La vigilancia de la salud laboral y el derecho a la confidencialidad de los datos personales del trabajador

Abstract

Surveillance of occupational health continues to be a controversial topic regarding the field of Occupational Risk Prevention. Its regulatory dispersion and divisiveness, together with a widespread lack of knowledge among the Spanish business community, raise many doubts such as determining which medical examinations are mandatory and which are not, and the professional activities where they are compulsory; establishing the moment and the frequency to be carried out or, at least, offered by the company; knowing the consequences for a worker who refuses to submit to a mandatory examination; and, eventually, clarifying how to manage the balance between the job security of the community and the worker's right to privacy. All these questions have already been solved by the legislator himself, albeit in a sparse and scattered manner, and where he has not given an answer, the judicial doctrine has been doing so. The following pages are dedicated to exposing these issues, paying attention to cases of alcohol and drug use at work. Finally, and before closing the article, conclusions are referred and a legislative proposal is made.