30. 5. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 141/1 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Directive on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements 
in the safety and health of workers at the workplace 
COM(88) 73 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 11 March 1988) 
(88/C 141/01) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 118A 
thereof, 
Having regard to the Commission proposal drawn up after 
consultation with the Advisory Committee on Safety, 
Hygiene and Health Protection at Work (!), 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee, 
In cooperation with the European Parliament, 
Whereas Article 118A of the Treaty provides that the 
Council shall adopt, by means of Directives, minimum 
requirements for encouraging improvements as regards the 
health and safety of workers, especially in the working 
environment; 
Whereas Article 118A also recommends that Directives 
shall avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal 
constraints which would hold back the creation and 
development of small and medium-sized undertakings; 
Whereas the Communication from the Commission on its 
programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at 
work (2) provides for the adoption of Directives designed to 
guarantee the safety and health of workers; 
Whereas the Council Resolution of 21 December 1987 on 
safety, hygiene and health at work took note of the 
Commission's intention to submit to the Council in the 
near future a Directive on the organization of the safety and 
health of workers at the workplace; 
(!) Council Decision 74/325/EEC (OJ No LI 85, 9. 7. 1974, p. 15). 
(2) Doc. COM(87) 520 final and Council Resolution 88/C 28/01 
(OJNo C 28, 3.2. 1988). Whereas Member States have a responsibility to ensure the 
safety and health of persons on their territory, and of 
workers in particular; 
Whereas Member States' legislative systems differ widely 
with regard to the prevention of work accidents and 
occupational diseases; 
Whereas the incidence of accidents at work is still 
regrettably high, and preventive measures must be 
introduced or improved in order to guarantee the safety 
and health of workers; 
Whereas, in order to achieve the maximum degree of 
protection which is reasonably practicable, it is essential 
that workers and their representatives be informed of the 
risks to their safety and health and of the measures required 
to reduce or eliminate these risks, and be allowed to verify 
that the necessary protective measures have indeed been 
taken; 
Whereas cooperation between employers and workers and 
workers' representatives must be strengthened; 
Whereas it is recognized as essential to take safety and 
health considerations into account from the earliest stages 
of workplace design; 
Whereas employers must keep abreast of technological 
progress in order to provide optimum safety and health 
protection for their workers; 
Whereas this Directive constitutes an overall social 
complement to various technical harmonization Directives 
designed to complete the internal market; whereas it 
supplements the provisions of Directive 80/1107/EEC of 27 
November 1980; 
Whereas it is planned, as of now, to establish specific 
provisions containing measures liable to improve safety 
and health at work; 
No C 141/2 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 5. 88 
Whereas a Committee composed of members nominated 
by the Member States needs to be set up to assist the 
Commission in implementing the supplementary measures 
provided for by the Directive, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Object 
Article 1 
The object of this Directive is the introduction of measures 
to encourage improvements in the safety and health of 
workers at the workplace. The Directive contains general 
principles concerning in particular the prevention of 
occupational risks, the protection of safety and health and 
the informing, consultation and training of workers and 
their representatives, as well as general principles concern­
ing the implementation of such measures. 
Definitions 
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Directive, the following terms have 
the meaning hereby assigned to them: 
— workplace : 
any place to which the worker has access in the undertaking 
and/or establishment, 
— worker: 
any person who performs work in some form, including 
students undergoing training and apprentices, 
— undertaking and/or establishment: 
a public-sector or private-sector entity engaging in 
particular in industrial, agricultural, commercial, adminis­
trative, educational, cultural or service activities, 
— employer: 
the body or person in charge of the undertaking and/or 
establishment, 
— prevention: 
all the provisions or measures taken or developed at each 
stage of the activities performed within the undertaking 
with a view to avoiding or reducing the occupational risks, 
— occupational risk: 
any work-related situation liable to damage the physical or 
psychological safety and/or health of the worker, excluding 
accidents on the way to and from work. 
Article 3 
Member States shall ensure that employers, workers and 
workers' representatives comply with those provisions of 
this Directive which apply to them. Responsibility of the employer 
Article 4 
1. The employer shall be responsible for the safety and 
health of the workers in every aspect which is directly or 
indirectly related to the work in the undertaking and/or 
establishment. 
