2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-NINE - Labor (§§ 1 — 3004) › PART I - Labor Provisions Generally (§§ 1 — 510k) › Chapter 16 - Occupational Safety and Health (§§ 361 — 362) › § 361i - Warning labels and medical examinations

(a) The Secretary, in approving or adopting standards dealing with toxic materials or harmful physical agents under §§ 361—361aa of this title, shall set the standard which most adequately assures, to the extent feasible and on the basis of the best available evidence, that no employee shall suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity, even if such employee is regularly exposed to the hazard dealt with by such standard for the period of his working life. Development of standards under this subsection shall be based upon scientific research, demonstrations, experiments and such other information as may be appropriate, including recommendations of the Secretary of Health. In addition to the attainment of the highest degree of health and safety protection for the employee, other considerations shall be the latest available scientific data in the field, the feasibility of the standards and the experience gained under §§ 361—361aa of this title and other health and safety laws. Whenever feasible, the standard promulgated shall be expressed in terms of objective criteria and of the performance desired.
(b) Any standard adopted or approved under §§ 361—361aa of this title shall prescribe the use of labels or other appropriate forms of warning as are necessary to insure that employees are advised of all hazards to which they are exposed, relevant symptoms and appropriate emergency treatment, and proper conditions and precautions for safe use or exposure. Where appropriate, such standard shall also prescribe suitable protective equipment and control or technological procedures to be used in connection with such hazards and shall provide for monitoring or measuring employee exposure at such locations and intervals and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary for the protection of employees. In addition, where appropriate, any such standard shall indicate the type and frequency of the medical examinations or other tests which shall be made available, at the employer’s cost, to employees exposed to such hazards, in order to determine most effectively whether the health of such employees is adversely affected by such exposure. The results of all such examinations and tests shall be furnished to the Secretary and to the employer, and at the request of the employee, to the latter or to his physician.
(c) The Secretary may make appropriate modifications in the foregoing requirements relating to the use of labels or other forms of warning, monitoring or measuring, and medical examinations, as may be warranted by experience, information or medical or technological developments acquired subsequent to the promulgation of the pertinent standard.
(d) During such time as an employee is submitted to a medical examination under subsection (b) of this section, his employer shall be under obligation to reserve the employment held by such employee at the time he was submitted to the examination and to reinstate the employee provided that:
(1) The employee requests his employer to reinstate him within fifteen (15) days after he is ordered by the examining physician to return to work, and
(2) the employment still exists at the time the employee requests his reinstatement. (It shall be deemed that the employment exists when it is vacant or when it is held by another employee. It shall be assumed that the employment was vacant when it is filled by another employee within thirty (30) days after the date reinstatement was sought.)
(e) Nothing in this or another provision of §§ 361—361aa of this title shall be construed to authorize or request medical examination, vaccination or treatment for those who object to the same on religious grounds, except when it may be necessary for the protection of the health and safety of others.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 10.