HIRING WORKERS? DO NOT FORGET ABOUT THE HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK

Today we will talk about the obligation to carry out the Health and Safety at Work prevention (HSW) by the self-employed or companies. The Law 31/1995 states among other things that as entrepreneurs, exist the obligations to:

• Take the necessary measures for the protection of workers
• Inform and train workers regarding the HSW.
• To act facing an emergency situation and facing serious and imminent risk .
• Monitoring the health of their workers.
• Establish an organization and tools for prevention.

In case of small businesses or self-employed, the law sets some limits to the obligation, or not, to take personally the HWS or otherwise refer to a prevention service.

•   Companies or self-employed with no hired workers. In this case there is NO need for an organization to take care of the HSW to have a risk assessment or plan of risk prevention.

•      Companies or self-employed with workers. By having at least one hired worker it is needed to adapt the HSW. In companies with up to ten employees, the employer may undertake to organize prevention whenever customarily conducts its activity in the workplace and having the necessary capacity for doing it, depending on the risks of the company. Recently, the Law on Support to Entrepreneurship has increased up to 25 workers this limit, always in case there is only a single workplace. Do not get confused the fact of the own person assuming the implementation of HSW, with not having the obligation to comply with the law because the employer must apply the law to the range required by the developed economic activity and jobs to be protected in each case.

Outside these limits or in case of activities expressly requiring for it, the employer must choose to hire a prevention service that is responsible for the preventive activity.

•        Companies or autonomous without hired workers but affected by the rules on the coordination of business activities. This is when even without workers hired by the company, there are workers from other companies developing jobs in the workplace of the company. Then the employer shall provide information about the risks that the activity can produce into the equipment or workers of these other companies with which they are collaborating.

Due to the complexity of the law, the employer has the recommended option to seek advice of companies focused in the HSW which according to the needs and the business sector, will design a prevention plan adjusted to them. The prevention plan will serve to integrate risk prevention as a part in the overall management of the company.

Finally it should be noted that a breaching of the law by the employer may result in civil, criminal or administrative penalties that can range from the payment of a sum of money to the work stoppage by the authorities.

For further details do not hesitate in contact VP Advisers.