What is Osalan?
Osalan is an autonomous administrative body of the Basque Country, created by Law 7/1993 of December 21, and subsequently modified in its composition by Law 10/1997 of June 27. Its founding law predates the national Law 31/1995 on Occupational Risk Prevention, placing Osalan among the first regional occupational safety institutes established in Spain.
It is not a public company, nor a mutual insurance company, nor a private research center. It is a public law entity that performs technical functions for the Basque Administration in the field of prevention, without the power to inspect workplaces or impose sanctions.
Its headquarters are located in Barakaldo (Bizkaia), on the Camino de la Dinamita, on Mount Basatxu, and from there it carries out its activities for the entire territory of the Basque Country Autonomous Community.
Legal purpose and scope of action
The law that created Osalan assigns it the purpose of managing the occupational safety, hygiene, environmental, and health policies of the Basque public authorities, eliminating or reducing, where appropriate, the causes of risks inherent in the work environment. This legal formulation explicitly places Osalan within the framework of prevention at the source, a principle later adopted in general terms by the national Law 31/1995 on Occupational Risk Prevention .
Its area of operation is the territory of the Basque Country Autonomous Community. As with other regional institutes, it coexists with the National Institute for Safety and Health at Work (INSST), which operates at the national level, within the Spanish system that transfers the territorial implementation of preventive policy to the autonomous communities.
Work areas
- Prevention training aimed at companies, workers and prevention technicians.
- Technical documentation , with resources and information materials on occupational safety and health.
- Research in occupational safety and health.
- Technical advice to companies, prevention services and workers.
- Occupational medicine , as one of its specific areas of activity.
Contribution to safety and health at work
Osalan provides the Basque prevention system with its own stable technical support structure, with a history that predates the national Law 31/1995. This relative antiquity explains why its founding law explicitly incorporated the principle of eliminating risk at its source, an approach that would later become widespread in Spanish legislation.
Its contribution is technical and informative in nature: training, documentation, research, and advice. It does not issue legally binding regulations nor does it replace the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate in its monitoring and enforcement functions.
Relationship with the ORP International Foundation
Osalan is part of the institutional advisory committee of the ORP International Foundation as an autonomous body of the Basque Country, created by Law 7/1993. This membership does not transfer powers outside the Basque area nor does it imply a specific agreement with the Foundation other than participation in this advisory body, in which it coincides with public and private institutions from other countries.
Practical application
For companies or occupational health and safety services operating in the Basque Country, Osalan is the go-to resource for technical advice, accessing specific documentation, and participating in the institute’s training programs. Its occupational health department sets it apart from other regional institutes that lack this specific function within their structure.
As with any other regional institute, a regulatory compliance requirement or a sanctioning procedure falls under the jurisdiction of the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate, not Osalan.
