What is AESPLA?
AESPLA is the acronym for the Spanish Association of Occupational Prevention Services, a non-profit Spanish business association established in 1999. It brings together companies and entities that have their own prevention service, that is, organizations that have chosen to assume, totally or partially, the preventive activity required by the regulations with their own resources, instead of contracting it entirely with an external prevention service.
Based in Madrid, AESPLA is part of the network of sectoral organizations linked to the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), within which it specifically represents companies with their own occupational health and safety services. It should not be confused with associations of individual professionals in the sector, such as AEPSAL: AESPLA represents companies and organizations, not individual technicians.
In-house prevention service versus external prevention service
The Regulations for Prevention Services distinguish several ways to organize preventive activities within a company. An in-house prevention service is the company’s own human and material resources, organized as a specific unit and dedicated to carrying out the preventive activities required by regulations; it is subject to minimum staffing requirements and covered technical specializations. An external prevention service, on the other hand, is an external entity, accredited by the labor authority, that provides this preventive support through a commercial contract.
The choice between one option or another depends on factors such as the size of the company, the risk level of its activity, and its capacity to provide its own technical resources, and is subject to the requirements established by the Prevention Services Regulations . AESPLA specifically represents the interests of companies that have opted for the in-house service model.
Functions and main lines of work
AESPLA’s activity focuses on the sectoral representation of its member companies and entities and on institutional collaboration in matters of prevention.
- Sectoral representation within CEOE. It acts as a sectoral organization linked to the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations, representing the interests of companies with their own prevention service.
- Institutional collaboration. In May 2025, it signed a collaboration protocol with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (INSST) for the development of joint activities in training, research, technical advice, conferences, seminars and studies on occupational risks of common interest, with an initial validity of two years, renewable.
- Sectoral dialogue. It gives a joint voice to companies with their own prevention service in forums and spaces for debate on prevention policy.
Contribution to safety and health at work
According to the press release published by the INSST (National Institute for Safety and Health at Work) on the occasion of the signing of the 2025 protocol, AESPLA (Spanish Association of Occupational Safety and Health Companies) comprises 46 companies and entities that protect more than half a million workers in Spain. This figure is attributed to that source and refers to that date, not data published directly by the association itself.
AESPLA is not a public body nor does it have regulatory or certifying power: its contribution is that of a business association that represents and gives voice to a specific model of preventive organization, that of the own prevention service, and that collaborates with technical bodies such as the INSST in training, research and dissemination activities.
Relationship with the ORP International Foundation
AESPLA participates in the institutional advisory committee of the ORP International Foundation as a business, not professional, association: it brings together companies and entities with their own prevention services and is linked to CEOE as a sectoral organization. Its presence on this committee, unlike that of associations of technicians or public bodies, provides the perspective of companies that directly manage their own prevention.
Practical application
For a company that already has its own occupational health and safety service, or is considering establishing one, AESPLA is a leading sector organization within the CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations) and a gateway to the joint activities it carries out with the INSST (National Institute for Safety and Health at Work). For occupational health and safety professionals, the collaboration agreement between AESPLA and the INSST can lead to workshops, seminars, and technical studies accessible through both institutions.
