PPEs and other preventive measures for companies having disabled workers

Job Safety Analysis (JSA) is essential for all sectors and also for self-employed people. Every company must have a prevention plan that includes, where necessary, the use of PPEs.

Those companies having disabled workers are not an exception but also may sometimes need even more protection.

How is the JSA applied for disabled workers?

First of all, you have to consider whether you are dealing with a particularly sensitive worker. In other words, particularly sensitive means that they face greater consequences when exposed to risks derived from work due to their known biological status or due to their personal characteristics. This definition is included in art. 35 of the Spanish Occupational Risk Prevention Law. It includes people who have been recognized as having a physical, mental or sensory disability.

The employer will have to guarantee the protection those workers, by legal imperative, and in accordance with the sector in which they work, the derived risks and the circumstances of the employee. In addition, the monitoring of his health will be subject to specific protocols that take into account the risks to which the worker is exposed. A reception plan can be essential, in addition to promoting integration with other workers.

Necessary care and preventive measures in these companies

First of all, the use of PPEs is necessary when there are risks to the health or safety of workers that cannot be avoided or sufficiently limited by work organization measures or by technical means. It is possible that in the case of workers with disabilities, depending on the type of disability, PPE is necessary for ensuring their safety or health in the workplace.

Other preventive measures are preparing the environment, adapting the emergency plan to the employee, as well as the job itself. Also, the reorganization of tasks so that risks are minimized and the ergonomics of the position. Providing sufficient information to the worker on the development of their tasks is also one of the bases of prevention, as well as providing them with sufficient supervision and information. The JSA measures for a disabled worker are usually the same as for the rest of workers (PPE, training, etc.), so they do not follow a specific law, but rather the indications of the Spanish Occupational Risk Prevention Law itself. The main reason is that a single precept cannot be created, since inclusive prevention must take into account the characteristics of each employee, with or without a disability.