Communication from the Commission - Adapting to change in work and society: a new Community strategy on health and safety at work 2002-2006
Date: 2002-03-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU employment policy, employment policy, occupational health, occupational safety, social change, technological change

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 11.03.2002
COM(2002) 118 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION

Adapting to change in work and society: a new Community strategy on health
and safety at work 2002–2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Summary .................................................................................................................................... 3

1.

2.

Introduction.................................................................................................................. 3

Keeping pace with changes in the world of work ........................................................ 5

2.1.

Changes in society........................................................................................................ 6

2.1.1. An increasingly feminised society ............................................................................... 6

2.1.2. An ageing active population ........................................................................................ 7

2.2.

2.3.

3.

3.1.

3.2.

Changes in forms of employment ................................................................................ 7

Changes in the nature of risk........................................................................................ 8

Towards a new Community strategy on health and safety .......................................... 8

For a global approach to well-being at work ............................................................... 8

Strengthening the prevention culture ........................................................................... 9

3.2.1.

Education, awareness, anticipation: improving people's knowledge of risks .............. 9

3.2.2. Better application of existing law .............................................................................. 10

3.3.

Combining instruments and building partnerships .................................................... 12

3.3.1. Adapting the legal and institutional framework......................................................... 12

3.3.2.

Encouraging innovative approaches .......................................................................... 13

3.3.3. Working to mainstream health and safety at work in other Community policies...... 16

3.4.

3.5.

Preparing for enlargement.......................................................................................... 17

Developing international cooperation ........................................................................ 17

2

SUMMARY

Safety and health at work now constitutes one of the European Union’s most concentrated
and  most  important  social  policy  sectors.  As  early  as  1951,  the  European  Coal  and  Steel
Community set about improving the safety of workers, a concern which the Treaty of Rome
extended  to  all  employed  people.  As  a  result,  a  substantial  corpus  of  legislation  aimed  at
raising standards of safety and health has developed since the late 1970s, and especially since
the Single European Act was adopted in 1987.

It is because the EU can call on such an abundant source of material that it is crucial for the
social policy agenda to set out a Community strategy. This strategy, which covers the period
2002-2006, has three novel features:

– 

– 

– 

It adopts a global approach to well-being at work, taking account of changes in the
world of work and the emergence of new risks, especially of a psycho-social nature.
As  such,  it  is  geared  to  enhancing  the  quality  of  work,  and  regards  a  safety  and
healthy working environment as one of the essential components.

It is based on consolidating a culture of risk prevention, on combining a variety
of  political  instruments  —  legislation,  the  social  dialogue,  progressive  measures
and best practices, corporate social responsibility and economic incentives — and on
building partnerships between all the players on the safety and health scene.

It points up the fact that an ambitious social policy is a factor in the competitiveness
equation and that, on the other side of the  coin,  having a “non-policy” engenders
costs which weigh heavily on economies and societies.

1. 

INTRODUCTION

Creating more and better jobs: that was the objective the European Union set itself at
the Lisbon European Council in March 2000. Clearly, health and safety are essential
elements in terms of the quality of work, and feature among the indicators recently
adopted  in  the  wake  of  the  Commission’s  communication  “Investing  in  quality”1.
The  European  Union  has  a  positive  record  here,  as  the  number  of  occupational
accidents  fell  by  just  short  of  10%  between  1994  and  19982.  Nonetheless,  the
absolute  figures  remain  high,  with  not  far  short  of  5 500  deaths  and  4.8  million
accidents  resulting  in  three  days  or  more  off  work3.  More  importantly,  a  worrying
return to a rising scale of accidents, in certain Member States and in certain sectors,
has been evident since 1999. What is more, the candidate countries have an average
frequency  of  occupational  accidents  which  is  well  above  the  average  for  the  EU,
mainly  because  of  their  higher  degree  of  specialisation  in  sectors  which  are
traditionally regarded as high-risk.

1 COM (2001) 313 final, 20 June 2001
2 This  is  the  number  of  occupational  accidents  per  100 000  persons  in  employment.  Source:  Eurostat  –
“Statistics in focus”, Population and social conditions: No 16/2001 “Accidents at work in the EU 1998–99”
and No 17/2001 “Work-related health problems in the EU 1998–99”.
In 1998. Source: idem.

