- Under an orange or red alert from the weather agency, the employer must adapt outdoor working conditions if other measures are not enough.
- The risk assessment must take heat and each worker’s individual characteristics into account.
- The decree includes farm aid for the drought and transport discounts for young people this summer.
The Official State Gazette published Royal Decree-Law 4/2023 of 11 May on 12 May 2023, adopting urgent agricultural and water measures in response to the drought and the worsening situation of the primary sector. It also includes promotion of public land transport among young people and the prevention of occupational risks during high-temperature episodes. It came into force on 13 May.
For most companies the most relevant part is the last: an amendment to Royal Decree 486/1997 on workplaces that requires people working outdoors to be protected against heat and other adverse weather. The decree arrives after a hydrological year of scarce rain and unusually high temperatures, and at the gates of a summer expected to be demanding.
What the new rule requires
When work is done outdoors, and in places that by their activity cannot be enclosed, appropriate measures must be taken to protect workers against weather risks, including extreme temperatures. The measures stem from the risk assessment, which must consider, besides those phenomena, the characteristics of the task and the worker’s personal circumstances or known biological condition.
Preventive measures include banning certain tasks during the hours of the day with adverse weather when protection cannot otherwise be guaranteed. If the national weather agency, or the competent regional body, issues an orange or red level warning and those measures are not enough, adapting working conditions becomes mandatory, including reducing or changing working hours. The rule applies to all workplaces.
Drought, farming and young people
In agriculture, the decree describes a hydrological drought affecting wide areas, with reservoirs below 25% and irrigation restrictions above 80% in some basins, and approves support for farms, including a 20-million-euro increase in the funding of an earlier aid line. It also amends the Water Act. It includes discounts for young people on state-run public transport during summer 2023, and a 50% discount on the Interrail pass bought through Renfe.
For companies engaged in farming, livestock or food processing, it is worth reviewing which aid they qualify for and how it is claimed. For everyone else, drought is a continuity risk: water supply and regional restriction rules can affect production processes, tourism or facilities, and deserve a place in the company’s risk plan.
What to review
Companies with outdoor staff, such as construction, agriculture, gardening, logistics or urban services, should update their heat risk assessment now, define which tasks are rescheduled or suspended under orange or red alerts and decide who monitors those alerts. It is also wise to inform staff and keep a record of the decisions taken.
These measures must be coordinated with collective agreements, working-time records and risk prevention, and provision made for how hours are recovered when the working day is changed. This is general information; your prevention service and employment adviser can pin down how to apply the rule at each workplace. The duty is not limited to construction or farming: it reaches any activity involving outdoor work, such as deliveries, maintenance or events.
Heat is no longer just a summer discomfort: it is an occupational risk with specific obligations.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
