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What it regulates
The decree established prohibitions on dangerous or unhealthy work using the age and sex categories of 1957. Law 31/1995 repealed its provisions concerning women’s work and retained those concerning minors pending implementation of Article 27(2). This record documents that partial validity as at 14 November 2026, alongside the protection of every worker under eighteen; historical restrictions on adult women are not current duties.
Who it applies to
Employers and workers under eighteen, regardless of sex, within the current employment and occupational-risk-prevention framework. Ordinary employment begins at sixteen; Article 6(4) of the Workers’ Statute provides a limited, authorised exception for public performances. The historical scope included women of every age and a category of women under twenty-one, which must not be carried into present-day requirements. This record is limited to occupational safety and health and interpretation of the decree’s continuing validity.
Key provisions
Article 1 covers dangerous machinery operations: lubrication, cleaning, examination or repair of running mechanisms and operation of specified machines. The exception in paragraph (c) requires the accident danger to be completely prevented by safety devices; it is not a general authorisation for a minor to use any machine.
Article OneParagraph (d) addresses work more than four metres above ground, with an exception for continuous, stable and properly protected floors. Paragraph (e) also covers excessive physical effort or work unsuitable for personal circumstances. Working at a lower height or outside a listed activity does not remove the duty to assess risks specifically for a minor.
Article OneParagraph (f) contains a historical table for carrying, pushing and pulling loads, differentiated by age and sex. Its references to adult women are no longer in force. The table must not be presented as a universally safe weight limit or as permission to employ someone below the current minimum working age.
Article OneThe prohibitions in the first and second schedules extend to analogous work even in a different industrial group. Where the reason is toxic emissions, harmful dust or fire or explosion danger, Article 2 generally includes mere presence in the premises. The activity, reason for prohibition and any particular conditions in the schedule must all be read together.
Article TwoThe appended schedules organise activities by industrial group and describe their dangers. The second schedule includes, among other activities, operations involving toxic agents, extraction, construction and transport. Its 1957 terminology does not replace a current workplace assessment or exhaust the activities that may be dangerous for minors.
Second listArticle 3 provided for labour-inspection authorisations for apprenticeship or suitable work with fully guaranteed health and safety. Its current reading is subject to the Workers’ Statute and the Occupational Risk Prevention Law: a training contract, parental permission or this historical provision does not by itself override minimum-age rules or statutory prohibitions.
Article ThreeArticle 4 assigns extension or adjustment of prohibitions to the authorities, using the prescribed inquiries and reports. An employer cannot treat a prohibition as lifted solely because it considers a technique or installation improved; the applicable rules and current administrative competence must be respected.
Article FourHistory and versions
Initial publication: 26/08/1957 · Initial entry into force: 15/09/1957
BOE-A-1957-11398Signed on 26 July 1957, published on 26 August 1957 and in force from 15 September 1957. The BOE records four subsequent relationships: 1957 errata, 1960 night-work legislation, a 1962 declaration of continuing validity and partial repeal by Law 31/1995. The latter took effect on 10 February 1996. The historical articles remain visible, making the validity note and higher-ranking rules essential to interpretation.
Law 31/1995, published on 10 November 1995: sole repealing provision (b) removes the decree’s aspects concerning women’s work and retains those concerning minors pending implementation of Article 27(2). Effective from 10 February 1996. The record labels this relationship “repealed”, but the law itself limits it to a partial repeal.
BOE-A-1995-24292Errata published on 5 September 1957 in BOE 226. They correct nine errors in the industrial schedules, including substance names, the description of explosion danger and the Spanish word “Fundaciones”. They are incorporated into the text checked. The actual publication date must not be replaced by 26 August 1957, the date associated with the version note in the XML.
BOE-A-1957-11832Decree 1156/1960 of 2 June, published on 23 June 1960: its sole article prohibited employed night work for minors of both sexes under eighteen, with night time then defined as 20:00–07:00. It is recorded as related legislation, not a textual amendment of the 1957 articles. Current duties are read with Articles 6 and 36 of the Workers’ Statute.
