Cantabria approves 12,000 euros per SME for occupational risk prevention

The Governing Council of Cantabria approved Decree 64/2026, of September 10, which regulates the direct granting of subsidies aimed at promoting the prevention of occupational risks in small and medium-sized enterprises. The provision is published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria number 180, of September 18, 2026, section 6 on Subsidies and Grants, with the official reference CVE-2026-7222, and enters into force the day following its publication. The grants are part of the Cantabrian Strategy for Occupational Health and Safety 2023-2028 and are available to companies and self-employed individuals with a workplace in the community.

The new text repeals Decree 26/2024, of April 25, which regulated the same grants, and responds to the experience accumulated over two years of management: it adjusts requirements to the reality of the productive fabric, expands the eligible scenarios, simplifies the application documentation, and updates the list of municipalities at risk of depopulation. The Strategy sets as its primary objective that “no person shall die or be seriously injured due to occupational accidents in 2028.”

The authority to resolve corresponds to the Directorate of the Cantabrian Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (ICASST), and the organization and instruction to the Preventive Promotion and Planning Service of the same body. The funding is charged to the budgetary applications enabled in the ICASST budget.

Five lines of subsidy

The decree organizes the grants into five lines, two of which are new compared to the previous regulation:

• Line I “MEJORA” (IMPROVEMENT): investments for the improvement of occupational health and safety, including new machinery, motorized lifting equipment and work at height, fixed lifelines, local exhaust systems and forced ventilation, and industrial exoskeletons.
• Line II “INTEGRA” (INTEGRATE): indefinite and full-time hiring of higher or intermediate-level technical personnel in prevention.
• Line III “AVRA”: prevention, technical assistance, and training in specific risks, including decontamination units and HEPA filters against asbestos, noise, vibrations, and biological agents.
• Line IV “ROBOTS”: leasing of industrial robots and autonomous mobile robots, with a minimum duration of six months.
• Line V “REFUERZO” (REINFORCEMENT): support for the preventive activity of small companies through specific risk assessments, hygienic measurements, return-to-work procedures, and the acquisition of platform ladders.

Amounts and increases

The maximum amount per application is 12,000 euros for lines I, II, III, and IV, and 6,000 euros for line V. In lines I, III, IV, and V, the subsidy is calculated by brackets of accredited expenditure: 100 percent up to 5,000 euros, 70 percent between 5,000 and 9,000 euros, and 40 percent above that figure; in line V, the brackets are 1,500 and 3,000 euros.

Increments of up to 3,000 euros (1,500 in line V) are added to that amount for each of these circumstances:

• Workplace located in municipalities at risk of depopulation according to Order PRE/1/2025, of January 2.
• Having the “Seguridad Vial Laboral Cantabria” (Cantabria Occupational Road Safety) distinction from the CIRCULA Project in effect, regulated by Order HAC/36/2019, of July 1.
• Being part of the Healthy Companies Network of Cantabria.

The grants are de minimis and are subject to the applicable European regulations: Regulation (EU) 2023/2831 (300,000 euros over three years), Regulation (EU) 1408/2013 for the agricultural sector (50,000 euros), and Regulation (EU) 717/2014 for fisheries and aquaculture (30,000 euros, extendable to 40,000).

Requirements, deadlines, and processing

Private sector SMEs, including self-employed workers and members of professional college mutual funds, may be beneficiaries if they meet the following:

• Be owners of at least one workplace in Cantabria.
• Have at least one full-time employee comparable in the twelve months prior to the application.
• Have a registered equality plan, if they are required to do so.
• Be up to date with tax and Social Security obligations.

Public sector entities, groupings and communities of assets, and companies with a final sanction for a very serious infringement of occupational health and safety in the previous two years are excluded.

The application period remains open until January 31, 2029, with a maximum of two applications per company or group of companies per calendar year. The resolution must be notified within three months; if this period passes without a response, the application is understood to be rejected. All procedures are carried out via electronic signature and registration.

Impact

The regulation provides continuity to public support for prevention in the Cantabrian productive fabric, where micro-enterprises and SMEs face the greatest difficulties in integrating preventive activity. Interested companies have a stable framework until January 2029 to finance investments, the hiring of technicians, and measures against specific risks, with additional incentives for rural areas and for those who prove good practices in occupational road safety and health promotion.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 180, of September 18, 2026, section 6. Subsidies and Grants, pp. 46169-46207 (official reference: CVE-2026-7222).