3

3

                                                
These  figures  are  still  somewhat  patchy,  but  they  do  call  for  heightened  vigilance,
since  what  they  indicate  is  that  the  preventive  approach  set  out  in  Community
directives  has  not  yet  been  fully  understood  and  taken  on  board  by  the  various
players,  nor  applied  effectively  on  the  ground.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the
candidate countries. In other words, the figures are prompting us to develop a more
global approach to health and safety at work, given that the quality of employment is
based  on  a  number  of  commonly  perceived  constituent  elements:  the  type  of  skills
required, the level of employee training, the nature of the employment relationship,
the  way  work  is  organised  and  the  working  time  element.  It  follows  that  working
towards  a  healthier  occupational  environment  has  to  be  addressed  as  part  of  the
general  trend  in  economic  activities  (more  service-oriented),  forms  of  employment
(more  diversified),  the  active  population  (more  women,  and  an  older  working
population)  and  society  in  general  (more  diverse,  but  more  marked  by  social
exclusion).

In  addition,  a  safe  and  healthy  working  environment  and  working  organisation  are
performance  factors  for  the  economy  and  for  companies.  The  exact  relations
between health at work and competitiveness are more complex than just a matter of
compliance  costs.  As  far  as  the  economy  is  concerned,  “non-quality”  of  work  is
expressed in a loss of productive capacity — 500 million working days lost in 1999
as  a  result  of  accidents  or  health  problems  —  and  compensatory  payments  and
benefits4, and a lot of this weighs financially on companies. Almost 350 000 people
have  been  forced  to  change  jobs  or  their  place  of  work  or  to  reduce  their  working
time,  and  nearly  300 000  have  varying  degrees  of  permanent  disability,  of  whom
15 000 are entirely excluded from the world of work. Over  and above these human
tragedies, this is a waste of resources against a background of structural ageing of the
working population.

At  company  level,  “non-quality”  gives  the  firm  a  poor  public  image,  vis-à-vis  its
workforce, clients, consumers and the public  at large, which is becoming more  and
more  sensitive  to  safety  issues.  In  other  words,  having  a  healthy  working
environment  adds  to  a  firm’s  quality  image,  and  steps  taken  to  improve  that
environment  form  part  of  a  general  approach  to  “quality  management”  and  social
responsibility,  both  of  which  have  a  beneficial  effect  on  performance  and
competitiveness.

Community policy on health and safety at work must keep pace with these changes
and these new needs, with a view to promoting “well-being at work”5, this being
taken to mean physical, moral and social well-being, and not just something that can
be  measured  by  an  absence  of  accidents  or  occupational  illnesses.  This  means  that
Community  policy  must  itself  strive  for  improved  quality,  and  this  will  have  two
fundamental implications:

– 

It  must  combine  the  various  instruments  and  find  a  basis  in  the  substantial
acquis of many decades of Community policies, with the Framework Directive
89/3916 being the keystone in that it gives priority to prevention. It must also

4

In  1997,  this  expenditure  was  estimated  at  $122  billion  for  the  OECD  (in  Health  data  2001).  This  figure
excludes  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  Portugal  and  Spain.  France  and  Germany  alone  accounted  for  $92  billion
worth of expenditure (expressed in purchasing power parities).
5 The concept of “well-being at work” was developed by the ILO.
6 OJ L 183, 29 June 1989.

4

                                                
– 

be founded on the experience vested in the various Community programmes in
this  area7.  The  normative  approach,  whether  it  be  a  matter  of  the  ongoing
adaptation of existing  standards or the formulation  of new  standards, remains
essential:  Article  31  of  the  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  states  that  “every
worker  has  the  right  to  working  conditions  which  respect  his  or  her  health,
safety and dignity”. However, in a constantly changing world of work, it is just
as important to promote progressive approaches, whether they be performance
rating, based on transparent and reliable data and indicators, action on the part
of the social partners (at sectoral or multisectoral level), or voluntary company
schemes. It is, furthermore, essential to improve the knowledge and awareness
of  all  players,  and  to  ensure  that  concerns  for  health  and  safety  at  work  are
mainstreamed into all other relevant Community policies.