BOE-A-1960-9133Decree 258/1962 of 1 February, published on 16 February 1962: its equivalence table expressly retained rules on toxic, arduous, dangerous or unhealthy work by women, including the 1957 decree. Decree 2310/1970 subsequently repealed the 1962 decree; that must not be confused with a complete repeal of the 1957 decree. The aspects concerning women were expressly repealed by Law 31/1995.
BOE-A-1962-3718All text versions recorded by the BOE
| Publication | Effective date | Official reference | Affected provisions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26/08/1957 | 15/09/1957 | BOE-A-1957-11398 | Preamble, Article One, Article Two, Article Three, Article Four, Article Five, Transitional provision , Signature, First list, Second list |
| 26/08/1957 | 15/09/1957 | BOE-A-1957-11832 | Introductory note |
| 16/02/1962 | — | BOE-A-1962-3718 | Introductory note |
| 10/11/1995 | 10/02/1996 | BOE-A-1995-24292 | Introductory note |
Transitional provisions and application notes
Sole repealing provision (b) of Law 31/1995 repealed the aspects concerning women’s work and retained those concerning minors pending implementation of Article 27(2). The law was published on 10 November 1995 and that repeal took effect on 10 February 1996. This is neither a complete repeal of the decree nor authority to apply general prohibitions to adult women today.
Official referenceArticle 27 protects all workers under eighteen. It requires assessment before they start work and before important changes, taking account of inexperience, immaturity and incomplete development, and information for the young worker and parents or guardians involved in recruitment. Protection of a minor does not disappear because the rules based on being a woman were repealed.
Official referenceArticle 6 of the current Workers’ Statute prohibits employment below sixteen and, for workers under eighteen, night work, legally restricted activities and overtime. The public-performance exception for children under sixteen requires exceptional written labour-authority permission for specified performances, without danger to health or development. The age categories used in 1957 do not change those limits.
Official referenceRepeal of general restrictions on women does not remove prevention duties during pregnancy, following childbirth or during breastfeeding. Those situations are governed by the assessment and specific measures in Article 26 of the Occupational Risk Prevention Law, not by a general ban on occupations for women or the historical age threshold of twenty-one.
Official referenceThe transitional provision addressed workers already affected on the 1957 publication date: it provided for transfer within the employer without detriment and possible permission to continue under the contract then in existence. It is not a general present-day exception for new recruitment and does not override later statutory prohibitions.
Transitional provisionArticle 5 repealed the Decree of 25 January 1908 and incompatible provisions. This is an express antecedent in the text; no BOE identifier for the 1908 decree is invented, and the automated reference list is not presented as the complete legislative history.
Article FiveDecree 1156/1960, included as a historical relationship, defined night time for minors as 20:00–07:00. This must not be copied as the current general definition: Article 36(1) of the Workers’ Statute defines night work as 22:00–06:00, without prejudice to applicable additional restrictions or safeguards. The prohibition on night work for those under eighteen is set out in Article 6(2).
Official referenceRoyal Decree 607/2026 on artistic work was published on 25 July 2026 and is scheduled to enter into force on 25 May 2027. At this record’s cut-off date it is not in force: its provisions concerning minors are not presented as duties already applicable or as a repeal of the 1957 decree.
Official referenceThe BOE XML retains the historical articles and places the partial-repeal warning in the initial note. The XML dates the errata note’s version to 26 August 1957, but the correction was actually published on 5 September 1957. Both data are preserved and distinguished. The administrative record update of 7 May 2026 is not an amendment published that day.
Official reference
Official BOE legal relationships
Subsequent references (4)
- Repeal recorded · BOE-A-1995-24292
- Correction of printing errors · BOE-A-1957-11832
- Related instrument issued · BOE-A-1960-9133
- Official relationship · BOE-A-1962-3718
