The President of the Republic has issued the new Occupational Health & Safety Regulations* which repeal Executive Decree 2393 of 1986.
The new Regulations are divided into 9 sections including: rights and obligations of employers and employees; the individuals in charge of occupational health & safety and their duties; joint labor-management bodies within a company; occupational safety and prevention of occupational risks; occupational health; occupational diseases and accidents.
The main developments and changes are:
- Employer obligations in health & safety matters are established according to the number of employees and the level of occupational risk (low, medium or high).
- The classification of the level of risk may be temporarily increased in case of a determination of employer liability for death or permanent disability.
- Establishment of the following individuals responsible for health & safety, and their obligations: (i) Employer; (ii) Occupational Health & Safety Monitor; (iii) Occupational Health & Safety Technician; (iv) Occupational physician and specialist doctor in occupational medicine.
- It is confirmed that private sector employers can contract for occupational health & safety services, as well as occupational health and medicine services, from an external supplier.
- The Ministry of Labor will be responsible for controlling and sanctioning breaches of the health & safety regulations, and it can even order the immediate suspension of work activities when an inspection finds that there is a serious or imminent risk to the health & safety of employees.
- Employees can request an inspection of the workplace when they believe that there are inadequate health & safety conditions; and the new regulations ratify the right to request and receive information about the results of the occupational medical assessment.
- There are changes to certain provisions relating to internal occupational health & safety bodies:
- Occupational Health & Safety Committee
- At workplaces with 50 or more employees.
- Members shall serve for a period of 2 years.
- Ordinary meetings must be held every 2 months.
- Occupational Health & Safety Delegate:
- At workplaces with between 10 and 49 employees.
- The Ministry of Labor must issue the regulations that govern, among others, the registration of obligations, inspection procedure, and penalties for breach within a maximum of five months.
* Executive Decree 255 of May 2, 2024.
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