To  achieve  this,  it  must  involve  all  the  players  —  for  example,  the  public
authorities,  the  social  partners,  companies,  public  and  private  insurers  —
within  a  framework  of  “good  governance”,  based  on  universal  participation8.
The Social Agenda, which was adopted at the Nice European Council, defined
the essential elements of  a new Community strategy  as  helping  to “anticipate
and  manage  change  in  the  working  environment”.  The  new  strategy  itself  is
based  on  broad  advance  consultation,  and  takes  account  of  the  various  views
expressed. For instance, the European Parliament called on the Commission, in
its  resolution  on  the  Social  Agenda9,  to  “put  in  place  a  real  Community
strategy on health and safety at work which is based on the setting of common
the
comparable  objectives,  contains  an  action  plan 
implementation, control and evaluation of the existing directives and includes
additional legislative initiatives on risks that are covered inadequately or not
at  all,  such  as  skin  complaints  caused  by  exposure  to  the  sun’s  rays,  newly
emerging risks such as stress and musculo-skeletal disorders and the new work
situations,  and  encourage  the  use  of  risk  analyses  as  part  of  a  preventive
approach.”  The  Economic  and  Social  Committee,  for  its  part,  adopted  an
exploratory  opinion10  at  the  Commission’s  request.  The  Advisory  Committee
on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work (ACSHH), which includes
the  social  partners,  adopted  its  opinion  in  December  2001.  These  advance
consultations have made paved the way for a new Community strategy, for the
period 2002–2006,  which  sets  out  a  coherent  policy  framework  and  proposes
concrete action, along with a full implementation timetable.

reinforce 

to 

2. 

KEEPING PACE WITH CHANGES IN THE WORLD OF WORK

The Lisbon European Council stressed that Europe was going through a transition to
a  “knowledge-based  economy”,  marked  by  profound  changes  affecting  society,
employment and health and safety at work. As a result, there is a need to take a fresh
look  at  what  policy  should  be  pursued  in  this  strategic  area  and,  at  times,  new
priorities.

7 More especially the latest programme (1996–2000), COM(95) 282, 7 October 1995.
8 European Governance — a White Paper; COM(2001) 428 final, 25 July 2001.
9 European Parliament  resolution  on  the  communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council,  the  European
Parliament,  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  on  the  Social  Policy
Agenda, A5-0291/2000.

10 SOC/065, 11 July 2001, following the opinion adopted on 9 December 1999.

5

                                                
Nonetheless, these changes cannot mask the reality of the current situation: we still
have very high rates of occupational accidents in certain sectors, representing a large
majority  of  accidents  recorded  in  the  EU.  Four  sectors  (fishing,  agriculture,
construction,  and  health  and  social  services)  have  an  accident  rate  which  is  30%
above average. Four others (the extractive industries, manufacturing industry, hotels
and  restaurants,  and  transport)  have  a  rate  which  is  some  15%  above  the  average.
These  figures  are  much  higher  still  if  we  look  only  at  small  and  medium-sized
enterprises  (SMEs)  and  very  small  businesses:  in  the  construction  industry,  for
example,  the  mean  accident  rate  is  41%  above  the  average,  jumping  to  124%  for
firms  with  between  one  and  nine  employees,  and  130%  for  firms  with  between  10
and 49 workers11. We need to be constantly vigilant, then, if we are to reduce these
“traditional” risks and develop a culture of prevention in SMEs.

2.1. 

Changes in society

2.1.1.  An increasingly feminised society

The growing percentage of women in employment has been  evident  for  decades.  It
was one of the fundamental objectives laid down in Lisbon, against the background
of an ageing working population, and it introduces a new dimension into the subject
of health and safety at work.

83% of employed women work in services, which explains why they suffer a much
lower  rate  of  accidents  and  occupational  illnesses  than  men,  and  why  they  stand
much less risk of being involved in an accident.

Nonetheless,  the  trend  is  not  a  good  one,  since  the  kind  of  work  in  which  women
predominate  is  generating  a  growing  accident  rate,  including  fatal  accidents12.
Moreover,  although  women  accounted  (in  199513)  for  only  17.8%  of  diagnosed
occupational  illnesses,  the  proportion  was  much  higher  in  certain  groups:  45%  of
allergies,  61%  of  infectious  illnesses,  55%  of  neurological  complaints,  48%  of
hepatitic  and  dermatological  complaints.  These  figures  underline  the  importance  of
gender in terms of occupational illnesses14.

