The Spanish model of work injury insurance is administered through employers' associations authorized by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. These associations, known as Mutual Funds, collect fee contributions from employers to cover occupational risks. The Mutual Funds provide general services funded by these fees, such as informing companies of their obligations, investigating accidents, and providing training. They also offer additional prevention services for a separate fee, such as risk evaluations, medical measurements, and specialized training. The Mutual Funds employ over 5,000 health and safety technicians and have an annual budget of over 6 billion euros to administer work injury coverage, prevention services, and rehabilitation care through specialized medical units.

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Spanish Model WI Insurance
• The WI Insurance Mutual Funds
• employers' associations
• authorized by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security
and Immigration
• collaborate in the administration of the coverage of
occupational accidents and professional illnesses
• as non profit organizations).
Similar Model in Germany, France, Switzerland

2. The property of the Mutual Funds belongs to the public
Social Security System
• they collect a fee-contribution to cover the occupational
risk
• paid by the employers (there is not workers contribution),
• based on the real salary of the workers
• percentage varies from 1 to 9% according to the nature
of the activities undertaken by the enterprises
• been the contributions higher according to higher rated
activity risks
• In case of accident with no preventive measures they
can be requested to pay 30 to 50% increase of benefits
by Labour inspectorate report
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3. • Total budget used by the Mutual Funds during year 2007
~ 6.000 million Euros
• All the incomes have to be addressed to improve the
OHS services provided by the Funds, no distribution as
benefit
• We will describe the basic services in OHS prevention
provided by the Mutual Funds (from the fee paid by the
employers: part A
• And additional services they provide as external
preventive services: part B
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4. A: Mutual Funds General Services (WI fees)
• 1.- Contact and inform enterprise on relevant OHS administrative
information (how to report on accidents, information on the fee paid by
enterprises, names and workers who are registered, etc.).
• 2.-Contact companies when there is a reason to pay a visit to company, like
in case of occupational accident.
• 3.- Visit the company when contracting the services, providing some training
and disseminating materials, some basic emergency equipment for first aid,
providing general documentation to inform about the “typical risks” in the
activity and solve possible doubts that can be outlined by the employers .
• 4.- In special cases to carry out initial risk evaluation (mainly in some big
enterprises who cover the risk of a high number of workers).
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5. A: Mutual Funds General Services (WI fees)
• 5.- Report of activities and visits (copy is delivered to employers and
workers representatives).
• 6.- General training addressed to Employers s, Workers, the
workers‘ Representatives, enterprise technicians, etc. on OHS
issues.
• 7 - investigation of Serious Accidents covered by the Social Security
fee.
• These investigations are carried out as follows:
• 7.1 - contact the accident victim.
• 7.2 - contact the company.
• 7.3 - contact the medical personnel that carried out the first
attendance.
• 7.4 - interviews with the accident victim.
• 7.5 - visits to the company.
• 7.6 - report and proposal of preventive measures related to the
accident 5

