WRITTEN QUESTION E-2167/02

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(18 July 2002)

Subject: Accident rate on board Community fishing vessels

Bearing in mind that the accident rate on board Community fishing vessels remains extremely high, does the Commission not consider it necessary to step up its policy of updating and improving mechanisms to increase safety and prevent industrial accidents on board vessels in the Community fleet?

What measures has the Commission taken and what steps will it take to cut the accident rate on board Community fishing vessels?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2002)

The Commission shares the Honourable Member's concern about the situation in the fisheries sector, which is regarded as a high-risk area of activity.

The Commission would emphasise in this connection that since 1989, a broad legislative framework has, on a proposal from the Commission, been adopted by the EU with the aim of encouraging improvements in the health and safety of workers at work, particularly with regard to the safety of workers on fishing vessels.

Reference should be made here to the framework Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work(1) and the individual Council Directives 93/103/EC of 23 November 1993 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for work on board fishing vessels(2), 90/269/EEC of 29 May 1990 on the minimum health and safety requirements for the manual handling of loads where there is a risk particularly of back injury to workers(3), 89/655/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work(4) as amended by Council Directive 95/63/EC of 5 December 1995(5), 89/656/EEC of 30 November 1989 on the minimum health and safety requirements for the use by workers of personal protective equipment at the workplace(10), and Council Directive 92/29/EEC of 31 March 1992 on the minimum safety and health requirements for improved medical treatment on board vessels(6).

Nevertheless, it is up to the Member States to ensure that the national provisions transposing these directives are properly monitored and supervised so that the preventive policy which they prescribe actually contributes to reducing the number of accidents and occupational diseases in the maritime sector.

As regards more effective prevention of accidents at work, and with a view to enhancing this policy, the Commission would draw the Honourable Member's attention to the new Community strategy on health and safety at work 2002-2006, which was recently adopted by the Commission in its communication of 11 March 2002(7). This new strategy, which takes a global approach to well-being in the workplace, takes as its basis the creation of a more firmly established risk-prevention culture, a combination of various policy tools (legislation, social dialogue, development and identification of best practices, social responsibility of firms, economic incentives) and the building of partnerships between all parties involved in health and safety.

With respect to the fisheries sector in particular, the Commission intends, also as part of this new strategy, to call on the social partners to identify measures aimed at improving living and working conditions and safety in the fisheries sector, enhancing the role of women and helping to increase employment, especially among young people, in regions dependent on this sector.

All the measures described seek to reinforce the Commission's policy of bringing up to date and improving health and safety provision for workers at work, particularly those working on board Community fishing vessels. This should all make a significant contribution to reducing the number of workplace accidents in this sector.

Finally, given the fact that, according to the special health and safety module of the 1999 LFS(8), fishing constitutes one of the most dangerous economic activities with a relative incidence of 243 % compared with the European average(9), the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work is currently developing an information system to improve health and safety in this sector and provide information on good practices

(1) OJ L 183, 29.6.1989.

(2) OJ L 307, 13.12.1993.

(3) OJ L 156, 21.6.1990.

(4) OJ L 393, 30.12.1989.

(5) OJ L 335, 30.12.1995.

(6) OJ L 113, 30.4.1992.

(7) COM(2002) 118 final.

(8) LFS = Community labour force survey conducted by Eurostat pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1571/98 of 20 July 1998 OJ C 205, 22.7.1998.

(9) See Statistics in focus Theme 3: Population and social conditions, No 16/2002, p. 6.

(10) OJ L 393, 30.12.1989.