Not everyone is equally exposed to the same risk. A hot kitchen, a loaded trolley or a cleaning product can be a greater danger for a pregnant woman, for a young person or for someone with an illness. The law provides for this.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding (article 26 of Ley 31/1995)
The risk assessment must take into account workers who are pregnant or breastfeeding. If the result shows a risk to their health or the baby's, the employer must:
- Adapt the working conditions or working time. That can include no night work and no shift work.
- If that is not possible and the medical services certify it, move her to a job compatible with her condition, keeping the pay of her original job.
- If there is no compatible job either, the suspension of the contract due to risk during pregnancy may be declared.
Measures 1 and 2 also apply during breastfeeding, if the working conditions may affect the woman or the child. If there is no compatible job, the suspension of the contract due to risk during breastfeeding of children under nine months may be declared.
The dangers that most often appear in hospitality:
- Heavy loads, awkward postures and standing for long periods.
- Intense heat in the kitchen or cold in cold rooms.
- Chemical products that may affect the pregnancy.
- Night work, long shifts and stress.
- Risk of knocks or falls and of aggression.
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, tell your employer or the prevention service and ask for your job to be reviewed. The employer must treat that information as confidential.
Especially sensitive workers (article 25)
The employer must give specific protection to those who, because of their personal characteristics, biological condition, recognised disability or situation, are especially sensitive to certain risks. That includes a person with asthma who works with irritant products, or with a back injury who lifts loads. To do so, it must take those details into account in the assessment and adopt the measures that are needed.
Health surveillance (article 22)
The employer must guarantee periodic surveillance of health according to the risks of the job. In general it is voluntary: it is only carried out if the person gives consent, except for cases provided for by law and after consulting the representatives. The results are confidential. The employer is told whether the person is fit, not the diagnosis.
What the employer must do, in summary
- Assess the risks of every job, including those in the kitchen, dining room and housekeeping, and review them when the work changes.
- Plan measures, and provide protective equipment at no cost.
- Inform and train, in a practical way and in the job, on joining and when there are changes.
- Organise prevention with an in-house or external service and deal with the prevention delegates.
- Prepare for emergencies: exits, extinguishers, first aid.
- Coordinate with other companies if they share the premises (for example, the cleaning or maintenance company).
What this course is not
This course is general training for the sector. It does not replace the practical training for your job or the risk assessment of your premises. It is not the 30- or 50-hour basic-level training under Real Decreto 39/1997, it does not qualify you to carry out preventive duties and it does not cover the collective agreement or the requirements of any other course. Nor is it the food handler course: food hygiene is covered in a different course. Your employer decides what training each job needs.
Your rights and duties in one sentence
You have the right to a safe job, to information and training, and to stop in the face of a serious and imminent danger. You have the duty to use properly what you are given, not to disable protections and to report in time.