Criminal Lawyers for Workplace Accidents

Workplace accidents can trigger criminal liability for employers, managers, safety officers, and prevention service technicians. Articles 316-318 of the Criminal Code specifically criminalize endangering workers' life, health, or physical integrity through failure to provide adequate safety measures. When workers are injured or killed, these charges typically concur with reckless injury or involuntary manslaughter.

Criminal Framework

Article 316 CP (intentional endangerment) carries imprisonment of 6 months to 3 years and a fine, while Article 317 (negligent endangerment) carries penalties reduced by one degree. If the accident causes injury or death, the safety offense concurs with reckless injury (Art. 152) or involuntary manslaughter (Art. 142), producing combined sentences that can reach 4-6 years imprisonment for fatal accidents.

Liable Persons

Criminal liability may fall on the employer who owns the workplace, the company's directors and managers, the prevention technicians who omitted measures, the safety coordinators on construction sites, and the foremen or site managers with decision-making power over working conditions. Liability follows the real power to decide on and remedy the safety deficiency, not merely the job title, and the employer's duty of supervision (in vigilando) requires verifying that protocols are actually complied with—not merely adopted on paper.

Legal Persons and Delegation (Art. 318 CP)

Where the facts are attributed to a legal person, Article 318 CP provides that the penalty is imposed on the directors or service managers responsible and on those who, knowing of the deficiency and able to remedy it, failed to act. Valid delegation of prevention functions can shift liability to the delegate, but only where the delegation was genuine, accompanied by real authority and resources, and not used as a mere formal shield by senior management.

Compensation and the Benefits Surcharge

Beyond the criminal penalty, a workplace accident triggers civil liability for the damage caused and, where the accident resulted from a lack of safety measures, a surcharge on Social Security benefits (recargo de prestaciones) of 30% to 50%, payable by the employer and compatible with civil compensation. Compensation for fatal accidents is assessed using the traffic-accident scale as a guide, plus moral damages. The criminal, administrative and civil routes run in parallel, each with its own limitation period.

Defense Strategies

Our defense examines: proving the employer had proper safety measures in place (risk assessments, safety equipment, training records, prevention plans); demonstrating the accident resulted from the worker's own negligence or violation of safety protocols; establishing that a prevention service was properly contracted and its recommendations followed; challenging the causal link between the alleged safety deficiency and the accident; and arguing that the responsible person was a delegated safety officer rather than senior management.