Up to 1m euros fine for companies making forced labor during heatwaves

The government leaves it to the discretion and responsibility of companies whether or not to stop activity during a heat wave. There is no legal innovation in this regard, as the current law on the prevention of occupational risks requires companies to consider all possible and foreseeable threats to the health of their employees and take the necessary measures to minimize it.

However, the text released this Friday obliges companies to think specifically about extreme temperatures and specify what workers should do in their prevention plans. AEMET give an orange or red alert. “something that hasn’t been done before”, accepts the person responsible for occupational health at UGT, Jose of Morena. They highlight the value of this from CCOO reference of Aemet, which will help workers understand more clearly when and what actions they should request from the company. “Everything was messier before,” says the person in charge of occupational health at CCOO, Mariano Sanz.

The ordinance, approved by the Council of Ministers, does not ban all outdoor activities during the heatwave, although it states that it is vetoed if “previous preventive measures do not guarantee the protection of workers.” In other words, if it is not possible to start work earlier, to divide the day or to increase the breaks, for example, companies have to stop. Failure to do so could have economic consequences for companies that decide to continue their operations in order not to lose money.

Fines from 2,451 Euros to 983,736 Euros

Recklessly exposing workers to the effects of heat waves is considered a serious or very serious offense in the Law on Violations of the Social Order and Sanctions (STRAIGHT). sanction with what 2,451 and 49,180 eurosin serious condition or between 49,181 and 983,736 eurosin a very serious condition. Whether sanctions are gradual or not is at the discretion of each inspector, but the greater the risk and the greater the immediacy of the same sanction, the greater the amount of the sanction. five workers died Nine were severely damaged by heatstroke last year, according to data compiled by the Department of Labor.

In Catalonia, the Labor Department is due this May. informative capsules to companies in outdoor activities such as gardening, construction or delivery, among others, as well as in industries that are exposed to high temperatures such as ovens, industrial ovens or kitchens, but are particularly subject to thermal stress, such as indoors. Treball sources explain that these communications will intensify over the next few weeks, with the addition of mass mailing campaigns by the Labor Inspectorate to companies, reminding them of their commitment to risk prevention.

Who activates the orange or red alarm?

Regulations released this Friday at the BOE reveal that any company whose employees work outdoors or in enclosed but not enclosed spaces must have a specific protocol to react in the event of an orange or red heat warning. However, who activates said alert? The government has delegated this authority to the meteorological institutions of each autonomous community. If they are missing, the AEMET criteria will apply.

In Catalonia, the competent body to decide when companies should take extreme measures or consider stopping their operations is currently Civil defensealthough he meteocat it expects a cross-departmental restructuring to integrate it into the decision-making process.