What is the Coordination of Business Activities (CAE)?
Coordination of Business Activities (CAE) is a process of collaboration and cooperation between companies operating in the same work center, in order to guarantee the safety and health of the workers involved in these activities.
The coordination process involves communication and information exchange between the companies involved, in order to identify existing occupational risks, evaluate them and establish appropriate prevention and protection measures.
In order to establish the minimum provisions that the different employers that coincide in the same work center must put into practice to prevent occupational hazards arising from the concurrence of business activities and, therefore, so that this concurrence does not affect the safety and health of workers of the concurrent companies, the following was published in 2004 Royal Decree 171which develops the Article 24 of Law 31/1995The Company is a member of the Labor Risks Prevention Law, regarding the coordination of business activities.
For the purposes of the provisions of this Royal Decree, the following definitions shall apply:
a) Work center: any area, whether built or not, in which workers must remain or to which they must have access because of their work.
b) Employer owning the work center: the person who has the ability to make available and manage the work center.
(c) Principal entrepreneur: the employer who contracts or subcontracts with others the performance of works or services corresponding to the employer's own activity and which are carried out in the employer's own work center.
Who must carry out the Coordination of Business Activities?
In Spain, the responsibility for carrying out the coordination of business activities (CAE) is the responsibility of all employers who have male and female workers in the same workplace or shared environment. The Occupational Risk Prevention Law establishes that it is the obligation of all companies involved in concurrent activities to ensure that there is adequate coordination to guarantee the safety and health of workers.
In this sense, all competing companies have the responsibility to participate in the coordination process, exchanging relevant information, assessing occupational risks and establishing appropriate preventive measures. Coordination can be carried out by the main employer, which is the one that has the capacity to control the workplace, and which hires other companies to perform certain tasks. However, all the concurrent companies have the obligation to actively collaborate in the coordination, regardless of whether they are the main employer or a contractor company.
CAE Objectives
Coordination of business activities for the prevention of occupational hazards shall ensure compliance with the following objectives:
a) Consistent and responsible application of the principles of preventive action. established in the Article 15 of Law 31/1995, of November 8, 1995, Prevention of Labor Risks, by the concurrent companies in the work center.
b) The correct application of work methods by the concurrent companies. at the work center.
c) The control of the interactions of the different activities carried out in the work center, in particular when they may generate risks classified as serious or very serious or when activities are carried out in the workplace that are incompatible with each other due to their impact on the safety and health of workers.
d) The adequacy of the risks existing in the work center that may affect the workers of the concurrent companies and the measures applied for their prevention.
When workers from two or more companies carry out activities in the same work center, they must cooperate in the application of occupational risk prevention regulations. The duty to cooperate shall apply to all companies and self-employed workers concurrent in the workplace, whether or not there are legal relationships between them.
These companies must inform each other about the specific risks of the activities they carry out in the work center that may affect the workers of the other companies that concur in the center, in particular about those that may be aggravated or modified by circumstances derived from the concurrence of activities.
The information must be sufficient and must be provided prior to the start of activities, when there is a change in the concurrent activities that is relevant for preventive purposes and when an emergency situation has arisen.
The information shall be provided in writing when any of the companies generates risks classified as serious or very serious.
When, as a result of the risks of concurrent activities, an occupational accident occurs, the employer must inform the other employers present at the workplace of the accident.
Each employer must inform their respective workers of the risks arising from the concurrence of business activities in the same workplace.
Actions to be taken by the Contractor
In addition to complying with the above, the incumbent employer shall also adopt the following measures:
Information on the owner-operator
- The owner employer must inform the other concurrent employers of the risks inherent to the work center that may affect the activities carried out by them, the measures for the prevention of such risks and the emergency measures to be applied.
- The information must be sufficient and must be provided prior to the start of activities and when there is a change in the risks inherent to the workplace that is relevant for preventive purposes.
- The information shall be provided in writing when the risks specific to the workplace are classified as serious or very serious.
Instructions from the Owner
- Once the aforementioned information has been received (on the specific risks of the activities carried out in the work center that may affect the workers of the other concurrent companies in the center, particularly those that may be aggravated or modified by circumstances derived from the concurrence of activities), the employer owning the work center, when its workers carry out activities in it, will give the other concurrent employers instructions for the prevention of the risks existing in the work center that may affect the workers of the concurrent companies and on the measures to be applied when an emergency situation arises.
- The instructions must be sufficient and appropriate to the risks existing in the workplace that may affect the workers of the concurrent companies and the measures to prevent such risks.