2. Where an employer calls in a specialist safety and 
health service or an outside consultant for organization of 
protective measures, this shall not discharge him from his 
responsibilities in this area. 
3. The obligations of the workers in these fields shall not 
affect the principle of the employers's responsibility. 
Obligations of the employer 
Article 5 
1. Within the context of his responsibilities, the employer 
shall take the necessary measures for the protection of the 
safety and health of workers, including prevention of 
occupational risks and provision of information and 
training, as well as provision of the necessary organization 
and resources. The employer shall be constantly alert to the 
need to adjust these measures and improve existing 
situations. 
2. The employer shall put the following general prevent­
ive principles into practice, adapting them to match the 
specific conditions applying to his undertaking, including 
the size of the undertaking: 
— combating the risks at source, 
— adapting the work to the man, 
— adapting to technical progress, 
— replacing the dangerous by the non-dangerous or the 
less dangerous, 
— developing a coherent overall prevention policy based 
on technology, organization of work, working con­
ditions and human relationships. 
3. The specific obligations on employers shall be as 
follows: 
(a) The employer shall evaluate the safety and health risks 
to workers in the choice of work equipment, the 
chemical substances or preparations used, and the 
design and fitting out of workplaces. 
Subsequent to this evaluation, the preventive measures, 
working methods and production methods introduced 
by the employer must provide the maximum protection 
that is reasonably practicable to achieve in respect of the 
safety and health of the workers. 
(b) The safety and health measures taken by the employer 
must be integrated into all the activities of the 
30. 5. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 141/3 
undertaking and/or establishment and at all hierar­
chical levels. 
(c) The employer must ensure that adequate consideration 
is given to ergonomic principles, in particular as 
regards: 
— the design of workplaces, 
— the choice of plant and equipment, 
— the choice of working methods and production 
methods. 
(d) The employer must take the necessary measures to 
permit workers to organize their work in accordance 
with their capabilities where reasonably practicable. 
(e) In planning and organizing the work, the employer shall 
ensure that monotonous work involving repetitive 
activities of brief duration and work where the 
workrate is governed by a machine or conveyor belt 
such that the worker is prevented from influencing his 
workrate himself are avoided where reasonably practic­
able. 
(f) The planning and introduction of new technologies 
shall be undertaken in close cooperation with the 
workers and/or their representatives, particularly in 
respect of the choice of equipment and the working 
conditions, including those aspects connected with the 
working environment and the physical and psycho­
social well-being of the individual. Workers shall 
receive appropriate training. 
(g) When several undertakings share a workplace, the 
employers shall coordinate their measures for the 
prevention of occupational risks, and shall inform one 
another and their workers and/or workers' representat­
ives of these risks. 
Preventive services 
Article 6 
1. The employer shall designate from the supervisory 
staff one or more workers to be responsible for the 
organization of measures for the prevention of occup­
ational risks in the undertaking and/or establishment. 
2. If this is not feasible for lack of competent personnel in 
the undertaking and/or establishment, the employer shall 
enlist the services of competent outside agencies or 
individuals. 
3. Where the employer calls in competent outside 
agencies or individuals, he shall inform them of the factors 
known to affect, or suspected of affecting, the safety and 
health of the workers. 4. In all cases, the workers designated from within the 
undertaking and/or the outside agencies or individuals 
consulted must have the necessary training and be sufficient 
in number to deal with the organization of preventive 
measures, taking into account the size of the undertaking 
and/or the hazards to which the workers are exposed and 
their distribution throughout the entire undertaking and/or 
establishment. 
5. Member States shall define the size of undertakings in 
which the employer, provided he is competent, may himself 
take responsibility for the measures referred to in 
paragraph 1. 
6. Member States shall define the training needed and the 
number of persons needed to fulfil the conditions set out in 
paragraph 4 of this Article. 
Article 7 
1. The employer shall make the requisite arrangements 
for first-aid, fire-fighting and evacuation of workers and 
other persons present, and shall arrange the necessary 
contacts with outside agencies, particularly as regards first-
aid, emergency medical care, rescue work and fire-fighting. 
2. For first-aid, fire-fighting and the evacuation of 
personnel, the employer shall designate the workers 
required to implement such measures. 
