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) › § 361v - Special procedure

(a) Any authorized representative of the Secretary may file before any judge of the District or Court of First Instance of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico a sworn petition alleging that the conditions or practices in any place of employment are such that a danger exists which may reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm, immediately or before such danger can be eliminated through the enforcement procedures otherwise provided by §§ 361—361aa of this title. The court shall issue a temporary order directed to such persons requiring them to cease, under penalty of contempt, all task or work in connection with which the conditions described in the petition subsist or that such steps be taken as may be necessary to avoid, correct or remove such danger and prohibit the employment or presence of any individual in locations or under conditions where such danger exists, except individuals whose presence is necessary to avoid, correct or remove such danger or to maintain the capacity of a continuous operational process to resume normal operations without a complete cessation of operations or where a cessation of operations is necessary, to permit such to be accomplished in a safe and orderly manner until such time as their right is judicially aired.
(1) The temporary order shall set the date of the hearing which shall be held within ten (10) days following the filing of the petition and the defendant shall be advised that he may appear, personally or through counsel, at said hearing to answer the charges made against him, and if he fails to appear a final order may be entered.
(2) Such order shall be served and returned in the same manner as the judicial order in wage claims is served and returned pursuant to §§ 3118—3132 of Title 32; Provided, That for the service and return of such order, the services of any marshal of the courts of justice of Puerto Rico, or any member of the Police Department may be used. A copy of the order and of the sworn petition shall be delivered to the defendant. Both documents shall bear the seal of the court.
(3) The defendant shall be under no obligation to file a written plea in answer to the petition, but he may submit any pertinent defense. No costs shall be charged. In the event of controversy on the facts, the court shall make an ocular inspection of the place, if it deems it convenient, or if any of the parties so requests at the hearing.
(4) The decision which shall be in writing, may order the permanent cessation of all acts alleged in the petition or definitively set aside the temporary order.
(5) The final decision shall be appealable or reviewable by the proper higher court. In such appeals or reviews and in what is not provided for herein, the provisions contained in the Rules of Civil Procedure shall govern.
(6) The exercise of the special procedure herein provided shall be independent from, and shall not bar, the assessment of any civil fine under §§ 361—361aa of this title or bar the exercise of a criminal action on the same facts.
(7) The temporary order shall be set aside before the hearing is held, without any other order of the court, when any authorized representative of the Secretary files a notice of dismissal, stating his conviction that the faults have been corrected or the acts which constituted the violation alleged in the petition have been definitively suspended.
(8) Any person who violates any temporary or permanent order issued under this special procedure shall be guilty of contempt.
(b) Whenever and as soon as an authorized representative of the Secretary concludes that conditions or practices described as situations of danger pursuant to subsection (a) exist in any place of employment, he shall inform the affected employees and the employers of the danger and that he is recommending to the Secretary that a remedy be sought.
(c) If the Secretary arbitrarily or capriciously fails to seek remedy under subsection (a) in cases where a danger exists which could reasonably be expected to cause death or physical harm immediately or before said danger can be removed through the enforcement procedures otherwise provided in §§ 361—361aa of this title, any employee who may be injured by reason of such failure, or the representative of such employees, may bring an action against the Secretary in the Court of First Instance, San Juan Part, or in the Part of the Court of First Instance corresponding to the geographical area where the danger is alleged to exist, for a writ of mandamus to compel the Secretary to seek such an order and for such further remedy as may be appropriate.
(d) Any workman affected by a permanent order of cessation entered under this special procedure or under an injunction proceeding instituted for the same purpose, shall be entitled to be paid by the employer, and the latter shall pay him the hours he failed to work as a result of the suspension of work because of this procedure or the injunction, up to a maximum of two hundred eight (208) hours from the date of issuance of the temporary order which thereafter became final. The compensation provided herein in case of a permanent cessation pursuant to this procedure is different from and not tantamount to that provided by Act No. 50 of Apr. 20, 1949.
History —Aug. 5, 1975, No. 16, p. 605, § 23; June 24, 1977, No. 116, p. 295, § 7.