Five lives have been charged at work for not taking prevention measures

Spain is living Your first heat wave of the year And, with her the reminders about him High risk of heat blows and other occupational accidents such as high temperatures results.

Spain is traditionally territory acclimatized at high temperaturesand therefore it tends to belittle the risk of exposing yourself to the sun or ignoring the episodes of high temperatures. At the moment, the four days of the heat wave that punishes Spain It has already been charged The life of five workers For heat blows, according to The latest data of ccoo.

Work abroad and poorly conditioned places. According to CCOO information, four of the five victims killed in accidents at work, showed Symptoms of having suffered heat blows as a consequence of performing outdoors and hours of maximum exposure to heat.

The fifth deceased was inside an industrial ship without sufficient ventilation or thermal protection, which makes these facilities Horn during the summer and in fridge during the winter.

According to collected statements by him Eldiario.es “He said that his head hurt and that he was going to the service. When they went to look for him he was lying on the ground, they tried to revive him, but he had died.” Sources of CCOO said that “the ship has a plate roof, it is not divided and does not have air conditioning, so the heat is concentrated. José had told us that they were very hot in summer and cold in winter, and we had denounced it to the company.”

Prevention is not a whim. After the modifications of the Occupational Risk Prevention Law applied in 2023 by the Royal Decree-Law 4/2023a series of prevention measures designed specifically to protect employees during the increasingly common episodes of high temperatures were established. Unlike other occupational hazards, heat episodes They are predictable Thanks to meteorological forecasts, so companies can (and must) apply action plans to adapt to them.

In article 4.2 of the Workers Statuteit is established that the company must guarantee employees “their physical integrity and an adequate policy of occupational risk prevention”, while the Occupational Risk Prevention Law It demands that companies “take appropriate measures for the protection of workers who work outdoors or in places that cannot be closed.” In addition, the regulations contemplate the extreme to be able to temporarily cancel work activity “in those cases where the proper protection of the working person cannot be guaranteed.”

It all starts when the Aemet gives the notice. 2023 regulations establish that the State Meteorology Agency (Aemet) will be responsible for establishing the alert level that forces companies to activate different protocols by high temperatures. When this organism activates the alerts of orange level or red level by episodes of high temperatures, companies of the affected territories For that alert they must activate their Occupational Risk Prevention Protocols due to thermal stress.

Such and As I remembered The Minister of Labor and Social Economy, that activation indicates that companies are bound by law A:

• Facilitate time flexibility or redistribute the day To avoid maximum exposure hours. This is achieved well advancing the time of entry or delaying the usual departure time, as well as changing the activity to adequate interior areas or with lower exposure to high temperatures.
• When it is not viable to adapt the working day, the company can choose to reduce the day during the alert periods, being able to recover that adjustment time when the heat episode ends.
• The most drastic measure is the total interruption of the working day when none of the previous relief measures can be applied, but it is mandatory if the climatic conditions can put the health of employees at risk.

Interior heat prevention. Not being exposed to the direct sun does not mean that heat strokes cannot occur, especially in places like kitchens o jobs in which you are exposed to heat sources. He Annex III of Royal Decree 486/1997of April 14, establishes the minimum provisions of safety and prevention of thermal stress for work that must be carried out indoors.

In general terms, limits between 17 and 27 are established for sedentary work and between 14 to 25º for light jobs, as well as sufficient ventilation and air conditioning systems for Maintain that temperature throughout the working day.

Responsibilities and obligations. In case of extreme heat episodes, the regulations establish that companies are responsible for the application of adequate prevention measures to protect employees from thermal stress. Failure to comply with that responsibility involves sanctions for the company ranging from 2,451 euros to 49,180 euros for infractions considered serious, and up to 983,736 euros for very serious infractions.

On the other hand, employees have the obligation to ensure compliance and denounce their breach, in addition to adopting Other additional protection measureshow to maintain a Adequate hydration although it is not thirsty during the most heat episodes and respecting the rest times in fresh places.

In Xataka | There is heat wave, you work less: what does the law say exactly on the workday under extreme temperatures

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