Preventive  measures,  and  the  assessment  arrangements  and  the  rules  for  awarding
compensation, must take specific account of the growing proportion of women in the
workforce, and of the risks to which women are particularly liable15. These measures
must  be  based  on  research  covering  the  ergonomic  aspects,  workplace  design,  and
the effects of exposure to physical, chemical and biological agents, and pay heed to
the physiological and psychological differences in the way work is organised.

11 Source: Eurostat, Labour Force Survey 1999 (ad hoc module) and SEAT (European Occupational Accident

Statistics) data 1998.

12 Source: Eurostat, SEAT, op.cit.
13 Source: Eurostat.
14 On the other hand, men accounted for 93% of musculo-skeletal problems and haematological illnesses, 97%

of hearing complaints and 91% of pulmonary illnesses.

15 See  more  especially  the  report  of  proceedings  of  the  seminar  “Gender  differences  in  working  conditions”,

organised as part of the “Work Life 2000” project
(http://www.niwl.se/wl2000/workshops/workshop67/article_en.asp)

6

                                                
2.1.2.  An ageing active population

Europe’s  active  population  will,  over  the  coming  decades,  see  an  increase  in  the
proportion  of  workers  aged  50  and  above,  with  a  corresponding  reduction  in  the
proportion of young people.

Age-related  comparisons  show,  on  the  one  hand,  that  young  people  tend  to  suffer
more  accidents  at  work  and,  on  the  other,  that  workers  aged  55  and  above  tend  to
suffer  the  most  serious  accidents,  with  a  fatality  rate  above  the  European  average.
The  55-plus  age  group  is  also  the  one  with  the  greatest  incidence  of  long-
development-time occupational illnesses, such as cancers (the majority of which are
still  due  to  asbestos  exposure)  and  cardiovascular  diseases,  while  the  younger
workers tend to develop more allergies and infectious illnesses.

However,  these  figures  depend  very  much  on  the  nature  of  the  jobs  occupied
nowadays by the various generations: the older workers tend to be the less qualified,
as well as being over-represented in the manual industrial trades, while young people
predominate  in  the  more  precarious  forms  of  employment.  These  differences  mean
that we need to adopt a global approach to the quality of employment, paying heed to
the specific situation of the generations and age groups in the world of work.

2.2. 

Changes in forms of employment

The  labour  market  is  seeing  increasingly  diversified  forms  of  employment,  with
particularly  strong  growth  in  temporary  employment  relationships.  The  type  of
contract  and  seniority  in  the  firm  show  a  negative  correlation  with  health  at  work.
People who have been employed for less than two years are more likely to suffer an
accident at work than the  average: for temporary  workers, this effect is particularly
pronounced in the construction industry and in health and social services.

Among  these  new  forms  of  work,  part-time  work  and  non-standard  working  times
(e.g. shift work or night work) are likewise factors which add to the degree of risk. It
can  be  explained  more  specifically  by  the  lack  of  proper  training,  psychosomatic
problems  caused  by  shift  work  or  night  work,  a  lack  of  awareness  on  the  part  of
company  managers,  or  a  lack  of  motivation  in  the  case  of  workers  in  an  insecure
working relationship.

However, the whole of the world of work is undergoing a shift towards more flexible
forms  of  organisation.  The  tangible  link  between  the  place  of  work  (e.g.  a  mine,  a
factory or an office) and the work to be done is weakening, with the rapid spread of
information  technologies.  These  changes  are  not  affecting  employment  relations  as
such,  although  they  may  blur  the  distinction  between  employed  and  self-employed
persons. The fact is, though, that they raise specific problems, for example in relation
to teleworkers: it is the employer who is responsible for  their  health and safety,  no
matter  where  the  work  is  being  done.  This  means  that  steps  have  to  be  taken  to
prevent risk and to carry out checks where teleworkers work at different sites, or at
home. Negotiations which began on 12 October 2001 between the social workers at
Community multisectoral level are designed to address these matters.

7

2.3. 

Changes in the nature of risk

The changing way in which work is organised, and especially more flexible ways of
organising working time and managing human resources on a more individual level,
based more on an obligation to achieve a fixed result, are having a profound effect on
problems associated with health at work or, more generally, on well-being at work.

