Its regulation is established in articles 35 and 36 of the LPRL, reformed by Law 54/2003. The prevention delegates are the representatives of the staff with specific functions in preventive matters and are elected by and from among the UB’s employees.
The UB’s institutional representatives and staff representatives agreed, in view of the complexity of the UB, to increase the number of delegates to seventeen. The distribution of these seventeen delegates is as follows: twenty delegates from the PDI, four delegates from the PTGAS civil servants and four delegates from the PTGAS employees.
The competences and powers of the prevention delegates are as follows:
- Collaborate with UB management to improve preventive action.
- Promote and encourage the cooperation of workers in the implementation of regulations on the prevention of occupational hazards.
- To be consulted by the UB on the decisions referred to in article 33 of the LPRL before they are implemented.
- Exercise a task of vigilance and control over compliance with the regulations on the prevention of occupational hazards.
- Accompany the technical staff in preventive assessments of the work environment. Accompany, also, in the terms provided for in article 40 of the LPRL, the Labour and Social Security inspectors in the visits and verifications that they carry out at work centres to check that the regulations on the prevention of occupational risks are being complied with, and make any observations that they deem appropriate.
- To have access, with the limitations set out in section 4 of article 22 of the LPRL, to the information and documentation relating to the working conditions that are necessary for the performance of their duties and, specifically, to that set out in articles 18 and 23 of this Act. When the information is subject to the limitations indicated, it can only be provided in a way that guarantees respect for confidentiality.
- To be informed about the damage caused to the health of UB staff, when the UB is aware of it. Delegates may go to the place where the incident took place, even if it is outside their working day, in order to find out the circumstances.
- Collect the information that the UB has obtained from the people or bodies in charge of protection and prevention activities and from the competent bodies for staff health and safety, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 40 of the LPRL on collaboration with the Labour and Social Security Inspectorate.
- Carry out visits to workplaces to carry out a task of surveillance and control of the state of working conditions and to be able, for this purpose, to access any area and communicate with the staff during the working day, so that the normal development of the production process is not altered.
- To demand that the UB adopt preventive measures to improve the level of protection of the health and safety of its staff. To this end, they can make proposals to the UB, as well as to the Health and Safety Committee for discussion.
- To propose to the UB staff representative body the adoption of the agreement to suspend activities referred to in section 3 of article 21 of the LPRL.