HEALTH AND SAFETY
| SPAIN |
| SEGURIDAD E HIGIENE HEALTH AND SAFETY |
Set of systems, measures and instruments directed at preventing and eliminating risks and factors which render work dangerous or unhealthy. Spanish health and safety legislation includes basic provisions in general laws (Workers' Statute, General Social Security Act, General Health Act), specific regulations ( Prevention of Occupational Hazards Act ), sectoral and occupational regulations, plus the numerous provisions laid down by collective agreements and the regulations issued by the regions or Autonomous Communities. Spain's accession to the EEC also implies implementation of the many Community Directives on health and safety issued in the 1980s. The content of health and safety regulations is very varied: safety at work, industrial hygiene, occupational health and industrial medicine, training activities, etc. The obligations of employers, managerial staff and workers are also very diverse: they cover design and maintenance of work premises, use of machinery and tools, training in new work methods and new technologies and medical examinations . Similarly numerous are the research bodies (such as the National Institute of Health and Safety and other regional centres); the mechanisms of supervision and monitoring (some of which involve the participation of workers: health and safety committee, safety representatives ); and means of enforcement (liabilities and penal and administrative sanctions). Studies are in progress on far-reaching changes in the basic regulations to adjust them to modern production systems and to bring them into line with EEC and ILO regulations. See accident at work/industrial accident .
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.