Mandatory occupational risk prevention documentation

What is mandatory preventive documentation?

Law 31/1995 establishes prevention as an obligation with verifiable results and, to this end, requires that preventive actions be documented. Article 23 lists the minimum required documentation and establishes three associated duties: to prepare and maintain these documents, to make them available to the labor authority, and to submit them to the labor authority in the event of cessation of activity. In practice, this documentation serves as evidence that the preventive system exists and is functioning; therefore, it is the first thing examined by the Labor Inspectorate, auditors, and prevention services.

Royal Decree 39/1997 specifies some of this content: the prevention plan (Article 2), the risk assessment and its review (Articles 3 to 7), the planning (Articles 8 and 9), the annual report and program of the prevention service (Article 15), the training of preventive resources, and the audit report (Articles 30 and 31). In addition, there is the specific documentation required by sectoral regulations or by the risk agent.

Documentation is not an end in itself: the law stipulates that the prevention plan must be a genuine tool for integration, not a mere formality. Article 2.4 of Royal Decree 39/1997 even allows companies with up to 50 employees that do not carry out activities listed in Annex I to include the plan, assessment, and planning in a single simplified document.

Documents required by Article 23 of Law 31/1995

• Occupational risk prevention plan. Organizational structure, responsibilities, functions, practices, procedures, processes and resources for preventive action, approved by management and known to the staff.
• Risk assessment. Identification of the position, existing risks and affected workers, result of the assessment and appropriate preventive measures, with reference to criteria and methods used; it must be reviewed in the event of changes, damage or when established by the regulations.
• Planning of preventive activity. Prevention and protection measures, deadlines, responsible parties and human and material resources, including emergency measures and health surveillance.
• Health status controls. Practice of health surveillance and conclusions in terms of fitness, with the confidentiality guarantees of article 22.
• List of accidents and occupational diseases. With incapacity exceeding one day of work, reported in writing or electronically to the labor authority using the forms of Order TAS/2926/2002 and the Delt@ system.

Other standard preventive documentation

• Preventive organization. Minutes of designation of designated workers, agreement with the external prevention service, annual report and program, minutes of constitution of the safety and health committee and of designation of worker safety representatives.
• Information, training and consultation. Records of the information provided, the training received by each person and the consultations made to the representatives.
• Coordination of business activities . Exchange of information, means of coordination and designation of preventive resources.
• Equipment, facilities and agents. Records of PPE delivery, work equipment inspections, hygiene measurements , safety data sheets and lists of workers exposed to chemical, carcinogenic or biological agents, with specific retention periods that can reach forty years.
• Emergencies. Emergency measures under Article 20 and, where applicable, a self-protection plan .
• Audit. System audit report for companies required to perform one.

Organizational application: how to manage it

1. Prepare an inventory of the documentation required by the company according to its activity, size and risk agents, with responsible party and review frequency for each document.
2. Link each document to the process that generates it (evaluation, planning, training, health surveillance, coordination) so that it is updated when the process changes.
3. Define the applicable retention periods, including long-term retention periods, for records of exposure to hazardous agents.
4. Ensure the confidentiality of health data and limit access to fitness conclusions.
5. Keep documentation accessible to the labor authority, worker safety representatives and auditors, with version control.
6. Record the delivery and receipt of information and training, including the person’s identification, the content, and the date.
7. Provide for the submission of documentation to the labor authority in case of cessation of activity.

Preventive management software allows you to generate documentation from the system’s own records, control versions and retention periods, and offer an audit trail that demonstrates when each document was created, reviewed, and communicated.

Limits and common mistakes

1. Confusing having documents with having a preventative system: documentation must reflect real and up-to-date actions.
2. Maintaining assessments and plans without a review date or reference to changes made.
3. Failure to document the delivery of information and training makes it difficult to prove compliance with articles 18 and 19 of the law.
4. Storing health data without the required confidentiality guarantees.
5. Lack of awareness of the extended preservation periods for certain exposure records.
6. Duplicating documents between the external prevention service and the company without defining which is the current version.

Failure to register and file data obtained in evaluations, controls, recognitions, investigations or reports is a serious offense under Article 12.4 of the Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order.

Regulatory framework in Spain

• Law 31/1995, article 23. Documentation that the employer must prepare and keep available for the labor authority.
• Royal Decree 39/1997, articles 2, 7, 9, 15 and 31. Content of the prevention plan, the evaluation, the planning, the annual report and the audit report.
• Order TAS/2926/2002, of November 19. Models for notification of work accidents and electronic transmission through the Delt@ system.
• Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000, Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order, Article 12. Serious infringements for documentary and registration non-compliance.

Directive 89/391/EEC, Article 9, requires employers to have a risk assessment and a list and records of workplace accidents. In Colombia, Decree 1072 of 2015 establishes, in Articles 2.2.4.6.12 and 2.2.4.6.13, the documentation for the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) and the retention periods.