6. A: Mutual Funds General Services (WI fees)
• All these works require an important number of hours of
preparatory administrative work, like: - elaboration of
documentation, photocopies, maintenance and inventory
of the documentation, telephone calls, etc.
• 8 – The Mutual Funds follow up the recovery of the
injured persons, requesting them to follow prescribed
medical treatment and following the evolution of recovery
to control any misuse of medical or financial payments
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7. B: Mutual Funds Additional OSH preventive
Services
• For companies paying additional income to Funds not included in
the occupational risk fee.
• 1.- Realization of hygienic measurements:
• Powder
• Noise
• Temperature
• Humidity
• Etc.
• These measurements include the visit to companies, periodic
inspections, preparation and maintenance of measurement
equipment, sending the samples to the laboratory, elaboration of
reports…etc.
• 2.- Labour risk evaluations, including:
• 2.1 - visits to the company.
• 2.2 - realization of reports.
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8. B: Mutual Funds Additional OSH preventive Services
• 3.- Provide training activities addressed to the persons in charge in
the enterprise to implement OHS activities, managers, technicians,
appointed OHS staff, staff in charge of emergency measures,
workers representatives, ordinary workers, etc.
• 4.-Attendance to meetings and events related with company
preventive structure (OHS Committee, Workers OHS representative
meetings with company direction, etc, providing information to
workers and employers representatives on the activities
implemented by the Mutual Fund as preventive services.
• 5.- Maintenance of professional relationships between the
preventive structure of the enterprise and mediate when there are
discrepancies providing the Mutual Fund technical advise on the
discussed matters, etc.
• 6.- Provide information to employer to coordinate OHS activities
when more than one company is sharing the work place
(subcontracting, building sites, etc.).
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9. Mutual Funds Financial matters & number of experts
• From their total income the Mutual Funds they receive as
preventive services, 15% is disbursed to the Social Security System
to improve the general SS services and contribute to a financial
balance.
• there are more than 5.000 OHS technicians working for the Mutual
Funds. The Spanish population is 44.000.000 persons.
• The total number of OHS high and medium level technicians in
Spain working for Mutual Funds or for Preventive Services is around
30.000, which means an increase of 1.000% if compared to figures
existing in 1995 before the transposition of the Framework directive
1898/391.
• Additionally there are up to 850 active Labour and Social Security
Inspectors in the State Labour Inspectorate (all high level OHS
technicians) and additionally up to 1.500 high level technicians in
National and Regional OHS research institutes who also monitor
and assist enterprises to implement OHS policies.
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10. Mutual Funds Rehabilitation Services
• Covers all surgical specialties/doctor related with the occupational
accident and diseases, with the following specialized units:
• Specialiced Units
Prime care Medicine
Traumatology
Radiology and radio-diagnosis
Physical Medicine and rehabilitation
Ophthalmology
Surgery of hand and micro-surgery
Plastic Surgery
Cardiology
Neurofisiology
Psyquiatry
Neumology
Phsicology
Remaining body capacity evaluation and assessment
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11. Mutual Funds Rehabilitation Services
• Specialised Surgery Units:
• Surgery of the back and bones
• Surgery of hand and microsurgery
• Arthroscopic Surgery
• Repair and plastic Surgery Unit
• Multidiscipline Laboratories specialised on:
• Haematology
• Biochemical
• Pathologic Anatomy
• Microbiology
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12. Mutual Funds Rehabilitation Services
• Job reinsertion welfare of a worker suffering accident or illness at
work
• Professional training/orientation on jobs on demand suitable for
remaining skills for handicapped workers
• Multidisciplinary approach is applied:
- rehabilitative doctors,
- physiotherapists,
- clinical and industrial psychologists,
-welfare assistants,
- experts in adults' professional training/orientation, etc.
- individual plan for each patient's necessities
- psychological assistance to worker and family
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13. Mutual Funds Rehabilitation Services
• Special Units for Heart Rehabilitation
• This service is provided to all the coronary patients that have
suffered heart attack or chest angina and the objective is to avoid
that he/she repeats, as well as the improvement of the workers
health and recovery
• Special Units of Rehabilitation
the workers get the most advanced techniques in the rehabilitative
treatment of the different damages:
• Hydrotherapy
• Thermotherapy
• Electrotherapy
• Lasertherapy
• Magnetotherapy
• Occupational Therapy
• Gyms 13

14. Mutual Funds’ Evaluation Quality of Services
• The client‘s defence-guarantee system for the quality of the
services
• Specific Department of the client‘s Defence and Quality of the
services which constitutes an instrument to control and develop
levels of quality of the services
- based on:
• Internet, comments sent to electronic mail address of the
Satisfaction Department: ….. @ …….
• The “ Points of attention to the client” located in all centres (Net of
centres mail boxes)
• Telephone of Attention to the Client: (free of charge) 900 ……...
• The continuous evaluation of the satisfaction of the beneficiaries
together with some “ specific Programs of evaluation” allows the
adaptation of the provided services to the necessities and
beneficiary‘s expectations.
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15. Spanish Model WI Insurance
ALBERTO CERDA MICO
KEY EXPERT ON WORK INJURY AND REHABILITATION
acerdamico@yahoo.es
THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION
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