I have been a health-and-safety representative and a workers' representative at my own workplace, and I have worked in warehouses, in workshops and behind the wheel. I have seen how an accident is investigated when there is a will to put things right, and how it is investigated when the aim is to close the file.
In a workplace accident nearly everything is decided in the preventive paperwork: risk assessment, training, information, equipment issued and coordination with the other companies on site. Where those documents do not stand up, the accident had somewhere to happen.
Cases I take
- Technical investigation of the accident: immediate causes, underlying causes and causal link.
- Surcharge on benefits for missing safety measures (art. 164 LGSS).
- Civil liability for harm to the worker and criminal liability (arts. 316 to 318 of the Criminal Code).
- Coordination of business activities: contractors, subcontractors and temporary work agencies.
- Accidents involving vehicles and machinery on site, and accidents while travelling on duty.
- Defending the company where the accusation is not borne out by the facts.
What I need from you
- Accident report, internal investigation and the Labour Inspectorate report.
- Prevention plan and risk assessment for the job, with the planned measures.
- Evidence of the worker's training and information, with dates and content.
- Records of protective equipment issued and replaced.
- Coordination documentation between companies, where contractors are involved.
- Police report, photographs, medical records and the prevention service's report.
What the law says
- Act 31/1995 on the Prevention of Occupational Risks: duty of protection, assessment, training and information.
- Royal Decree 39/1997: Prevention Services Regulations.
- Royal Decree 171/2004: coordination of business activities.
- Royal Decree 486/1997: workplaces, together with the rules specific to the equipment involved.
- Art. 164 LGSS and arts. 316 to 318 of the Criminal Code.
What you get
- Reconstruction of the accident with the sequence of events, step by step.
- A cause tree: what failed immediately, and what made that failure possible.
- An audit of the preventive documentation, with what is missing and what was not complied with.
- The link between the breach and the harm: the causal link, which is what decides the surcharge.
- Numbered conclusions and annexes with the evidence behind them.
- Ratification and defence of the report in the courtroom.
Accident Investigation and OHS
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to claim?
For the benefit surcharge, proceedings start before the National Social Security Institute and should not be left to drift; for civil liability, the general period is one year from when the lasting effects are established. The first thing we check is where you stand in that calendar.
Is the main company liable for what happens to a subcontractor's worker?
It can be. Royal Decree 171/2004 requires companies to coordinate activities and to monitor compliance, and that duty leaves a documentary trail. Where there is no trail, liability spreads.
Is a report any use once the Inspectorate has closed the file?
Yes. The Inspectorate's report is one element, not the last word, and in the civil or social courts the judge weighs all the evidence. A technical report reconstructing the accident and auditing prevention can still carry the claim.
Free feasibility study and a fixed written quote. I reply within 24-48 working hours.