Employment lawyer Víctor Arpa has urged comprehensive legal assistance after a workplace accident in Lanzarote left a worker with a complete spinal cord injury.
Writing on social media under the handle @abogadovictorarpa, Arpa said legal assistance following serious workplace accidents must extend far beyond calculating final monetary compensation to address immediate practical needs.
Arpa said sudden accidents transform the lives of workers and their families within seconds, generating urgent logistical challenges. He questioned the value of securing financial compensation if a patient cannot even enter their own home upon leaving the hospital.
Lanzarote is an island in Spain's Canary Islands archipelago, situated in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of northwestern Africa.
According to the lawyer, initial legal action must resolve practical questions regarding wheelchair funding, home renovations, vehicle adaptations, and applications for public dependency benefits. Arpa said lawyers should offer full guidance from the start rather than appearing only at the end of litigation to discuss money, noting that he had already coordinated direct intervention by the worker's labor mutual insurance scheme to secure immediate benefits.
In Spain, a labor mutual insurance association, known locally as a mutua laboral, is a non-profit entity collaborating with the national Social Security system to manage medical care, rehabilitation, and immediate benefits for occupational accidents.
Labour inspectorate probe into accident causes
Alongside securing mobility and autonomy support, legal representation has prompted action by Spain's Labour Inspectorate to conduct a detailed investigation into the circumstances of the Lanzarote accident and determine potential employer liabilities regarding workplace risk prevention.
The Labour Inspectorate, known in Spain as the Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, is the public body responsible for auditing occupational health and safety regulations and investigating workplace accidents.
Arpa said that while his legal team will fight for all compensation legally due to the injured worker, the primary objective is to help the individual rebuild their life with maximum autonomy and dignity. He recommended that any family facing a severe workplace emergency seek information on the full scope of their legal rights.