- The instructions must be provided prior to the start of activities and when there is a change in the risks existing in the workplace that may affect the workers of the concurrent companies and that is relevant for preventive purposes.
- The instructions shall be provided in writing when the risks existing in the workplace that may affect the workers of the concurrent companies are classified as serious or very serious.
Actions to be taken by Concurrent Business Owners
- Employers who carry out activities in a workplace owned by another employer shall take into account the information received from the latter in the risk assessment and in the planning of their preventive activities referred to in the following paragraphs. Article 16 of Law 31/1995of November 8, on the Prevention of Occupational Risks.
- The instructions given by the employer in charge of the work center must be complied with by the other concurrent employers.
- Concurrent employers must communicate to their respective employees the information and instructions received from the employer owning the work center in accordance with the terms set out in the Article 18.1 of Law 31/.1995of November 8, of Occupational Risk Prevention.
- The measures referred to in the preceding paragraphs shall be applicable to all companies and self-employed workers who carry out activities in the work center, whether or not there is a legal relationship between them and the owner-employer.
Duty of care of the Principal
- The principal employer, in addition to complying with the measures set out above, must monitor compliance with occupational risk prevention regulations by contractors or subcontractors of works and services corresponding to its own activity and which are carried out in its own work center.
- Before the start of the activity in its work center, the principal employer will require the contractors and subcontractors to prove in writing that they have carried out, for the contracted works and services, the risk assessment and the planning of their preventive activity. Likewise, the principal employer will require such companies to accredit in writing that they have fulfilled their obligations regarding information and training with respect to the workers who are to provide their services at the work center. The accreditations foreseen in the previous paragraphs must be required by the contractor company, to be delivered to the principal employer, when subcontracting with another company the execution of part of the work or service.
- The principal employer must verify that the contractors and subcontractors concurrent in its work center have established the necessary means of coordination between them.
Non-exhaustive list of Means of Coordination
- The exchange of information and communications between competing companies.
- The celebration of regular meetings between the companies involved.
- Joint meetings of the health and safety committees of the concurrent companies or, failing that, of the employers who do not have such committees with the prevention delegates.
- Issuance of instructions.
- The joint establishment of specific measures for the prevention of existing risks in the work center that may affect the workers of the concurrent companies or of procedures or protocols for action.
- The presence in the work center of the preventive resources of the concurrent companies.
- The designation of one or more persons in charge of coordinating preventive activities.
Determination of the Means of Coordination
After the exchange of information and before the start of the activities, the concurrent employers in the work center shall establish the means of coordination they consider necessary and pertinent for the fulfillment of the objectives set forth in this Royal Decree. The initiative for establishing the means of coordination shall correspond to the employer owning the work center whose workers carry out activities therein or, failing that, to the principal employer.
Each employer must inform their respective employees of the means of coordination established. under the terms set forth in the Article 18.1 of Law 31/1995, of November 8, 1995, Prevention of Occupational Risks. When the means of coordination established are the presence of preventive resources in the work center or the designation of one or more persons in charge of the coordination of business activities, the workers will be provided with the necessary data to enable their identification.
The designation of one or more persons in charge of the coordination of preventive activities. shall be considered a preferred means of coordination when two or more of the following conditions are met:
- When in the work center are carried out, by one of the concurrent companies, activities or processes considered as dangerous or with special risks, which may affect the safety and health of the workers of the other companies present.
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When there is particular difficulty in controlling the interactions of the different activities carried out in the workplace that may generate risks classified as serious or very serious.
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When there is a special difficulty in preventing the development in the workplace, successively or simultaneously, of activities that are incompatible with each other from the perspective of the safety and health of workers.
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When there is a special complexity for the coordination of preventive activities as a result of the number of companies and concurrent workers, the type of activities carried out and the characteristics of the workplace. When there are justified technical or organizational reasons, the designation of one or more persons in charge of preventive activities may be replaced by any other means of coordination that guarantee compliance with the objectives of this RD.
In accordance with the provisions of the Article 13.3 RD 171/2004The person or persons in charge of coordinating preventive activities shall be designated by the employer owning the work center whose workers carry out activities there.
They may be responsible for the coordination of preventive activities the following persons:
- One or more of the workers designated for the development of preventive activities by the employer owning the workplace or by the other concurrent employers, in accordance with the Article 30 of Law 31/1995, and with the Article 12 of Royal Decree 39/1997.
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One or more members of the own prevention service of the company owning the work center or of the other concurrent companies.