It is a known fact today that “emerging” illnesses such as stress, depression, anxiety,
violence  at  work,  harassment  and  intimidation  are  responsible  for  18%  of  all
problems  associated  with  health  at  work,  with  a  quarter  of  them  resulting  in  two
weeks  or  more  absence  from  work16.  These  complaints  are  twice  as  frequent  in
education  and  in  health  and  social  services.  They  are  linked  less  to  exposure  to  a
specific risk than to a whole set of factors, such as work organisation, working time
arrangements,  hierarchical  relations,  transport-related  fatigue,  and  the  degree  of
acceptance  of  ethnic  and  cultural  diversity  within  the  firm.  They  need  to  be
addressed within a global context which the ILO defines as “well-being at work”.

These  strategies  for  preventing  new  social  risks  should  include  the  effect  of
substance-dependence  on  accident  rates,  more  especially  problems  associated  with
alcohol and medicinal drugs.

3. 

TOWARDS A NEW COMMUNITY STRATEGY ON HEALTH AND SAFETY

3.1. 

For a global approach to well-being at work

The  objective  of  the  Community’s  policy  on  health  and  safety  at  work  must  be  to
bring  about  a  continuing  improvement  in  well-being  at  work,  a  concept  which  is
taken to include the physical, moral and social dimensions. In addition, a number of
complementary objectives must be targeted jointly by all the players.

1.

A  continuing  reduction  in  occupational  accidents  and  illnesses.  Thought
should  be  given  to  setting  quantified  objectives,  at  both  Community  and
Member  State  level,  particularly  in  sectors  of  activity  with  above-average
incidence  rates,  and  having  special  regard  to  arrangements  for  implementing
the European employment strategy.

2. Mainstreaming the gender dimension into risk evaluation, preventive measures
and  compensation  arrangements,  so  as  to  take  account  of  the  specific
characteristics of women in terms of health and safety at work.

3.

4.

Prevention of social risks. Stress, harassment at the workplace, depression and
anxiety,  and  risks  related  to  dependence  on  alcohol,  drugs  and  medicines,
should all be the subject of specific measures but should form part of a global
approach in association with health care systems.

Enhanced prevention of occupational illnesses. Priority should go to illnesses
due to asbestos, hearing loss and musculo-skeletal problems.

16 Source: Labour Force Survey 1999

8

                                                
5.

6.

7.

8.

Taking  account  of  demographic  change  in  terms  of  risks,  accidents  and
illnesses. Preventive measures should take more account of the age factor, and
should specifically target young people and ageing workers.

Taking  account  of  changes  in  forms  of  employment,  work  organisation
arrangements  and  working  time.  Workers  in  non-standard  or  precarious
working relations constitute a sensitive group.

Taking account of the size of firms. SMEs and very small businesses, as well as
self-employed workers and unpaid family helpers, should all be the subject of
specific  measures  in  terms  of  information,  awareness  and  risk  prevention
programmes.

Analysis  of  new  or  emerging  risks,  with  special  reference  to  risks  associated
with  the  interaction  between  chemical,  physical  and  biological  agents,  and
those  associated  with 
(ergonomic,
psychological and social risks).

the  general  working  environment 

3.2. 

Strengthening the prevention culture

The  Community's  policy  on  health  and  safety  is  based  on  preventive  approaches
bringing  in  all  the  players,  including  the  workers  themselves,  with  a  view  to
developing a genuine culture of risk prevention, the aim being to anticipate risks and
bring them under control.

3.2.1.  Education, awareness, anticipation: improving people's knowledge of risks

Creating a controlled work environment means improving everyone's knowledge of
the risks. This means developing an  approach which  is  both global and  preventive,
geared  to  promoting  well-being  at  work,  and  going  beyond  the  mere  prevention  of
specific risks. There are three mutually supportive elements.

1.

2.

Education does not start with entry into the world of  work, as the  Economic
and  Social  Committee  has  pointed  out:  it  should  be  part  and  parcel  of  the
school  curriculum,  either  with  a  view  to  making  people  more  aware  of  the
problem (much like road safety is taught in some countries), or as a vocational
subject  in  its  own  right.  However,  the  most  important  element  here  is
continuing vocational training. This must be dispensed regularly and be geared
to  the  realities  of  day-to-day  work,  with  a  view  to  impacting  directly  on  the
work  environment.  It  means  that  the  teaching  has  to  be  targeted  to  national,
regional, local and sectoral specificities and sensitivities.

Awareness  training  must  mobilise  resources  which  are  varied  and  geared  to
specific situations, e.g. SMEs, very small firms and craft trade workers. These
people  and  organisations  must  be  made  aware  of  the  need  to  reintegrate
disabled people into employment, with special reference to creating an adapted
work environment17.

