What Spain's Labour Inspection checks in psychosocial audits (2026)

Something changed in 2026 and most companies missed it

For years, psychosocial risk assessment in Spain was a box-ticking exercise. You hired an external service, received a 40-page PDF, filed it away, and moved on. If the Labour Inspection showed up, you handed over the document and usually walked away clean.

That era is over.

Since early 2026, the Spanish Labour and Social Security Inspection has tightened its enforcement approach on psychosocial risks. The focus has shifted from "documentary existence" to "technical quality and evidence of application". Meaning: they no longer check whether you have the assessment, they check whether it actually works. And they talk to your workers to verify it.

What documents they will ask for

Spanish Law 31/1995 on Occupational Risk Prevention, article 16, requires evaluating all risks, including psychosocial ones. Article 23 requires documenting them and keeping records available to the labour authority.

What has changed is what the Inspection considers "sufficient documentation" in 2026. In a typical visit, they will ask for, at minimum:

–The full psychosocial assessment, preferably using a methodology recognised by the INSST. FPSICO 4.0 is the standard, though CoPsoQ-Istas21 and MARC-UV are accepted when technically justified.
–The list of positions evaluated and the technical justification for how they were grouped.
–Signed minutes proving the participation of worker representatives in the process.
–The preventive action plan derived from the results, with deadlines, owners and assigned budget.
–Records of monitoring and revision: what was done, when, who verified it.
–Specific psychosocial risk training delivered to middle managers.

The worker interviews

This is the part that catches most companies off guard. The Inspection does not sit and read your PDF. They talk to the workforce. Without the boss present. In private.

The questions are predictable. Did you take part in the psychosocial survey? Were you told the results? Has anything happened since then? Do you know who to talk to if you have a workload or treatment issue?

When five out of ten workers say "what survey?", your assessment loses all weight.

Sanctions are not theoretical

The Spanish Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order clearly classifies violations. Not having a psychosocial assessment when required is a serious infringement: between 2,451€ and 49,180€. Not applying preventive measures once you know the risks jumps to very serious: up to 983,736€ at the top tier.

If the Inspection concludes that a worker was harmed, article 164 of the General Social Security Law triggers a "recargo de prestaciones": a surcharge of 30% to 50% on every benefit that person receives, paid by the company. No time limit.

The five mistakes that trigger sanctions

One. Template assessments. The same report with a different company name. Inspectors spot this in ten minutes.

Two. No worker representative involvement. Without signed minutes, the assessment is challengeable.

Three. No action plan. Having the diagnosis and doing nothing is worse than not assessing.

Four. No follow-up. A 2023 assessment left untouched in 2026 is outdated.

Five. Unjustified methodology. Use a homemade questionnaire and the Inspection can reject it outright.

How to prepare before they knock

Run an internal audit. Open the psychosocial prevention folder and answer honestly:

–Is the methodology used recognised by the INSST?
–Do the positions evaluated actually reflect the current structure?
–Are there signed minutes from worker representatives?
–Were results communicated to staff in a verifiable way?
–Is there an action plan with deadlines, owners and budget?
–Is there evidence that measures have been executed?
–When was the last revision and what triggered it?

If three answers are "no" or "not sure", you are at real risk of sanction.

What I have learned

Most companies that fail do not do so out of bad faith. They fail because they delegated prevention to an external service that delivered a generic product, and no one internal bothered to check whether it made sense. The solution is having a system that assesses rigorously, involves the workforce for real, generates concrete measures and proves follow-up.

Discover how Harmony helps you build assessments that survive a real inspection →

Natalia Cuadrado is the founder of Harmony.