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One or more members of the external prevention service contracted by the company owning the work center or by the other concurrent companies.
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One or more workers of the company owning the work center or of the other concurrent companies who, without being part of the own prevention service or being designated workers, have the necessary knowledge, qualification and experience in the activities referred to in paragraph 1.
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Any other worker of the company owning the work center who, due to their position in the hierarchical structure of the company and due to the technical functions they perform in relation to the production process or processes developed in the center, is qualified to coordinate business activities.
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One or more persons from companies engaged in the coordination of preventive activities, who have the necessary skills, knowledge and qualifications in the activities referred to in paragraph 1.
The person or persons in charge of the coordination of preventive activities must have the corresponding preventive training.The person or persons in charge of the coordination of preventive activities must maintain the necessary collaboration with the preventive resources of the concurrent employers, according to the last paragraph of article 14.4 RD 171/2004.2.13. In any case, the person or persons in charge of the coordination of preventive activities shall maintain the necessary collaboration with the preventive resources of the concurrent employers, according to the last paragraph of article 13.3 RD 171/2004.
The person or persons in charge of coordinating preventive activities shall have the following functions:
- To promote the fulfillment of the objectives set forth in the article 3 RD 171/2004.
- To serve as a channel for the exchange of information that, by virtue of the provisions of this Royal Decree, must be exchanged between the companies that concur in the work center.
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Any others entrusted by the employer in charge of the work center.
Application of the Royal Decree in Construction Works
The works included in the scope of application of the Royal Decree 1627/1997, of October 24, 1997, by which minimum safety and health provisions are established in construction works, shall be governed by the provisions of the aforementioned royal decree. For the purposes of the provisions of this Royal Decree, the following shall be taken into account:
- The information that corresponds to the titular companyshall be deemed to have been fulfilled by the promoter by means of the health and safety study or the basic study, in the terms established in Articles 5 and 6 of Royal Decree 1627/1997, of October 24. The instructions of the owner company will be understood to be complied with by the developer by means of those given by the health and safety coordinator during the execution of the work, when such a figure exists; otherwise, they will be given by the project management.
- The measures established for the principal entrepreneur, correspond to the contractor defined in the Article 2.1.h of Royal Decree 1627/1997, of October 24, 1997.
- The means of coordination in the construction sector shall be those established in Royal Decree 1627/1997, of October 24, 1997.and in the fourteenth additional provision of the Law 31/1995, of November 8, 1995The company is responsible for the prevention of occupational hazards, as well as any other complementary measures that may be established by the concurrent companies in the construction site.
In the Guía de Actuación Inspectora en la coordinación de Actividades Empresariales de la Dirección General de la Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, it is mentioned:
Prior to the start of the activity in its work center, the principal employer shall require contractors and subcontractors to prove in writing that they have carried out, for the contracted works and services, the risk assessment and the planning of their preventive activity, in accordance with the article 10.2 RD 171/2004.
Likewise, the principal employer shall require such companies to certify in writing that they have fulfilled their information and training obligations with respect to the workers who are to provide their services at the workplace, as provided for in the article 10.2 RD 171/2004.
When the contractor company decides to subcontract part of the work or service entrusted, it must demand in writing that the subcontractor accredits that it has carried out the risk assessment and preventive planning for the contracted works and services, as well as compliance with the obligations regarding information and training of the workers who will provide services at the work center. The principal employer shall deliver these accreditations to the main employer, in accordance with the last paragraph of the article 10.2 RD 171/2004.
The principal employer must verify that the contractors and subcontractors concurrent in its work center have established the necessary means of coordination between them.
The principal employer shall oversee compliance with occupational risk prevention regulations by contractors or subcontractors of works and services corresponding to its own activity, and which are carried out in its own work center.
Platforms for the Coordination of Business Activities
There are several technological platforms (software) for effectively manage, validate, maintain and manage all the documentation required to perform the Coordination of Business Activities, relating documents to each other and facilitating the transmission and exchange of documents between the main company and third parties (contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, etc.).
The objective of these softwares is to have a single point of contact between the collaborating companies, to carry out an agile document exchange, eliminate paper documents and e-mails, as well as integrate processes between collaborating companies.
The use of a document management software platform for the CAE helps to optimize processes, reduce errors and ensure compliance with regulations on the coordination of business activities.
The Quioo platform by Q-safety by Quirónprevención is a comprehensive solution for Efficient Document Management, which is also integrated with Quirónprevención's external prevention service and endorsed by the Quirónsalud Group.