17 The  need  to  adapt  the  workplace  to  the  needs  of  disabled  people  is  covered  by  Directive  89/654,  and  the

concept of "reasonable adaptations" is defined in Directive 2000/78 (OJ L 303/16, 2 December 2000).

9

                                                
3.

Anticipating  new  and  emerging  risks,  whether  they  be  linked  to  technical
innovation  or  caused  by  social  change,  is  vital  if  the  risks  are  to  be  brought
under  control.  This  requires,  first  and  foremost,  ongoing  observation  of  the
risks  themselves,  based  on  the  systematic  collection  of  information  and
scientific  opinions.  The  European  Parliament  has  stressed  that  this  kind  of
analysis is an integral part of a preventive approach. It also requires researchers
to adopt a consistent  approach: research organisations should coordinate  their
respective programmes, target them to address practical problems arising at the
workplace, and make preparations for the research findings to be transferred to
firms, and especially to SMEs.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work should act as a driving force in
matters  concerning  awareness-building  and  risk  anticipation.  In  the  second  half  of
2002,  the  Commission  will  present  a  communication  assessing  the  work  of  the
Agency, and spelling out the role the Agency should be playing in this field.

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

The European Agency for Health and Safety at Work:

will  set  up  a  "risk  observatory",  based  on  examples  of  good  practice
collected from firms or specific branches of activity;

will  organise  exchanges  of  experience  and  information  by  way  of  the
systematic collection of data, with the support of Eurostat;

will integrate the candidate countries into these information networks, and
devise working tools which are geared to their specific situation;

will  refocus  the  European  week  on  health  and  safety  on  users  and  final
beneficiaries;

will  establish,  for  the  European  Year  of  Disabled  People  (2003),  a  data
base  of  best  practices  and  information  concerning  ways  of  integrating
disabled people and adapting equipment and the work environment to their
needs.

3.2.2.  Better application of existing law

Applying Community law effectively is essential if we are to improve the quality of
the work  environment. This in turn requires  an  enhanced  state  of  awareness  on  the
part of all concerned, and at all levels. The Commission will, in conjunction with the
Advisory Committee and the  social  partners,  be  producing  guides  on  how  to  apply
the  directives,  taking  account  of  the  diverse  nature  of  sectors  of  activity  and
companies, as suggested by the Economic and Social Committee.

For its part, the Commission will, subject to the powers bestowed on it by the Treaty,
adopt a rigorous approach to ensuring that directives are properly transposed and the
law  is  properly  applied.  It  will  also  be  cooperating  closely  with  the  national
authorities  to  find  ways  of  ensuring  that  Community  directives  are  implemented
correctly and equivalently. In this respect, a fundamental role will fall to the Senior
Labour  Inspectors  Committee  (SLIC)  in  terms  of  encouraging  exchanges  of
information and experience and organising mutual cooperation and assistance. There
must  be  practical  encouragement  for  common  inspection  objectives  as  part  of  an

10

annual  action  plan,  the  importance  of  which  has  been  underlined  by  the  European
Parliament, common principles for labour inspection in the field of health and safety
at work, and ways and means of evaluating national inspection systems by reference
to  these  principles.  Integrating  the  candidate  countries’  inspectorates  in  this
committee  is  a  matter  of  prime  importance  in  terms  of  promoting  the  effective
implementation of Community law.

While it is important to pay heed to the diversity of the Member States’ institutional
structures  and  administrative  traditions,  it  is  also  true  that  implementing  the  new
strategy, geared to the quality of work and well-being at work, will require thought to
be given to which structures are best adapted to this global approach:

– 

– 

the  prevention  services  should  be  genuinely  multi-disciplinary,  embracing
social and psychological risks, and the gender factor;

labour  inspection  activities  must  be  capable  of  appraising  all  the  risks,
particularly  in  those  sectors  where  they  tend  to  be  complex  and  cumulative
(e.g. in hospitals). The inspectorate services must combine their inspection role
with a prevention  function  vis-à-vis  firms and workers.  They  must  in  turn  be
open  to  audit,  using  result  and  quality  indicators  to  promote  innovative
approaches.