The number of such personnel, their training and the 
equipment available to them shall be commensurate with 
the size and/or specific hazards of the undertaking and/or 
establishment. 
3. The employer shall take precautionary measures to 
allow the worker to protect himself by immediately leaving 
the workplace if a serious, imminent, unavoidable danger 
arises. 
4. The employer shall as soon as possible give details of 
these precautionary measures to all workers exposed, or 
likely to be exposed, to a risk of serious and imminent 
danger. 
5. In the event of a serious and imminent danger to his 
own safety and/or that of other persons, each worker shall 
be in a position to take the necessary measures to avoid the 
consequences of such a danger, on the basis of his own 
knowledge and the technical and hierarchical means at his 
disposal. 
No C 141/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 5. 88 
Information to be held 
Article 8 
1. The employer shall: 
(a) be in possession of an analysis of existing risks to safety 
and health at the workplace; 
(b) decide on the protective measures to be taken and, if 
necessary, the protective equipment to be used; 
(c) keep a list of accidents and occupational diseases which 
have resulted in a worker being unfit for work for more 
than three working days; 
(d) draw up a report on accidents and occupational diseases 
having resulted in, or liable to result in, partial 
permanent unfitness for work, indicating the causes and 
the measures taken or to be taken. 
2. Member States shall establish the criteria for exempt­
ing undertakings from having to draw up the documents 
required to fulfil the obligations described in paragraph 1 
(a) and (b). 
Information of workers 
Article 9 
1. In accordance with the practices adopted in the 
Member States, which may take account in particular of 
the size of undertakings, the employer shall take ap­
propriate measures to ensure that the workers and/or their 
representatives in the undertaking or establishment receive 
adequate information concerning: 
(a) the safety and health risks and the preventive measures 
and activities in respect of the undertaking in general 
and in respect of each worker's workstation and/or job; 
(b) the measures taken pursuant to Article 7(4). 
Such information shall also be provided to temporary 
workers and the employers of workers from outside 
firms present in the undertaking. 
2. Workers or workers' representatives with specific 
responsibility for the protection of the safety and health of 
workers shall have access to: 
(a) the risk analysis and analysis of protective measures 
referred to in Article 8 (1) (a) and (b); 
(b) the list and the report on accidents and occupational 
diseases referred to in Article 8 (1) (c) and (d); (c) the information yielded by preventive measures, 
inspection agencies and bodies responsible for safety 
and health. 
Consultation of workers 
Article 10 
1. Workers or their representatives with specific respons­
ibility for safety and health shall be consulted in advance by 
the employer with regard to: 
— any measure which may substantially affect health and 
safety, 
— the designation of persons referred to in Articles 6(2) 
and 7(2), 
— the information referred to in Articles 6(1) and 9; 
— the setting up of a specialist safety and/or health service 
or, where appropriate, the enlistment of an outside 
preventive service as referred to in Article 6(2); 
— the planning and organization of the training referred to 
in Article 11. 
2. The consultation referred to in paragraph 1 may be 
restricted to the workers' representatives with specific 
responsibility for the protection of the safety and health of 
workers, on condition that there are enough of them. 
3. Workers and workers' representatives with specific 
responsibility for the protection of the safety and health of 
workers shall not be placed at any disadvantage as a result 
of such activities. 
4. The employer shall ensure that workers' representat­
ives with specific responsibility for the protection of the 
safety and health of workers are allowed time off work 
without loss of pay and are provided with the necessary 
equipment to enable them to fulfil their obligations arising 
from this Directive. 
Training of workers 
Article 11 
1. The employer shall ensure that each worker receives 
adequate safety and health training specific to his 
workstation or job; 
— on recruitment, 
— in the event of a transfer or change of job, 
— in the event of a change in the work equipment. 
The training shall be adapted to take account of new or 
changed risks. 
30. 5. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 141/5 
2. The training referred to in paragraph 1 shall also be 
given, under the same conditions, to temporary workers 
present in the undertaking or establishment. The employer 
shall also ensure that workers from outside firms engaged 
in work in the undertaking and/or establishment have 
received training from their own firms appropriate to the 
work in which they are engaged. 
3. Workers' representatives with specific responsibility 
for the protection of the safety and health of workers shall 
be entitled to appropriate training. 
