This lesson explains how the risks in the previous lessons are controlled: first by assessing them and then by choosing the measures in the right order.
The principles of preventive action
Article 15 of Ley 31/1995 orders the employer to apply these principles:
- Avoid risks.
- Assess those that cannot be avoided.
- Combat them at source.
- Adapt the work to the person (job, equipment, methods).
- Take into account technical progress.
- Replace what is dangerous with what is little or not at all dangerous.
- Plan prevention.
- Give priority to collective protection over individual protection.
- Give workers the proper instructions.
Risk assessment
The employer must assess the risks of each job (article 16 of Ley 31/1995 and chapter II of Real Decreto 39/1997). It is done like this:
- Identify the hazards.
- Estimate the risk: how likely it is and how serious the harm would be.
- Evaluate whether the risk is tolerable or action is needed.
The assessment must be updated when working conditions change and reviewed when harm to health occurs. From it comes the planning of preventive activity: what measures, who carries them out, when and with what means.
You can help: you know your job better than anyone. Say what problems you see.
Collective and individual protection
- Collective protection: protects everyone at once. Examples: guard rails, machine guards, fume extraction, soundproof booths, nets.
- Individual protection: protects one person. Examples: helmet, goggles, gloves, earplugs.
Collective comes first. Individual is used when the risk cannot be avoided or limited in another way.
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Real Decreto 773/1997 governs its use. In brief:
- The employer provides it free, replaces it and takes care of its maintenance.
- It must be suitable for the risk and the person, and carry the CE marking (Regulation (EU) 2016/425).
- You must be informed and shown how to use it, preferably in writing and in a way you understand.
- It is for personal use. If it is shared, it must be cleaned.
- You must use and look after it according to the instructions, put it back in its place and report immediately if it is damaged.
Depending on the risk, a part of the body is protected: helmet (head), earplugs or earmuffs (hearing), goggles or visors (eyes), masks or respiratory equipment (airways), gloves (hands), safety footwear (feet) and harnesses (falls from a height).
PPE does not remove the risk. It only reduces the harm, so it does not replace the other measures.
Safety signs
Real Decreto 485/1997 sets the shapes and colours of signs:
- Prohibition: round, black pictogram on a white background with a red border and band.
- Warning: triangular, black pictogram on a yellow background.
- Mandatory: round, white pictogram on a blue background.
- Firefighting: rectangular or square, white pictogram on a red background.
- Rescue or first aid: rectangular or square, white pictogram on a green background.
Signs do not replace technical and organisational measures, nor training and information. They must be visible and the employer has to explain what each sign means.
Informing and consulting
The employer must inform each person about the risks of their job and consult the workforce (article 18). You can make proposals to improve protection. If there are workers' representatives, consultation also goes through them.