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Module 2 of 7 · 20 min

Who can be a preventive resource and what minimum training the law requires

Free preventive resource course: read the module, review with the questions and move on to the next one. At the end, a test and a PDF certificate.

Module 2 of 7 · Course contents

Who the employer can appoint (Law 31/1995, article 32 bis.2)

  • One or more designated workers of the company.
  • One or more members of the in-house prevention service.
  • One or more members of the contracted external prevention service.

If there are several preventive resources, they must work together.

Capacity, means and staying on site (article 32 bis.3)

They must have sufficient capacity, have the necessary means and be sufficient in number to monitor compliance with preventive activities. And they must remain at the workplace for as long as the situation requiring their presence lasts.

The most common option: a worker of the company (article 32 bis.4)

The employer can assign the presence to one or more workers who are neither designated workers nor members of the prevention service, provided they have the necessary knowledge, qualification and experience in the activities of paragraph 1 and have preventive training corresponding, at least, to basic-level functions. These workers work together with the company's preventive resources.

How many hours the basic level is (Royal Decree 39/1997, article 35.2)

  • 50 hours, with the syllabus of annex IV, in companies that carry out any activity of annex I (among others: construction work, excavation, earthworks and tunnels with a risk of falling from height or burial; high voltage; explosives; mining; diving; biological agents of groups 3 and 4; iron and steel and shipbuilding).
  • 30 hours in all other companies.
  • Vocational or academic training that qualifies for equivalent responsibilities also counts, as does a minimum of 2 years' experience in a company or public body with equivalent responsibilities.

The preventive resource must be placed in a safe location that adds no risk to them or to others and from which they can carry out their function (article 22 bis.3).

In practiceA first-grade tradesman with 10 years on site and the basic-level course can be appointed preventive resource by his employer. Without the course, experience alone is not enough: the law asks for at least the basic level.

Source: Ley 31/1995, de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales (Spanish Occupational Risk Prevention Act, consolidated text, in Spanish), article 32 bis.2 to 4 · Real Decreto 39/1997, Reglamento de los Servicios de Prevención (Prevention Services Regulations, consolidated text, in Spanish), articles 22 bis.3 and 35.2, annex I

Quick review

Check that you've understood. These are questions from the final test: tap an answer to see whether it's right and why.

How many hours is the basic-level course in a company with annex I activities (for example, construction)?

And in companies that do not carry out annex I activities?

Besides the course, what other route do the regulations recognise for the basic level?

Module practice test

6 new questions, different from the final test. Tap an answer to see whether it is right, why, and which rule it comes from.

1. If there are several preventive resources at the same time, what must they do?

2. What three things does the law require of preventive resources?

3. A worker who is not from the prevention service: what do they need, besides basic-level training, to be a preventive resource?

4. Where must the preventive resource be placed while monitoring?

5. Which of these activities is in annex I of the regulations (companies with the 50-hour course)?

6. Does vocational training that qualifies for equivalent responsibilities count as basic level?

Course contents