Information, communication and consultation
Providing information means making necessary content on risks and measures available. Communication incorporates exchange, clarification and feedback. Consultation means allowing worker representatives to participate before certain decisions, as provided by Articles 18 and 33 of Spain’s Occupational Risk Prevention Act (LPRL).
A circular announcing an already completed decision does not by itself fulfil prior consultation. Nor does a general campaign replace direct information about job-specific risks. Each process needs an identifiable recipient and purpose.
Design a simple message pathway
The plan must specify who communicates, with whom, about what, through which channel and who responds. Article 2 of the Prevention Services Regulations includes responsibilities and communication pathways between hierarchical levels within the prevention plan.
Separate urgent warnings, operational changes, periodic reminders and improvement suggestions. An immediate hazard cannot depend on someone reading a weekly newsletter. An alternative channel must allow communication when the usual tool fails or digital access is unavailable.
Combine channels according to the work
- Start-of-shift meeting: daily changes, conflicting activities and critical points.
- Workplace instruction: the method and limits of a specific task.
- Direct warning: a risk requiring immediate intervention.
- Suggestion channel: improvements requiring analysis and a response.
- Preventive representation: collective consultation and follow-up.
- Newsletter or poster: a reminder of a known measure, with access to more information.
The channel must suit the shift, language, accessibility and actual opportunity to read it. Repeating the same message everywhere can obscure urgency rather than reinforce it.
Prepare campaigns that lead to action
A useful campaign starts with a specific problem: improving shift handover, reducing blocked routes or reporting equipment failures earlier. It must specify observable behaviour, explain its purpose and provide the means to perform it.
Test messages with people doing the job to identify ambiguity. If people are asked to use a pedestrian route, it must first exist and remain accessible. A campaign can reinforce that measure; it cannot compensate for a design that forces people into the vehicle area.
Close the loop on reports and suggestions
Article 29 of the LPRL provides for reporting risk situations. The company needs a system to receive them, determine urgency, assign action and communicate the outcome. Reporting unsafe conditions loses value if reports disappear without a response.
Feedback should explain what has been done or why further analysis is needed. Personal information must be protected, avoiding disclosure of health data or blame in general channels. Learning can be shared without unnecessarily exposing identities.
How to check whether communication works
Directive 89/391/EEC includes information and participation as elements of prevention. Compliance is not measured solely by messages sent: reach, understanding and response should be checked.
Review pending reports, time to action, repeated difficulties and knowledge of essential instructions. Email opens measure distribution, not understanding. A short conversation or observation of a task can show whether the message became an applicable practice.
Hypothetical example: traffic changes
A site changes vehicle circulation. Before the change, it consults on relevant preventive matters, updates routes and shows the new paths to each shift. External personnel receive information adapted to their access.
During the first week, difficulties are collected and a poorly visible sign is corrected. The adjustment is communicated when the issue is closed. The initial poster is part of the process, but improvement also depends on observation and responding to people who use the route.
