MADRID, 11 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The Ministry of Labor and Social Economy will meet this Monday with social agents to advance in relation to the prevention of occupational risks, after the second vice president and head of the branch, Yolanda Díaz, announced that she would convene this table to "eradicate" the problem of workplace accidents in Spain.
Díaz already announced a few weeks ago, during an appearance in the Congress of Deputies, that he would convene a social dialogue table to evaluate workplace accidents and seek joint solutions that will allow this problem to be eradicated.
This first social dialogue table with employers and unions will be chaired by the Secretary of State for Labor and Social Economy, Joaquín Pérez Rey, and during the meeting Labor wants to advance the new framework for the 'Spanish Strategy for Safety and Health at Work 2023-2027', as indicated by ministerial sources.
This strategy is part of an agreement reached between CCOO, UGT, CEOE and Cepyme con Trabajo in February of last year and subsequently approved by the Council of Ministers to carry out a measure that aims to achieve the greatest possible impact on the improvement of safety and health conditions at work and with the firm determination to reduce workplace accidents, as explained by sources from the department headed by Díaz in a statement.
During the signing of the agreement between Labor, unions and employers, Minister Díaz announced the opening of a social dialogue table to update the regulatory framework of the Occupational Risk Prevention Law in order to improve the integration of the preventive activity of companies , the introduction of the gender perspective in the management of risk prevention and the strengthening of the protection of workers against psychosocial risks.
On the part of the unions, the General Union of Workers (UGT) has on several occasions demanded that the Ministry of Labor "urgently" open the social dialogue table on the prevention of occupational risks, as Yolanda Díaz assured that it would do. during the signing of the 'Spanish Occupational Health and Safety Strategy 2023-2027' almost a year ago.
In the opinion of the union, this is a table that "cannot be delayed any longer", since, only until November 2023, the last month for which data is available, 664 workers died in a work accident. "Workers continue to die and get injured for the simple fact of trying to earn a living," the union lamented in a statement.
Thus, he has indicated that a 'Shock Plan' against workplace accidents must be negotiated at this table. Among the matters that must be included, UGT asks to take into account psychosocial risks, which are related to the leading cause of death due to work-related accidents in Spain, which are heart attacks and strokes, according to the union.
Furthermore, UGT considers it necessary to make regulatory changes to adapt legislation on preventive matters to the new realities of the world of work, as well as improve preventive management, end the commercialization of prevention services, and create a figure similar to that of the delegate. territorial Occupational Risk Prevention at the state level.
