1974D0325 — EN — 01.01.1995 — 001.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL DECISION
of 27 June 1974
on the setting up of an Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work
(74/325/EEC)
(OJ L 185, 9.7.1974, p. 15)
Amended by:
OfficialJournal
No page date
►A1 Act of Accession of Greece L 291 17 19.11.1979
►A2 Act of Accession of Spain and PortugalL 302 23 15.11.1985
►A3 Act of Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland C 241 21 29.8.1994
(adapted by CouncilDecision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC) L 1 1 1.1.1995
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▼B
COUNCIL DECISION
of 27 June 1974
on the setting up of an Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and
Health Protection at Work
(74/325/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 145 thereof;
Having regard to the draft of the Commission;Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (
1);
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and SocialCommittee;Whereas the profound transformation in production methods in all
sectors of the economy and the spread of dangerous techniques andmaterials have created new problems for the safety, hygiene and healthprotection of workers at their place of work;
Whereas the prevention of occupationalaccidents and diseases, as wel l
as occupationalhygiene, are among the objectives of the Treaty estab-lishing the European Economic Community;
Whereas the Councilresol ution of 21 January 1974 (
2) concerning a
socialaction programme envisages an action programme for workerswhich aims inter alia at improvement in safety and health conditions at
work;
Whereas a standing body should be envisaged to assist the Commission
in the preparation and implementation of activities in the fields ofsafety, hygiene and health protection at work and to facilitate coopera-tion between nationaladministrations, trades unions and empl oyers’organizations;
Whereas this Decision does not conflict with Article 118 of the Treaty
establishing the European Economic Community,
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
An Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at
Work (hereinafter called the ‘Committee') is hereby established.
Article 2
1. The Committee shall have the task of assisting the Commission in
the preparation and implementation of activities in the fields of safety,hygiene and health protection at work.
This task shall cover all sectors of the economy except the mineral
extracting industries falling within the responsibility of the MinesSafety and Health Commission and except the protection of the healthof workers against the dangers arising from ionizing radiations which issubject to special regulations pursuant to the Treaty establishing theEuropean Atomic Energy Community.
2. The Committee shall have the task in particular, of undertaking
the following activities:
(a) conducting, on the basis of information available to it, exchanges of
views and experience regarding existing or planned regulations;
(1) OJ No C 40, 8. 4. 1974, p. 64.
(2) OJ No C 13, 12. 2. 1974, p. 1.
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▼B
(b) contributing towards the development of a common approach to
problems existing in the fields of safety, hygiene and health protec-tion at work and towards the choice of Community priorities as wellas measures necessary for implementing them;
(c) drawing the Commission’s attention to areas in which there is an
apparent need for the acquisition of new knowledge and for theimplementation of appropriate educational and research projects;
(d) defining, within the framework of Community action programmes,
and in cooperation with the Mines Safety and Health Commission:
— the criteria and aims of the campaign against the risk of acci-
dents at work and health hazards within the undertaking;
— methods enabling undertakings and their employees to evaluate
and to improve the level of protection;
(e) contributing towards keeping nationaladministrations, trades unions
and employers’ organizations informed of Community measures inorder to facilitate their cooperation and to encourage initiativespromoted by them aiming at exchanges of experience and at layingdown codes of practice.
Article 3
1. The Committee shal lproduce an annualreport on its activities.2. The Commission shall forward that report to the European Parlia-
ment, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Consul-tative Committee of the European Coaland SteelCommunity.
Article 4
1. The Committee shall consist of ►
A390◄full members, there
being for each Member State two representatives of the Government,two representatives of trade unions and two representatives of employ-ers’ organizations.
2. An alternate member shall be appointed for each full member.Without prejudice to Article 6 (3), the alternative member shall attend
Committee meetings only when the member for whom he deputizes isunable to be present.
3. Full members and alternate members of the Committee shall be
appointed by the Councilwhich, in respect of representatives of tradeunions and employers’ associations, shall endeavour to achieve a fairbalance in the composition of the Committee between the variouseconomic sectors concerned.
4. The list of the members and the alternate members shall be
published by the Council in the Official Journal of the European
Communities for information purposes.
Article 5
1. The term of office of full members and alternate members shall be
three years. Their appointments shall be renewable.
2. On expiry of their term of office, the full members and alternate
members shall remain in office until they are replaced or their appoint-ments are renewed.
3. A member’s term of office shall end before the expiry of the three
year period with his resignation or following a communication from theMember State concerned indicating that the term of office is terminated.
For the remainder of the term of office, a member shall be replaced in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 4.
Article 6
1. The Committee shall be chaired by a member of the Commission
or, where such a member is prevented from so doing and as an excep-
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▼B
tion, by a Commission officialto be nominated by him. The Chairmanshall not vote.
2. The Committee shall meet when convened by the Chairman, either
at the latter’s initiative or at the request of at least one-third of itsmembers.
3. The Chairman may, on his own initiative, invite up to two experts
to participate in Committee meetings.
Each Committee member may be accompanied by an expert, provided
that he so informs the Chairman at least three days before theCommittee meeting.
4. The Committee may establish working parties under the chairman-
ship of a Committee member.
They shall submit the results of their proceedings in the form of a report
at a meeting of the Committee.
5. Representatives of the Commission’s department concerned shall
participate in meetings of the Committee and of working parties.
Secretarialservices shal lbe provided for the Committee and for
working parties by the Commission.
Article 7
1. An opinion delivered by the Committee shall not be valid unless
two-thirds of its members are present.
2. Opinions of the Committee shall state the reasons on which they
are based; they shall be delivered by an absolute majority of the votesvalidly cast. They shall be accompanied by a written statement of theviews expressed by the minority, when the latter so requests.
Article 8
The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure which shall enter into
force after the Council, having received an opinion from the Commis-sion, has given its approval.
Article 9
Without prejudice to Article 214 of the Treaty, Committee members
shall be required not to disclose information to which they have gainedaccess through Committee or working party proceedings, if theCommission informs them that the opinion requested or the questionraised is of a confidentialnature.
In such cases, only Committee members and representatives of the
Commission’s department shall attend the meetings concerned.
Article 10
This Decision shall enter into force on the fifth day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .