health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Relationship Between Work and Health

Work can positively influence health (satisfying needs and encouraging personal development) or negatively influence it (generating risks and causing damage such as work accidents, occupational diseases, or fatigue).

Prevention of Occupational Risks (PRL)

Regulations

The 1978 Constitution provides that public authorities must ensure health and safety at work.

Spain joined the EU and, with international commitments made, needed to adjust our regulations. To this end comes the Law 31/1995 on Prevention of Occupational Risks (LPRL).

Later, this law has been developed by other more specific regulations and regulated by general regulations such as the Statute of Workers, General Law of Social Security, and Collective Bargaining.

Objective

Promote safety and health of workers and establish general principles for the prevention of occupational hazards.

Basics

  • Prevention: A set of activities or actions taken or planned to take in all phases of business activity in order to avoid/reduce risks.
  • Safety: The possibility that a worker suffers harm from a particular work (falls, blows, noise).
  • Damage from work: Diseases, illnesses, or injuries suffered as a result of the work.
  • Risk Factor: Working condition if there increases the probability of occurrence of the damage. Ex: Using a computer with disabilities.
  • Working Condition: Any characteristic of work that can influence the generation of risks to worker health and safety.

Classifications:

Safety Conditions
  • Workplace: Spaces, facilities, stairs
  • Work teams: Equipment, tools, transportation equipment.
Environmental Conditions
  • Physical agents: Noise, vibration, radiation, temperature, illumination.
  • Chemicals: Chemicals
  • Biological agents: Viruses, bacteria, protozoa, fungi, and worms.
Ergonomics
  • Physical workload: Cargo handling, posture, physical exertion
  • Mental load

Psychosocial Conditions

Psychosocial factors: Job, work organization, individual characteristics.

Employer’s Obligations

General Obligations
  • Ensuring the safety and worker health
  • Take measures to protect the safety and health of workers
  • Comply with the rules on prevention
  • Assume the cost of health and safety measures
Specific Obligations
  • Develop a prevention plan
      • Provide workers with teamwork
      • Provide personal protective equipment (PPE)
      • Report, provide directly to the employee oral or written information on:
  • Occupational hazards
  • Prevention and protection measures
  • Emergency measures.
  • Ensure education and training, sufficient and adequate in terms of PRL, the risks and actions that affect the worker, at the following times:

When workers join your job.

When changes occur in the different positions.

When introducing new technology or changes in work teams.

This training will be provided whenever possible within the working day or, failing that, at other times minus the time spent of the workday.

  • Emergency measures (first aid, firefighting, evacuation of workers), in serious risk, take steps to leave the workplace.
  • Health surveillance (voluntary for the employee unless it is necessary to evaluate the effects of work on worker health, when it establishes a statutory provision, or to check the health of a worker may constitute a danger to others).
  • Documentation, develop and retain documentation relating to the preventive activity of the company.. (prevention plan, medical checks, …)
  • Coordinate the different companies of the workplace (or in case of subcontractors).
  • Protection of particularly vulnerable groups (pregnant women, minors, and temporary workers)

Risk of maternity or breastfeeding

  • First, restructure the working conditions or working hours.
        • If you cannot change the above, move to another position
        • If not possible, this will suspend the contract for risk in pregnancy.

Under 18

  • Before occupying the position, do a damage assessment, take into account they are immature, lack of experience, and the incomplete development.
  • Report potential risks and protection measures

Rights and Obligations of Employees

Worker Rights
  • To receive information and training on prevention of occupational risks in relation to their job.
  • Staying the activity (by business representatives) in case of imminent and serious risk and could leave the workplace without being penalized.
  • Health surveillance through medical examinations.
  • Receive Epis (individual protection equipment).
  • Free preventive measures taken.
Obligations of Workers
  • Comply with measures for prevention.
  • Appropriate use of available resources for the development of the activity.
  • No disconnecting safety devices
  • Report any risk.
  • Cooperate with the employer to ensure safe working conditions.

Responsibility for Custody

Failure by the employer of its obligations in the prevention of occupational hazards gives rise to liability of type:

  • Administration: Imposition of administrative penalties for noncompliance, incorrect action, or inaction. These may be minor, serious, or very serious.
  • Criminal: It is derived from any conduct, acts or omissions, or lack criminalized in the Penal Code
  • Civil: The employer must compensate the employee for damages caused to their health and safety.

Damage to Health

Specific Conditions

(AT) Work Accident

Def. Injury the employee suffers as a result of paid employment

Requirements/Elements

  • Paid employment
          • That is an injury
          • Causal relationship between work and injury.

AT’s are also considered

  • In Itinere
    • Elected in trade union
    • Occurred while performing tasks other than their professional
    • Acts of rescue if they have a connection with the work
    • Common diseases contracted in the performance of their work
    • Illnesses suffered before and they get to
    • The consequences of the accident changed by new diseases contracted in the medium in which the worker has been placed for a cure
    • Not considered the AT occurred by intent or gross negligence of the worker

Causes of AT

  • Human factor or unsafe act, negligence, ignorance, carelessness, or lack of training or information
  • Technical factors or unsafe conditions, environmental conditions, machinery, safety devices or protection facilities or processes and procedures
  • Combining the previous two.

(EP) Occupational Disease

Def. The illnesses contracted as a result of paid employment.

Requirements:

  • Paid employment
  • Result of activities and substances or elements specified in the table of occupational diseases (RD 1299 to 1206)
  • The EP not included in the table can be AT

Nonspecific conditions:

Dissatisfaction, fatigue, stress.

Prevention Techniques

Def. These are measures which detect and eliminate business risk factors, encompassing protection and prevention measures.

Types:

  • Job security studies the origin of the work to avoid accidents and to establish protective measures.
  • Industrial hygiene studies, identifies, and monitors pollutants in the workplace.
  • Work ergonomically adapted to the conditions of the worker to prevent physical and mental fatigue.
  • Prevents Psicosociología can suffer psychological damage as a result of the worker’s job.
  • Occupational Health aims to maintain worker health in optimum condition.