Social Security, in collaboration with the National Civil Protection Authority, has advanced to a new level of action in cases of civil emergency or catastrophe, developing an Intervention Protocol in Exception Scenarios.

This protocol includes instruments of planning, organization and coordination in the context of social support action, organizing Social Security technicians and giving indications of what to do and when to do it in articulation with other entities.

The Intervention Protocol presupposes:

• The definition of the generic competences of the Social Security Institute within the scope of intervention in exceptional scenarios;
• The competencies of the Social Security Operators according to the levels of action they will take, namely in the Operational Command Centres and in the Areas of Concentration and Support to Populations;
• The definition of competency profiles according to the organization of the Institute’s teams;
• The distribution of an intervention kit in an exception scenario composed of a vest and a field notebook for operational purposes, among other items.

2017 Experience

The fires of 2017 showed the relevance of Social Security intervention in a catastrophe or civil emergency environment.

Between June and October 2017 Social Security technicians provided permanent social support to the fire episodes in each district, contributing to the consolidation of what the Social Security responsibilities are in the context of emergency and catastrophe situations.

More than 9,000 visits were registered by Social Security technicians and about 232,000 euros were awarded in eventual subsidies to 319 families.

An exceptional and temporary exemption, total or partial, of the payment of Social Security contributions was also applied to 4 520 workers against others or self-employed.