Cong. Actualidad Laboral: Natalia Fdez. Laviada highlights the importance of decent work as a source of health

Fraternidad-Muprespa was present this Thursday, November 20, at the XIX Congress of Actualidad Laboral and the XVI Meeting with Justice in the Social Order, organized by the Official College of Social Graduates of Madrid. The day was inaugurated by Teresa Silleras, president of the College of Social Graduates of Madrid, Manuel Rodriguez, vice president, and Ana Maria Orellana, Honorary President of the College and Judge of the Social Chamber of the Supreme Court. 

Antonio Sempere He gave the inaugural presentation in which he analyzed recent criminal jurisprudence on significant labor issues (workplace harassment, sexual harassment or the crime of endangering the health of workers, among others).  

On behalf of the Mutual Society, he intervened Natalia Fernández Laviada, deputy general director of Prevention, Quality and Communication, who participated in the debate table “Prevention of Occupational Risks and Mental Health: current challenges”, in which they were also present Basque Pillar, primary care physician, Rafael Victor Rivelles, head of Section of the psychiatry service at Hospital La Paz, and Raquel Vega, head of the Psychosocial Risks Unit of the Regional Institute of Safety and Health at Work.

Fdez. Laviada described the challenges faced by companies, mutual societies and administrations in a context marked by the 30th anniversary of the Occupational Risk Prevention Law and by the declaration, by the Council of Ministers, of 2026 as “Year of Safety and Health at Work”, underscoring the importance of addressing psychological well-being in the work environment.

He pointed out that the 15% of working-age adults have mood disorders or alterations at some point. Depression and anxiety cause loss of productivity one billion euros annually. Dedicating 90,000 hours to work, almost a third of the time awake, it is key to pay attention to organizational well-being in our lives.

In Spain, 1.5 million workers They do not go to their post for a single day, which means “an enormous cost: loss of GDP, saturation of the public health system, lower productivity and personal consequencesHe also recalled that mutual insurance companies control temporary disability processes due to common contingencies, verifying the patient's condition, offering psychological and psychiatric support in cases of work accidents and proposing medical discharges after rigorous evaluations.

In the opinion of Fdez. Laviada, decent work can be a mental health engine, providing meaning, recognition and stability. For which it must meet three conditions: be useful, connecting personal and business purpose, allow living with dignity and not harm physical and psychological integrity.

He also described talking about mental health in the company as a “necessary challenge”, something that It is not a weakness, but a sample of preventive culture. He remembered that New forms of employment confront us with increasing psychosocial risks on which we must focus.

Another of the axes that focused his intervention was the prevention of occupational risks in the company. Although the big ones are making numerous advances, “in Spain the 99% are small businessesand the 95.7% micro-SMEs soThe challenge is to transfer the preventive culture to them as well.”. 

Finally, Fdez. Laviada emphasized that mental health is the result of well-being inside and outside of work. “In the workplace it translates into motivation, concentration, emotional balance and healthy relationships. Factors such as harassment, burnout, frustration, dysfunctional behaviors or digital hyperconnection show that we are not watertight compartments: the work and personal worlds intertwine", he concluded, adding that "The great challenge is to separate both worlds in a fair way, for the person and for the system.”