Jose Luis
The year 2026 does not represent just another regulatory update in the field of Occupational Risk Prevention. It marks a change of model.
The reform of Law 31/1995 and of the Prevention Services Regulations (RD 39/1997), together with the reinforcement of the inspectorate associated with the Year of Health and Safety at Work, have created a new scenario in which prevention is no longer an essentially documentary system, but a structural system of control and traceability.
Compliance will no longer be measured by the existence of documents, but by the consistency, updating and digital evidence of the entire preventive system.
What actually changes in the regulations
Individualized and contextualized risk assessments
One of the most relevant changes is the requirement for truly individualized risk assessments. The new regulatory guidance makes it mandatory to explicitly incorporate:
- Gender perspective.
- Age and personal conditions.
- Psychosocial risks.
- Emerging risks arising from telework, digitalization and climate change.
This implies a definitive abandonment of generic models by job. The evaluation is now built on a structured combination of person, activity and environment.
In medium and large organizations, this requirement multiplies exponentially the technical and documentary complexity if there is no system to support it.
Psychosocial risks: from a complement to a structural axis
The management of psychosocial risks is no longer an ancillary element. Stress, burnout, techno-fatigue or the organizational impact of telework become a mandatory part of the preventive system. Not as annexes, but as an integrated discipline. This means:
- Defined evaluation methods.
- Documented action plans.
- Periodic follow-up.
- Evidence traceable to inspection.
The fragmented approach is no longer sustainable.
More stringent and more controlled health surveillance
Health surveillance is also significantly strengthened. Medical examinations are made more compulsory in certain sectors and protocols are required to be better adapted to the type of risk and the individual characteristics of the worker.
The standard is no longer “provide medical examination”. It becomes “demonstrate planning, adequacy and traceability”. Consistency between risk assessment and medical surveillance will be a clear focus of inspection review.
Mandatory digital traceability. Structural axis
The most profound change is not technical, it is systemic. The reform consolidates a model in which digital traceability becomes an essential requirement. Inspections are evolving towards schemes based on structured evidence, not on the urgent collection of documentation.
It will be necessary to demonstrate:
- What assessment applies to each person.
- What risks were identified.
- What measures were planned.
- What medical protocols were activated.
- When they were executed.
- Who validated each performance.
Models based on spreadsheets, dispersed repositories or manual management become fragile in the face of this level of demand. Digitization is no longer an operational improvement. It becomes a condition of compliance.
Operational and organizational impact
Increased complexity if there is no integrated system
Without an integrated architecture, companies will face:
- Increased administrative burden.
- Increased likelihood of documentary inconsistencies.
- Critical dependence on specific individuals.
- Difficulty in consolidating data in audits.
Regulatory complexity is not linear. It is cumulative.
Shifting risk to management
Another structural change is the strengthening of managerial responsibility. OHS is no longer perceived as a delegated technical area and is now integrated into the corporate governance framework. The potential consequences are not minor:
- Financial penalties.
- Stoppage of activity.
- Reputational impact.
- Risk in bidding or public contracting processes.
Preventive compliance becomes an element of business continuity.
The new regulatory scenario does not act in isolation. It is connected with environmental obligations, carbon footprint, product traceability and increasing requirements in supply chains. The common thread is clear: data governance. Organizations that keep EHS disconnected from their core systems will be fragmenting their control model and multiplying their exposure.
The role of integrated systems such as SAP EHSM
In this context, integrated solutions such as SAP EHSM make it possible to structure compliance from the system architecture.
Its capabilities include:
- Individualized risk assessments linked to people, tasks and locations.
- Automated management of medical protocols and health surveillance.
- Structured integration of psychosocial risks.
- Unique and traceable document repository.
- Incident management connected to corrective actions and responsible parties.
- Monitoring through KPIs and integrated indicators.
The value lies not only in having a technological tool, but in turning compliance into a governed, coherent and auditable system. Prevention ceases to be formal and becomes digital, integrated and strategic. The difference will not be between compliance and non-compliance. It will be between:
- Manage compliance as an administrative cost.
- Or structure it as a corporate control system.
Organizations that understand this transition in time will turn regulation into competitive advantage. Those that react late will bear the cost of improvisation.
