Spain’s Labour Inspectorate and OHS: what it checks, penalties for breaching the prevention law and how to prepare for a visit
Common questions about Spain’s Labour Inspectorate include how to file a complaint, how to send anonymous information through its Mailbox, what Law 23/2015 says and what inspectors review during a company visit. For anyone managing occupational health and safety, the useful question is the last one. This article explains how the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate (ITSS) acts on prevention matters, what documentation it requires, what penalties it applies and how to prepare for a visit.
How the Labour Inspectorate acts on OHS
Law 23/2015 organises the Labour and Social Security Inspection System and gives it responsibility for enforcing occupational risk prevention regulations. Proceedings may be initiated ex officio, on a superior’s order, at another authority’s request, on the Inspectorate’s own initiative or following a complaint. A formal complaint requires identification, although the ITSS must keep the complainant’s identity confidential; the ITSS Mailbox accepts anonymous communications, which are not formal complaints. The Strategic Plan 2025-2027 sets the priorities: fatal accidents, musculoskeletal disorders, psychosocial risks, heat and weather conditions, remote work and working time, plus sector-specific campaigns.
The context justifies it: in 2025 there were 613 fatalities during working hours and 158 commuting fatalities, 771 in total. In the first half of 2026 there were 358 fatalities in total: 290 during working hours and 68 while commuting.
What the Inspectorate checks in occupational risk prevention
- The prevention plan, the chosen preventive organisation model and the contract with the external prevention service.
- Risk assessment by job and its update after changes, accidents or health damage.
- Preventive activity planning with measures, deadlines, owners and follow-up.
- Training and information for each worker, with evidence.
- Health surveillance: offer, fitness results and protocols applied.
- Preventive resource in the activities that require it and contractor coordination.
- Personal protective equipment: delivery, training and use.
- Accident investigation and accident reporting.
- Consultation and participation of prevention delegates and the health and safety committee.
Penalties for breaching Spain’s Occupational Risk Prevention Law
Infringements are classified in the LISOS (Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000). Minor infringements are punishable by fines of 45 to 2,450 euros; serious infringements by 2,451 to 49,180 euros; and very serious infringements by 49,181 to 983,736 euros, depending on the applicable degree. Examples: failing to carry out the risk assessment or planning is a serious infringement; failing to act on a serious and imminent risk is very serious. Add to this compliance orders, stoppage of work, the surcharge on social security benefits for lack of safety measures in the event of an accident and possible criminal liability.
How a visit unfolds
The Inspectorate can arrive unannounced. Typically there is a site visit with interviews, on-site document review and a request for the remaining documentation within a deadline. The outcome can be a compliance order, an infringement notice or, where there is a serious and imminent risk, an immediate stoppage.
Checklist to prepare for a visit
- Prevention plan signed, up to date and known to management.
- Current risk assessment by job, dated and reviewed after changes.
- Preventive planning with closed measures and evidence of execution.
- Training and information records per person, with content and date.
- Health surveillance: evidence that it was offered and, where relevant, of consent or refusal; protocols applied and fitness conclusions, while preserving the confidentiality of health data.
- Signed PPE delivery and training in its use.
- Contractor coordination documentation for contractors, subcontractors and self-employed workers.
- Appointments of preventive resources and records concerning the election or designation of prevention delegates by the workers’ representatives.
- Accident and incident investigations with measures adopted.
- Working time records and measures under heat warnings, where applicable.
How Sabentis helps
The Inspectorate does not ask whether the company prevents, but whether it can prove it. Sabentis centralises the plan, risk assessment, preventive planning, training, health surveillance, PPE and contractor coordination in a single system with traceability, and facilitates its orderly preparation and export when requested by the Inspectorate. Its legal self-assessment within the communication, training and compliance modules helps identify documentary gaps before a visit. On the real cost of not doing so: the real cost of a workplace accident.
Frequently asked questions
Can a worker file an anonymous complaint with the Labour Inspectorate?
Not as a formal complaint. A complaint requires identification, but the ITSS keeps the complainant’s identity confidential from the inspected company. Anonymous information may be submitted through the ITSS Mailbox.
How long do I have to provide the requested documentation?
The compliance order sets the deadline; keeping the document system up to date means not depending on it.
What changes with the OHS law reform?
If enacted in its current form, the reform would expressly mention psychosocial and climate-related risks and strengthen preventive resources and certain CAE oversight duties concerning self-employed workers. Meanwhile, current legislation already requires all present occupational risks to be assessed. Details in our guide to the reform.
