A duty linked to resources and training
Article 29 of Law 31/1995 does not make every person responsible for organising all prevention. It requires action in line with their capabilities, measures adopted, training and employer instructions.
The employer must provide suitable equipment, understandable information and sufficient training. Under Article 14.4, workforce duties do not exempt the employer from protection. A signature acknowledging rules does not by itself establish that working conditions are safe.
The six specific duties
- Use work equipment appropriately: machines, tools, substances and transport equipment, considering their nature and foreseeable risks.
- Use protection correctly: use the protective means and equipment provided in accordance with instructions received.
- Respect safety devices: do not disable them and use them correctly.
- Report risks immediately: inform the direct supervisor and those designated for prevention or, where applicable, the prevention service.
- Contribute to compliance with authorities’ requirements: cooperate with measures intended to protect safety and health.
- Cooperate with the employer: participate in ensuring safe working conditions that do not create risks.
How to report a risk situation
A report should describe where it occurs, what has been observed and who may be affected. The duty does not require technical proof of the risk before reporting: a reasonable assessment is sufficient. Nor should someone wait until the next meeting if immediate action is needed.
A channel for reporting unsafe conditions must reach someone able to intervene, create a record where appropriate and provide a response. Employers must prevent form complexity from delaying an urgent report.
Training and limits when facing danger
Article 19 of the LPRL requires theoretical and practical training suited to the role. Article 19 of the Workers’ Statute also establishes the duty to attend that training and undertake practice. Receiving a manual does not replace a demonstration where the task requires one.
Cooperation does not mean obeying a dangerous instruction without the possibility of stopping. Article 21 of the LPRL recognises the right to interrupt activity and leave the location if necessary when there is serious and imminent danger to life or health, under the conditions prescribed by law.
What happens if duties are breached
Article 29.3 refers to the employment disciplinary regime. Article 58 of the Workers’ Statute links penalties to the statutory or applicable collective agreement classification and allows judicial review. It does not establish an identical automatic penalty for every preventive breach.
Before assigning responsibility, analyse the facts, training, instructions, available resources and work organisation. Serious and very serious offences require written notification. Financial fines against wages or reductions in leave or rest periods cannot be imposed as penalties.
Rights and duties complement one another
Article 13 of Directive 89/391/EEC sets out duties concerning correct use, reporting and cooperation. In Spain, applicable details must be read alongside the information, consultation, training and protection rights established by the LPRL.
The operational aim is to resolve the risk: repair damaged protection, make instructions more accessible or review a work pace that encourages shortcuts. Investigating only who made a mistake may leave intact the conditions that make recurrence more likely.
Hypothetical example: a faulty guard
An operator notices that a machine guard does not stay closed. She reports the anomaly to her supervisor and preventive contact and follows the prescribed out-of-service instructions. She does not disable the device to finish the order or improvise a repair she is not qualified to perform.
The employer arranges intervention by competent personnel, determines when work may resume and reviews why the defect occurred. The operator’s report and the employer’s response are complementary actions.
