Adela Quinzá-Torroja: “Occupational health and safety at work is a fundamental right”
In the second interview of the #VamosACreérnoslo campaign, which brings together the most knowledgeable voices about safety and health at work, those who manage the regional centers for the prevention of occupational risks, we shared a talk with Adela Quinzá-Torroja.
The Managing Director of the Institute of Occupational Health and Safety of Galicia has a degree in Law, a Higher Technician in occupational risk prevention in her three specialties and a woman clearly committed to protection.
A career official of the Higher Corps of the Xunta de Galicia, she has served as coordinator of local police and the police unit attached to the Xunta, and since 2000 she has been linked to the Institute, first as deputy director general and since 2009 as its head.
In recent years, the prevention sector has witnessed the link between Fraternidad-Muprespa and the Institute, materialized in conferences, conferences and workshops, always with prevention as a backdrop.
2026 has been declared the Year of Safety and Health at Work. What meaning does this declaration have for your Autonomous Community and what opportunities does it open to reinforce the preventive culture in your territory?
The Xunta de Galicia assumes both safety and health at work and occupational well-being as priority areas of action and we are convinced that the current era, with new scenarios and new ways of working, presents challenges to which we must respond through technical rigor and social dialogue. To achieve this, we have our own strategic framework, the result of contributions and consensus with the social partners in Galicia, while at the same time we execute part of the actions of the Spanish strategy.
With that premise and taking into account that
The autonomous communities are key in the execution of any policy that is implemented to prevent occupational risks.
and, in general, in improving working conditions in the preventive field, this 2026 declaration should allow us to move forward together to strengthen real and effective preventive management in the workplace. This declaration must remember that safety and health at work is a fundamental right and a responsibility shared by all actors involved.
From Galicia, and especially through the Issga, this year we will actively participate in all the activities that are designed on the occasion of this Declaration, and we also want it to serve to value the work, in any field that is developed, of the technical personnel for the prevention of occupational risks, who every day strive to advise and seek solutions that prevent damage to health.
We will add all these activities to those already planned for 2026 in our Action Plan aimed at groups, sectors or risk factors that require more attention, insisting on offering a quality public service to the business fabric of Galicia.
How do you think the work of mutual societies fits within the preventive system of your community and what improvements or lines of work do you think could be introduced to improve the preventive culture of our mutual members?
Mutual insurance companies, which were pioneers in prevention, continue to be a very important resource in raising awareness in the preventive system and have top-class specialists.
For the ISSGA, mutual insurance companies are very necessary and valuable collaborators, both in preventive matters and in the promotion of health at work.
Through their technical staff, they are collaborating with the Institute in information and training on the most current topics. Specifically, they are an important part of our technical sessions, which in 2026 address issues such as workplace well-being and psychosocially healthy environments, as well as eye protection, sleep and rest equipment. Also the integration of the gender perspective in work ergonomics, remote work, leadership, the acquisition of machines, etc.
In this way, they have allowed us to have in-person forums with simulators, exoskeletons and a series of technological advances applied to ORP such as gamification or virtual and augmented reality, as well as in occupational road safety or in the promotion of health at work, increasingly necessary, which we have made available in Galicia. We are very grateful… It is a path that we have to travel together and that has helped us grow mutually.
Mutual companies make all this capital of knowledge and resources available to their mutual members and, without a doubt, I encourage them to use them.
The ISSGA has the “Galicia Occupational Health and Safety Strategy: Horizon 2027” as an instrument for the prevention of occupational risks. What are the main strengths of this strategy?
This is a strategy for Galicia with its differentiating notes that, in any case, assumes European and Spanish strategies as sources. It is a strategic text endorsed by the unanimous agreement of the social partners of our land, after having actively participated in its design.
The Galician SSL strategy combines addressing traditional risks with the challenges of the future
I want to highlight that great care has been taken in each measure of scientific-technical rigor, that it has a comprehensive vision of occupational health and that it is organized into axes that structure the main needs of Galicia. Thus, it combines attention to traditional risks and the challenges of the future and embraces new trends. In addition to pursuing the reduction of accidents, it seeks the promotion of healthy environments, due attention to psychosocial risks and the changes derived from the different transformations.
I want to add that it is designed especially for SMEs, self-employed people and sectors with higher levels of risk. Furthermore, it is committed to specialization, innovation and research as essential tools. In short, it is a strategy for Galicia, with a multidisciplinary and comprehensive vision, realistic but ambitious and results-oriented. We have a high level of execution, for which we feel very proud.