4. The training referred to in paragraph 1, 2 and 3 shall be 
provided during working hours and shall not be at the 
expense of the workers. 
5. Member States: 
— shall ensure that guidelines are drawn up concerning the 
content and duration of the training courses provided 
for in paragraphs 1 and 3, 
— shall establish general rules concerning the conditions 
under which this training shall be provided. 
Obligations on workers 
Article 12 
1. It shall be the duty of each worker during his working 
hours to take reasonable care of his own safety and health 
and that of all other persons affected by his actions or 
omissions at work. 
2. To this end, workers must: 
— make correct use of machinery, apparatus, tools, 
dangerous substances, transport equipment and other 
means of production, 
— make correct use of the personal protective equipment 
supplied to them and, after use, return it to its proper 
place, 
— refrain from changing or removing unnecessarily safety 
devices fitted to tools, pieces of apparatus, etc., and use 
such devices correctly, 
— notify the employer immediately of any safety and/or 
health hazards which they have noticed, 
— cooperate with their employer for as long as necessary 
in order to fulfil any tasks or requirements imposed by the responsible authority to protect the safety and 
health of workers, 
— perform their tasks in accordance with the safety and 
health training and instructions they have received, 
— cooperate in ensuring that the working environment 
and working conditions are safe and pose no risk to 
safety and health within their field of activity, and 
monitor the effectiveness of the safety and health 
measures taken. 
Article 13 
The Council, acting on proposals from the Commission, 
shall adopt individual Directives laying down specific 
provisions concerning chiefly the technical areas listed in 
the Annex hereto. 
Article 14 
For the purposes of adapting this Directive and the 
Directives provided for in Article 13 under the conditions 
specified in each of them, to take account of: 
— the adoption of Directives in the field of technical 
harmonization and standardization, 
— technical progress, changes in international regulations 
or specifications, and new findings, 
the Commission shall be assisted by a committee composed 
of the representatives of the Member States and chaired by 
the representative of the Commission. 
The representative of the Commission shall submit to the 
Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The 
Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a 
time limit which the Chairman may lay down according to 
the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by 
the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the 
case of Decisions which the Council is required to adopt on 
a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the 
representatives of the Member States within the Committee 
shall be weighted in the manner set out in that article. The 
Chairman shall not vote. 
The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they 
are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee. 
If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the 
opinion of the Committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the 
Commission shall, without delay, submit to the Council a 
proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council 
shall act by a qualified majority. 
If, on the expiry of the period to be laid down in each act 
adopted by the Council under this paragraph but which 
may not in any case exceed three months from the date of 
No C 141/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 5. 88 
referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the 
proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission. 
Final provisions 
Article 15 
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, 
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to 
comply with this Directive by 1 January 1991 at the latest 
and shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof. 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 118A 
thereof, 
Having regard to the Commission proposal drawn up after 
consultation with the Advisory Committee for Safety, 
Hygiene and Health Protection at Work (2), 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee, 
(!) Doc. COM(88) 73 final. 
(2) Council Decision 74/325/EEC (OJ No L 185, 9. 7. 1974, p. 15). 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission 
the texts of the provisions of national law which they adopt 
in the field covered by this Directive. 
3. Member States shall report to the Commission every 
two years on the practical implementation of the provisions 
of this Directive, indicating the points of view of employers 
and workers. The Commission shall inform the Committee 
and the Tripartite Committee. 
Article 16 
This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
In cooperation with the European Parliament, 
Whereas Article 118A of the EEC Treaty provides that the 
Council shall issue Directives containing minimum 
requirements designed to encourage improvements, espe­
cially in the working environment, as regards the health 
and safety of workers; 
Whereas Article 118A also recommends that Directives 
shall avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal 
constraints which would hold back the creation and 
development of SMUs; 
Whereas the Communication from the Commission on its 
programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at ANNEX 
LIST OF TECHNICAL AREAS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 13 
— Workplaces. 
— Work equipment. 
— Personal protective equipment. 
— Work with visual display units. 
— Handling of heavy loads involving risk of back injury. 
Proposal for a Council Directive concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for 
the workplace 
First individual Directive within the meaning of Article 13 of Directive ... (l) 
COM(88) 74 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 11 March 1988) 
(88/C 141/02)