New Occupational Risk Prevention Law: key points and changes for companies in Spain

The Government has approved the draft bill to reform the Occupational Risk Prevention Law, a regulation that represents a profound update of the Spanish preventive system almost 30 years after its original approval in 1995.

Beyond its political dimension or the parliamentary debate that now begins, the reform introduces a clear underlying idea: occupational risk prevention is no longer focused exclusively on traditional physical safety and instead becomes a comprehensive system for protecting health in a broad sense, explicitly incorporating psychosocial, digital, climate-related, and organizational dimensions.

The change is not only conceptual. It is also operational. It affects how companies must assess risks, organize prevention, document decisions, and demonstrate regulatory compliance.

From traditional prevention to comprehensive health: the new scope of occupational risk

One of the most relevant elements of the reform is the expansion of the concept of work-related harm. The new regulation expressly recognizes that the effects of work on health can be:

• Physical.
• Physiological.
• Cognitive.
• Emotional.
• Behavioral.
• Social.

This change has a direct consequence: risk assessment is no longer primarily a technical-physical exercise (workstations, machinery, PPE), but instead incorporates organizational, emotional, and relational factors.

In practice, this means that aspects such as workload, leadership, time management, digital disconnection, or exposure to high-pressure environments are no longer considered “indirect” elements but become assessable risks.

 

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Mental health and psychosocial risks: a central pillar of the reform

For the first time, mental health and psychosocial risks are explicitly incorporated as a structural pillar of the preventive system.

The regulation does not merely mention them; it establishes that they must be subject to specific regulatory development and become a mandatory part of:

• Risk assessment.
• Preventive activity planning.
• Health surveillance.

This represents a significant change: factors such as workload, time organization, or work-related stress become fully assessable occupational risks.

Digitalization, disconnection, and new occupational risks

The reform also responds to a structural shift in the production model: digitalization, remote work, and new forms of time organization.

In this context, the regulation explicitly strengthens:

• The right to digital disconnection.
• The obligation to assess risks associated with remote work.
• The need to adapt prevention to the actual organization of work, not just the physical workplace.

Climate change and disasters

In addition, risks arising from climate change and adverse weather events are expressly incorporated and must be integrated into prevention.

Evaluation of risks and more demanding health surveillance

The reform reinforces the operational nature of prevention by introducing stricter requirements in three areas:

Risk assessment

• All risks must be assessed jointly (including psychosocial and climate-related risks).
• The obligation for on-site visits to workplaces is strengthened.

Health surveillance

• The mental dimension is expressly incorporated alongside the physical one.
• Medical examinations must be adapted to the specific risks of each position.
• Individual and collective monitoring (epidemiological analysis) is reinforced.

Preventive training

• Practical training must be carried out in person, except in justified cases.

The common element is clear: prevention must be verifiable and based on real evidence from the workplace.

Equality, age, and diversity in prevention

The regulation structurally incorporates the perspective of gender, age, and diversity of physical and biological conditions.

This requires reviewing prevention from a logic of adapting work to the individual, not merely adapting the individual to the job.

Additionally, specific protection in cases of pregnancy and breastfeeding is reinforced, as well as after prolonged absences due to health reasons, where return-to-work procedures with updated training must be established.

Violence and harassment: expansion of the concept

The definition of workplace violence and harassment is expanded to include:

• Cyberbullying.
• Violence through information technologies.
• Use of algorithms or artificial intelligence.
• Sexual harassment or harassment based on sex.

This represents a significant update of the preventive framework to the digital environment, where workplace interactions no longer depend exclusively on physical space.

Changes in the organizational system of prevention

The reform also introduces relevant adjustments to the preventive framework:

• Reduction of the threshold for in-house prevention services (from 500 to 300 employees, and 150 in construction).
• Limitation on the employer personally assuming prevention responsibilities (maximum of 10 employees in certain cases).
• Strengthening of external prevention services through clearer contractual definition.
• Promotion of the role of the territorial prevention agent for small companies.

This last element is particularly relevant in the SME sector, where the aim is to strengthen external technical support and improve actual preventive coverage.

Sanctions and enforcement reinforcement

The draft bill provides for adjustments to the sanctioning regime, including:

• Greater precision in infringements related to equality and prevention.
• Possible reductions in sanctions under specific conditions.
• Strengthened control over prevention services and formal obligations.

The focus is not so much on increasing penalties as on improving the capacity for control and effective enforcement of the preventive system.

Towards broader, traceable, and more demanding prevention

The reform of the Occupational Risk Prevention Law confirms a clear evolution of the Spanish model: prevention is no longer a system focused on traditional physical risks but becomes a comprehensive workplace health management tool.

The key difference lies not only in the incorporation of new risks (psychosocial, climate-related, or digital), but also in the requirement that all of them be assessed, documented, and managed in an integrated and consistent manner.

If your organization wants to anticipate the changes introduced by this reform and review its prevention system from a compliance and operational efficiency perspective, the Adlanter labor team can help you assess the regulatory impact and adapt your procedures to the new legal requirements.