The checks carried out by the inspection services must give rise to uniform sanctions
which are dissuasive, proportionate and effectively applied. In this regard, two areas
take on a special significance:

– 

– 

Protection of young people, who tend to be more liable to the risk of accidents
than other population groups. This will involve, on the one hand, enforcement
measures to combat the illegal employment of young people who have not yet
reached  the  legal  age18  and,  on  the  other,  for  those  who  are  admitted  to
employment, the rigorous application of the rules on health and safety.

Some  companies  operating  within  the  European  Union  sometimes  escape
administrative  and  criminal  sanctions  if  the  Member  State  in  which  they
operate  is  different  from  that  in  which  they  are  established.  This  is  the  case
where they provide limited-duration services outside the country in which their
headquarters are based. Article 3 (1) (e) of Directive 96/71/EC of 16 December
1996 concerning the posting of  workers in the  framework  of the  provision of
services19 says that firms which send their employees to provide a service in a
different EU  Member State must,  during the period of secondment, apply the
same  standards  of  safety,  health  and  hygiene  at  work  as  apply  in  the  host
country. Cooperation in terms of the mutual exchange of information between
public  authorities,  as  provided  for  in  Article  4  of  the  Directive,  is  being
gradually  put  into  place,  and  should  make  it  easier  to  prosecute  errant  firms.

18 Article 32 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights states that “The employment of children is prohibited. The
minimum age of admission to employment may not be lower than the minimum school-leaving age, without
prejudice  to  such  rules  as  may  be  more  favourable  to  young  people  and  except  for  limited  derogations.
Young  people  admitted  to  work  must  have  working  conditions  appropriate  to  their  age  and  be  protected
against economic exploitation and any work likely to harm their safety, health or physical, mental, moral or
social development or to interfere with their education.”

19 OJ L 18, 21/01/1997, p. 1 – 6.

11

                                                
Nonetheless,  it  is  worth  looking  into  all  possible  ways  and  means  of  dealing
with  infringements  in  transnational  situations,  and  of  strengthening  ongoing
work on the subject within the SLIC.

3.3. 

Combining instruments and building partnerships

Promoting a quality working environment, taking account of all the aspects, requires
a global approach, utilising all the available instruments. It also requires all the actors
to assume full responsibility, and it means that each party’s efforts should be open to
assessment and appraisal.

3.3.1.  Adapting the legal and institutional framework

The  existence  of  a  full,  coherent  and  solid  Community  legislative  framework  is  an
essential tool in terms of health and safety, where there is a need for standards  and
principles  for  preventing  risks  and  protecting  workers.  The  Commission  intends  to
pursue  a  balanced  approach  in  this  field,  based  on  experience  gained  in  the
implementation of legislative texts, along a number of parallel routes:

1.

2.

3.

Ongoing adaptation of existing directives to changes in scientific knowledge,
technical progress and the world of work. Work on analysing national reports
on  how  the  directives  have  been  put  into  practice,  together  with  assessments
done at company level, will help to pinpoint any difficulties encountered by the
various players in terms of implementing the legislation, and should enable any
deficiencies  to  be  corrected.  The  Commission,  with  the  assistance  of  the
Advisory  Committee  (ACSHH),  will  produce  reports  on  the  practical
application  of  the  various  “health  and  safety”  directives,  with  a  view  to
identifying  any practical  problems  and  improving  certain  of  the  provisions  to
make them more readily comprehensible, more consistent, and to fill the gaps
in  the  existing  framework.  It  will  also  propose  extending  the  scope  of  the
“carcinogenic agents” directive. In addition, it will submit a communication on
musculo-skeletal complaints, which will look into the causes of these problems
in  the  light  of  preventive  measures  provided  for  in  existing  Community
legislation (i.e. the directives dealing with heavy loads, computer screen work
and vibration), and will propose amendments or new legal provisions in fields
in which coverage is still incomplete (e.g. workplace ergonomics).

Taking  account  of  new  risks.  The  increase  in  psycho-social  problems  and
illnesses  is  posing  a  new  challenge  to  health  and  safety  at  work  and  is
compromising  moves  to  improve  well-being  at  work.  The  various  forms  of
psychological harassment and violence at work likewise pose a special problem
nowadays, requiring legislative action. Any such action will be able to build on
the acquis of recently adopted directives rooted in Article 13 of the EC Treaty,
which define what is meant by harassment and make provision for redress.

