Riesgos Legales en Colombia por Incumplimiento de las Normas de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, en la Minería de Carbón

Abstract

The ignorance and non-compliance with the rules that pertain to the Occupational Safety and Health Management System (SGSST – in spanish), in coal mining in Colombia, implies, in addition to the fatalities and diseases that economic activity causes, the generation legal risks (probable and latent) for the employer or those responsible, such as: litigation for manslaughter in the event of a fatal accident; to face civil and labor claims for the cause of accidents and diseases; economic losses for compensation; bad corporate or corporate image, etc. In sum, it should be borne in mind that, first of all, before starting a process in the production of a certain good, such as the extraction of mineral coal, the responsible must verify, analyze and apply the rules that establishes it. If the procedure is not specified in any legal provision, it is the duty of those responsible to resort to similar standards, such as those established by national or international bodies governed by public or private law (ILO, WHO, ISO, OSHAS, OHSAS, NTC).