Challenges of the Spanish system of Safety and Health at Work: The effectiveness of preventive regulation and protection of workers against the damage caused by accidents

In 1995, Spain introduced a new regulatory system, as a result of the implementation of European Union Directive (EUD), to address the management on the prevention of occupational risks. This system, although validated by the EUD, which is approved by all European countries, shows an important difference in Spain where rates of occupational accidents remain very high. The study aimed to describe, compare and analyze the difficulties in the implementation of the preventive Spanish model given the peculiarities of the industrial relations system, based on small companies with small capitalization, high rates of unemployment and precarious employment. Results show significant developments in the protection mechanisms for occupational injuries and diseases. The model show advances, and has been extended from being solely based on protection through the public Social Security system to include all the damages caused in the life and physical integrity of workers. It has been identified that these changes have not resulted from legal reforms, but due to the incorporation into the legal doctrine and jurisprudence of a new vision of the workers' position in the labor relationships, which in turn have also created problems of jurisdiction, liability and quantification standards. To address all the emerging issues, currently reforms are being carried out in the field of procedural and substantive legislation to set general criteria for cases of this responsibility and the quantification of damages.