Los supuestos de hecho de los centenares de sentencias a las que ya han dado origen los arts. 316 y 317 CP son desgarradores. Sin embargo, los Jueces y Tribunales continúan aplicando el tipo con interpretaciones laxas que globalmente consideradas permiten a los sujetos activos del delito considerar que delinquir en esta materia no trae consigo graves consecuencias y que, por tanto, en términos económicos es más productivo el delito que cumplir con la normativa. Sostengo que dicho erróneo proceder judicial no es consecuencia de una errónea legislación, salvo pequeños matices, sino de una aplicación defectuosa de la misma. Con este trabajo pretendo aportar soluciones a los más graves problemas dogmáticos y prácticos que el tipo plantea, de modo que a supuestos de hecho tan dolorosos como los de esta materia correspondan, por fin, penas que cumplan con su función de prevención general y especial respecto a los delincuentes contra los trabajadores.

The facts behind the hundreds of court judgments involving articles 316 and 317 of the Spanish Penal Code are bloodcurdling. Nevertheless, judges and courts persist in applying the law in a lax manner, allowing employers to believe that non-compliance with the regulations will remain essentially unsanctioned, and therefore from a purely economic point of view, there is no motivation to comply with the regulations. In my opinion, the courts' rulings have been erroneous; however, I contend that this is not the consequence of bad regulation, apart from some minor aspects, but rather a problem of misguided interpretation of legal provisions amenable to other interpretations. In this dissertation I intend to solve a series of dogmatic and practical problems raised by said courts' implementation of articles 316 and 317 of the Spanish Criminal Code. Were my proposals to find echo, facts as painful as the ones portrayed in this study would finally receive their deserved sanctions or sentences, which in turn would further (the much needed) general and special preventive measures in the field of workplace safety in Spain.