Risk prevention for temporary and agency workers

Why does a specific regulation exist?

Accident statistics repeatedly show that temporary and newly hired workers suffer more accidents: less familiarity with the workplace and its risks, less training, frequent job changes, assignment to more dangerous tasks, and less ability to negotiate working conditions. Directive 91/383/EEC recognized this situation and established that workers with fixed-term contracts or those employed by temporary work agencies must enjoy the same level of protection as other workers, without the nature of their contract justifying any differences.

In Spain, Article 28 of Law 31/1995 incorporates this principle and adds specific obligations: prior information on risks, qualifications, medical check-ups, and protective measures; sufficient and appropriate training before starting work; periodic health surveillance; and notification of the start date to designated workers or the occupational health and safety service. Royal Decree 216/1999 elaborates on the obligations for the specific case of temporary employment agencies (TEAs), in which two companies with distinct responsibilities are involved.

Law 14/1994 regulates temporary employment agencies and the temporary staffing contract, and Royal Decree 417/2015 approves its implementing regulations; the Workers’ Statute establishes the grounds and limits for temporary employment. All of this creates a framework in which temporary employment does not reduce preventive rights, but requires additional coordination and evidence.

Obligations for temporary workers (Article 28 of Law 31/1995)

• Equal protection. Workers with temporary or fixed-term contracts enjoy the same level of protection as others; the duration of the contract does not justify differences in treatment regarding safety and health.
• Prior information. Before the start of the activity, the employer informs about the risks of the job, the qualifications or skills required, the need for special medical checks and the protection and prevention measures.
• Training. Sufficient and appropriate training for the characteristics of the position, taking into account the qualifications and experience and the risks to which the candidate will be exposed.
• Health surveillance. Right to periodic health surveillance under the same terms as the rest of the staff.
• Internal communication. The employer informs the designated workers or the prevention service of the incorporation of temporary workers so that they can carry out their functions with respect to them.

Obligations in the field of Temporary Employment Agencies (Royal Decree 216/1999)

• Before the temporary employment contract is signed, the user company informs the temporary employment agency (TEA) about the job characteristics, risks, qualifications, required training, and health surveillance measures; the TEA cannot enter into the contract without receiving this information.
• Training and monitoring by the temporary employment agency. The temporary employment agency is responsible for the worker’s preventive training, adapted to the job, and for the periodic monitoring of their health, and must certify to the user company that the worker has received the information and training and has been considered fit.
• Responsibility of the user company. It is responsible for the conditions of execution of the work in all matters related to the protection of safety and health, must inform the worker before the start of the risks and measures of the job, and communicate their incorporation to the representatives and the prevention service.
• Protective equipment. The user company provides the necessary PPE, unless otherwise agreed in the temporary employment contract which assigns its delivery to the temporary employment agency.
• Prohibited activities. Contracts for the provision of workers cannot be entered into for work involving exposure to ionising radiation in controlled areas, to carcinogenic, mutagenic or reproductive toxicants of the first and second categories, to biological agents of groups 3 and 4, with high-voltage electrical risks, in construction works included in Annex II of Royal Decree 1627/1997, in mining, marine platforms, manufacture and handling of explosives, and in the other cases of Article 8 of Royal Decree 216/1999.
• Accidents. The user company informs the temporary employment agency of any harm to the health of the worker provided so that the agency can fulfill its notification obligations.

Organizational application: how to manage prevention in temporary hiring

1. Define for each position the required risk assessment, qualifications, training and health surveillance, so that the prior information can be provided before incorporation or the placement contract.
2. Establish a preventive reception procedure for all temporary incorporation: information, specific job training, delivery of PPE and communication to the prevention service and the delegates.
3. In temporary employment contracts, include the required preventative information in the contract and verify that the temporary employment agency (ETT) provides training, information and aptitude before the start date.
4. Verify that no activity contracted with a temporary employment agency is included in the prohibitions of article 8 of Royal Decree 216/1999.
5. Assign reinforced supervision to temporary workers during the first few days and avoid assigning them to higher-risk tasks without adequate training and experience.
6. Record all evidence (information, training, aptitude, PPE) and report any health damage to the temporary employment agency.
7. Analyze the accident rate of temporary workers separately as a management indicator.

Preventive management software allows you to link each temporary hire to the job record, ensure that information, training and aptitude are registered before the start date, and block assignment to activities prohibited for temporary employment agencies.

Limits and common mistakes

1. Incorporate the temporary worker before providing job-specific information and training.
2. Consider that the temporary employment agency assumes all prevention when the user company is responsible for the conditions of execution of the work.
3. Signing placement contracts without the required preventive information or for prohibited activities.
4. Providing generic training that does not cover the specific risks of the position and the center.
5. Omitting to communicate the incorporation to the prevention service and to the workers’ representatives.
6. Not informing the temporary employment agency of accidents involving the worker placed on assignment.

The obligations are detailed in Law 31/1995 and Royal Decree 216/1999; this sheet is for informational purposes.

Regulatory and reference framework

• Law 31/1995, article 28. Protection of temporary workers and temporary employment agencies.
• Royal Decree 216/1999, of February 5. Minimum safety and health provisions at work in the field of temporary employment agencies.
• Law 14/1994, of June 1. Regulation of temporary employment agencies and the placement contract.
• Royal Decree 417/2015, of May 29. Regulations for temporary employment agencies.
• Directive 91/383/EEC . Measures to promote improvements in the safety and health of workers in fixed-term employment or temporary work agencies.
• Workers’ Statute, Article 15. Duration of the employment contract and temporary hiring.

Royal Decree 1627/1997 on construction works and the regulations on carcinogenic, biological and radiation agents define the activities in which temporary employment agency workers cannot be employed.