With and without employees
A self-employed person who hires workers assumes the applicable preventive obligations of an employer. They must organise prevention and address their workforce’s risks under the relevant framework; being self-employed does not remove those duties.
For someone working without employees, that entire employer regime does not apply automatically. Explicit obligations must be analysed, particularly coordination when working alongside other activities and construction-sector requirements. This distinction avoids both inappropriate document demands and neglect of shared risks.
What changes when working at another organisation’s site
Article 8 of Law 20/2007 establishes duties of cooperation, information and instruction in the concurrent-work situations it regulates. It also provides for a monitoring duty on a company contracting works or services forming part of its own activity at its site.
Royal Decree 171/2004 develops coordination requirements. Information exchange must identify interference, measures and emergency arrangements. It is not limited to gaining access to a document platform: relevant information must arrive before work begins and be updated when conditions change.
Information to clarify before starting
Define the work, location, timing, equipment and other concurrent activities. Communicate risks your intervention may generate and request information about site risks that may affect you. Identify a contact person and incident procedure.
Check that received instructions apply to the actual task. If a product, equipment or work area changes, review potential interference before continuing. Documentation must match the planned activity rather than form an unrelated collection of certificates.
Construction-specific requirements
INSST describes explicit obligations for self-employed people on construction sites: apply preventive principles, comply with coordination, use equipment and PPE appropriately and follow relevant safety provisions. On projects with formal design documentation, they must comply with the safety and health plan.
Each participant’s role must be clear. One person may work under different contractual circumstances, so documentation and instructions must suit the project and their functions rather than assume generic accreditation resolves every intervention.
Stopping work and decisions when facing risk
The Self-Employed Workers’ Statute recognises the right to stop activity and leave where a serious and imminent risk to life or health is considered to exist. Know how to notify others and coordinate a response without exposing them.
Contracting a service does not remove each party’s responsibilities. Prevention is verified in execution conditions: access, equipment, organisation, instructions and the ability to act when something changes.
Hypothetical example: a warehouse repair
A self-employed professional performs a repair while the warehouse remains operational. Before entering, they agree the work area, vehicle interactions and arrangements for separating activities with the site. They also communicate risks introduced by their work.
When the repair location changes, coordination is reviewed before equipment is moved. Providing initial documentation does not validate different conditions. The site and professional retain relevant information and decisions.
