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What it regulates
The Statute recognises effective protection, preventive training and worker participation. This entry connects these rules with night and shift-work health, disconnection and protection against risks preventing travel to the workplace.
Who it applies to
Employment relationships covered by the Statute. Selection: Articles 4(2)(d)–(e), 5(b), 19, 20 bis, 36(1) and 36(3)–(5), and Article 37(3) leave for inability to reach work or serious and imminent risk. Other hiring, pay, termination and family-care provisions unrelated to prevention are outside the entry.
Key provisions
Recognises physical integrity and an adequate prevention policy, together with dignity and protection from harassment. Article 5(b) requires workers to observe adopted preventive measures.
Article 4Protection must be effective. The employer ensures sufficient and appropriate theoretical and practical training on recruitment and when duties, technology or equipment change, under the OSH Prevention Act.
Article 19Provides for representative participation, preventive requests and stoppage in imminent danger. It operates alongside the rights and procedures of the OSH Prevention Act, particularly Article 21.
Article 19Night and shift work requires adapted protection equivalent to that of other staff. Night workers are guaranteed free health assessment before assignment and at regular intervals thereafter.
Article 36Recognised health problems linked to night work allow transfer to an existing daytime job for which the person is fit, under statutory conditions. Work pace must be adapted to the person and mitigate monotony and repetition.
Article 36Article 20 bis recognises digital disconnection under digital-rights legislation, relevant to rest and prevention of technology-related overload.
Article 20 bisLeave for inability to reach work or serious and imminent risk, including disasters or adverse weather, starts with up to four days and continues while the circumstances persist, subject to the provision’s force-majeure and remote-work rules.
Article 37History and versions
Initial publication: 24/10/2015 · Initial entry into force: 13/11/2015
BOE-A-2015-11430Published on 24 October 2015 and effective from 13 November 2015, it replaces the 1995 consolidated statute. Organic Act 3/2018 added Article 20 bis; Royal Decree-Law 8/2024 added leave for inability to reach work and serious and imminent risk. Articles 19 and 36 retain their initial wording in the consulted text; this entry does not reconstruct every labour-law reform.
Previous consolidated statute, repealed by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015.
BOE-A-1995-7730Organic Act 3/2018: adds Article 20 bis, effective from 7 December 2018.
BOE-A-2018-16673Royal Decree-Law 8/2024: Article 37(3) access and risk leave, effective from 30 November 2024.
BOE-A-2024-24840Text versions of the selected OSH provisions
| Publication | Effective date | Official reference | Affected provisions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24/10/2015 | 13/11/2015 | BOE-A-2015-11430 | Article 4, Article 5, Article 19, Article 36 |
| 06/12/2018 | 07/12/2018 | BOE-A-2018-16673 | Article 20 bis |
| 29/11/2024 | 30/11/2024 | BOE-A-2024-24840 | Article 37 |
Transitional provisions and application notes
The written request and four-day period in Article 19(5) do not require waiting in the face of serious and imminent risk. They must be read alongside immediate stoppage and Article 21 of the OSH Prevention Act.
Article 19The general eight-hour night-work limit is averaged over fifteen days; special rules and particularly hazardous work have additional conditions. This average must not be confused with the stricter maximum under Royal Decree 1561/1995.
Article 36This entry selects leave for risk or inability to reach work. The 2026 versions of Article 37 affect other paragraphs; the article’s overall date does not by itself identify an amendment to that leave.
Article 37
Official BOE legal relationships
This record covers the history of the selected occupational safety and health provisions. The official analysis also provides the relationships affecting other subjects in the legislation.
Official BOE legal relationships
