07/06/2007
The Spanish government has just approved, by an order dated 4 May last, the making public of penalties for violations classed as very serious in terms of the prevention of risks at work. This publication, originally scheduled when the law on the prevention of risks at work was drawn up and approved in November 1995, had never been implemented until now.

This important concerns the administrative penalties established by the factory inspectorate. In 2006, 5,960 very serious violations had been recorded, which alone represented over 67 million euros’ worth of fines. Penalties of this kind will have to be published within three months, either in the official State gazette or in the official regional gazette, depending on the violation, and the name or corporate trading style of the enterprise must be given, along with those of the natural persons or legal entities concerned, the nature of the violation and the amount of the financial penalty imposed. In addition, the central or regional administrations will be under an obligation to keep an up-to-date register of the penalties imposed, which may be made available to anyone wishing to consult it.

This calls into question all of the factory inspection systems in Europe: what about the transparency of the penalties imposed? And what about public access, starting with the employees themselves, to the findings of the factory inspectorates?

Source: http://metis-europe.info/