Occupational Risk Protection and Business Activity Coordination in owners' community

Introduction: Do all accidents have the same probability of happening?

Today, we'l write about how to protect workers from accidents. For this reason, we will begin by defining four concepts related with the danger notion:

• Possibility: 'Condition of an event that, however remote it may be, can become a reality.'

• Probability: 'Mathematical concept that allows expressing the more or less random nature of an event and, as a result, being able to assess the degree of certainty of the same' (source: enciclopèdia.cat).

• Randomly relation: 'Result of the coincidence of two phenomena belonging to independent series in the order of causality' (source: Diec).

• Risk: 'Possibility that a potential danger becomes a reality' (source: wordreference).

 All plausible events can occur.

In order to understand this better, let's consider two accidents:

• Possibility of being run down by a car at 50 kilometers/hour speed: the collision will kill us in 90 out of 100 occasions.
• Possibility of being electrocuted by lightning: it will hit us one time out of every 3,000,000 occasions. This second event It's totally random!

Observe how the fatal end possibility can be real in both cases but the two events probability is very different. So, train risk protection regularly in bussinesses is an effective way to protect our life.

1. Occupational Risk Protection and Business Activity Coordination: the dual legal figure that protects workers' safety and health in the Owners Community

In short, all companies must train and, when necessary, equip their workers to protect them from the risk of occupational accidents.

a) When we talk about workers contracted by the Owners' Community to carry out their activities inside the building or in its garden, the applicable legal figure is usually Occupational Risk Protection.

b) When the employees hired for protection have a job contract with companies that are external suppliers to the Community, they are protected under the figure of Business Activity Coordination.

2. All About Occupational Risk Protection

Individuals hired within the property community are its employees. Therefore, Article 14 of Spanish Law 31/1995 states: 'The employer must guarantee the safety and health of workers (...) shall carry out the prevention of occupational risks by integrating this activity into the company (...).'

In order to accomplish with occupational risk protection, the community must:

• Prepare the conditions for compliance with regulations, whether or not they have contracted workers

• Inform them about the external supplier company about all the risks, preventive measures, and emergency procedures that apply to the building

• Comply with Spanish Royal Decree 1627/1997: In case of acting as a promoter of works in the building with regard to the project of these works.

3. All About Business Activity Coordination: What is the role of the supplier company? And that of the owners' community?

Every external firm to property owners' that provide services must comply with the aforementioned legal requirement. However, the property community also has the duty of proactive monitoring of the documentation provided by the supplier company.

Thus, in accordance with Spanish Royal Decree 171/2004 - which develops Law 31/1995 - the supplier company must present to the property community:

a) Various documents on Occupational Risk Protection: These must be filled by an approved company - independent of the supplier-. If this documentation is not in order, the physical representative of the community can deny entry to the employee of the supplying firm.

b) A "prevention concert" contract: This documents the effective achievement of the preventive activity that corresponds to each case.

c) An evaluation of the risks that the worker faces during work activities: The risk assessment conducted by the approved firm is delivered to the industry, and with it, the supplier performs an assessment tailored to the specific tasks to be carried out and provides documentation of preventive management to the community as irrefutable proof of its implementation.

d) Preventive activity schadule: Business Activity Coordination includes training, to be scheduled. Naturally, the supplier's training for its employees must be appropriate for the tasks they will perform.

3.1. What should the individuals legally representing the Property Community monitor?

The documentation provided by the supplier: This includes validating the information presented, and if everything is correct, this person will authorize the start of the work.

In conclusion, it is clear that occupational risk protection and business activity coordination are two complementary obligations.

Initially, both processes must be carried out separately. However, when the moment of worker interaction arrives, efforts must be combined. The goal is clear: to comply with the law, thus avoiding accidents that nobody desires.

We hope to have clarified the topic under discussion.