Occupational Risk Prevention Law (LPRL)
Introduction
Occupational health and safety (previously known as "safety and hygiene at work") is the term used in Spain to refer to the development of the necessary activities aimed at preventing risks derived from work.
Occupational health
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), occupational or occupational health is a discipline dedicated to promoting and protecting the health of workers through the prevention and control of diseases and accidents, as well as the identification and elimination of factors and conditions that put health and safety at work at risk.
It also seeks to generate and promote safe and healthy work, as well as good work environments and organizations, enhancing the physical, mental and social well-being of workers and supporting the improvement and maintenance of their work capacity. While seeking to enable workers to lead socially and economically productive lives and effectively contribute to sustainable development, occupational health allows for their human and professional enrichment at work.
The Instrument of Ratification of Convention number 155 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Safety and Health of Workers and the Working Environment, adopted in Geneva on June 22, 1981 and ratified by Spain in 1985,[1] establishes that the term health, in relation to work, covers not only the absence of conditions or illness, but also the physical and mental elements that affect health and are directly related to safety and hygiene at work.
In the field of occupational risk prevention, occupational health is understood to be the basic concept that arises in the conflict that occurs between working conditions and the worker's health, with the aim of achieving maximum physical, mental and social well-being of the latter. Occupational health is based on an adequate work environment, with fair working conditions that allow workers to perform with dignity and participate in processes that affect their health and safety.
Regulations
Contenido
Esta materia se regula en el ámbito internacional por el convenio 155 de la OIT, sobre seguridad y salud de los trabajadores y medio ambiente del trabajo, y en el ámbito de la Unión Europea (UE), organización supranacional a la que España pertenece, por el artículo 153 del tratado de funcionamiento.