CCOO and UGT unions in Castilla-La Mancha have appealed to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to establish a direct reporting protocol, allowing the unions to report cases of work-related accidents and hazardous situations due to violations of preventive measures directly to the Prosecutor’s Office. The unions made the appeal during a meeting of the Regional Commission for the Development and Monitoring of the Collaboration Agreement between the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Castilla-La Mancha and CCOO and UGT concerning work-related accidents on Friday. The unions emphasized the need to establish the protocol. The meeting was attended by the Lieutenant Prosecutor of Castilla-La Mancha, Francisco Ramón Sánchez, Raquel Payo, the Secretary of Social Dialogue, Institutional Relations, and Occupational Health of CCOO, and Javier Flores, the Secretary of Organization and Occupational Health of UGT Castilla-La Mancha.
To address the high work-related accidents in the region, the aim is to ratify and promote the existing collaboration agreement signed in 2007, which aims to reduce work-related accidents by raising awareness among companies about the need for measures to prevent occupational hazards to ensure safe and healthy workplaces.
The proposed protocol will allow unions to report cases of work-related accidents resulting in serious injuries or fatalities, as well as cases of hazardous situations posing a severe danger due to preventive measures violations, directly to the Prosecutor’s Office. If workers’ service departments report violations, unions’ legal services will evaluate the possibility of reporting the incidents to the Prosecutor’s Office to initiate investigations and determine whether the reported incidents amount to criminal offenses.
Additionally, during the meeting of the Monitoring Commission, the Lieutenant Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office presented statistics relating to the causes of work-related fatalities and injuries in 2022, the proceedings underway, the prosecution written pleadings, and judgments issued. Also, the unions were informed about the collaboration agreement between the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Castilla-La Mancha and the State’s Police and Security Forces.
CCOO and UGT expressed concern about the alarming work-related accidents statistics in the region, reporting a total of 31,119 work-related accidents last year, up 10.2% from the previous year, and 37 worker fatalities, up 19.4% from 2021. By province, the accidents recorded were 5,576 in Albacete (+10.8%), 6,036 in Ciudad Real (+1.2%), 3,151 in Cuenca (+1.1%), 4,961 in Guadalajara (+10.4%), and 11,395 in Toledo (+18.3%). In the first quarter of 2022, 7,000 work-related accidents were recorded in the region, including nine fatalities, with 1,154 accidents in Albacete, 1,396 in Ciudad Real, 797 in Cuenca, 1,244 in Guadalajara, and 2,410 in Toledo.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office and unions aim to enhance collaboration to reduce high work-related accidents in Castilla-La Mancha, ratify the collaboration agreement, and expand the activities outlined in the agreement. The main focus is the establishment of the protocol to empower unions to report to the Prosecutor’s Office directly.