Rationalisation  of  the  legal  framework.  People  tend  to  see  the  Community
legal framework as being excessively complex and not very clear. It has to be
simplified  and  rationalised,  on  the  one  hand,  by  consolidating  existing
directives to make them more comprehensible and, on the other, by producing
a single report on their implementation, rather than the specific reports required
under  the  various  directives.  The  Commission  will  be  making  the  necessary
legislative proposals for consolidating and rationalising these reports.

12

4.

Rationalisation  of  the  Community  instances.  The  effective  implementation  of
Community  law  requires  close  cooperation  between  the  Commission  and  the
Member States’ administrations. This cooperation would be better and simpler
if the two advisory committees ACSHH and SHCMOEI (the Safety and Health
Commission  for  the  Mining  and  Other  Extractive  Industries)  were  to  be
merged  into  a  single  Advisory  Committee  on  Safety,  Hygiene  and  Health
Protection at Work.

The Commission will

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

draw  up,  in  conjunction  with  the  Advisory  Committee  and  the  social
partners, guides on how to apply the directives, bearing in mind the diverse
nature of sectors of activity and undertakings;

propose extending the scope of the directive on “carcinogenic agents”;

adapt  existing  legislation  to  the  emerging  problem  of  musculo-skeletal
complaints,  proposing  an  amendment  to  the  directive  on  visual  display
screens, and supplementing wherever necessary the existing provisions so
as to take better account of ergonomics at the workplace;

examine the appropriateness and the scope of a Community instrument on
psychological harassment and violence at work;

make the necessary legislative proposals for consolidating the Community
directives and for rationalising the implementation reports;

propose that the two existing advisory committees ACSHH and SHCMOEI
(the  Advisory  Committee  on  Safety,  Hygiene  and  Health  Protection  at
Work  and  the  Safety  and  Health  Commission  for  the  Mining  and  Other
Extractive  Industries)  be  merged  into  a  single  Advisory  Committee  on
health and safety at work;

propose that the representatives of the candidate countries’ inspectorates in
the  Senior  Labour  Inspectors  Committee  (SLIC)  be  admitted  to  the
Advisory Committee ACSHH and to the various bodies run by the Bilbao
Agency and the Dublin Foundation.

3.3.2.  Encouraging innovative approaches

Just  as  legislative  action  is  necessary  to  lay  down  standards,  other  instruments  are
needed to promote innovative approaches, to encourage the various parties to “go a
step  further”  and  to  associate  all  the  interested  parties  in  achieving  the  overall
objectives  of  the  strategy,  more  especially  in  new  fields  which  do  not  lend
themselves  easily  to  a  normative  approach.  The  Commission  intends  to  encourage
such innovative moves.

1.

Benchmarking and the identification of best practices: these should be used at
three different levels under the new strategy:

–  Work  towards  “converging  progress”  in  terms  of  the  Member  States’
policies.  The  European  employment  strategy  provides  an  effective

13

framework  for  this  kind  of  approach20,  with  input  from  the  European
Social Fund.

Quantified national objectives should be adopted so as to achieve:

– 

– 

– 

a reduction in the rate of fatal and non-fatal accidents;

a reduction in the rate of recognised occupational illnesses;

a reduction in the number of days lost due to such accidents and illnesses.

Success  in  achieving  these  objectives  can  be  measured  by  reference  to  indicators
using existing methods21. These quantified objectives should take account of the size
of  firms  and  the  sector  of  activity,  laying  down  the  objectives  to  be  achieved  in
sectors where the incidence of accidents and illnesses is above average.

If these indicators are  to  be  genuinely operational,  the  collected data must  be  more
precise, more comparable, have fuller coverage and be available earlier. To achieve
this, and to eliminate the problem of under-declaration in certain Member States, the
Commission  and  the  Member  States  will  have  to  step  up  ongoing  work  on  the
harmonisation of occupational accident and illness statistics. These should cover not
just recognised occupational accidents and illnesses, their causes and consequences,
but  also  introduce  some  quantifiable  elements  relating  to  working  environment
factors which are likely to cause the problems.

–  Make it easier to identify emerging phenomena. Stress-related complaints
and illnesses are one example of this, as are musculo-skeletal problems,
and dependence on alcohol, medicines  and drugs. The Commission will
be  proposing  that  this  problem  be  integrated  into  the  employment
guidelines for 2003 and will, in conjunction with the Dublin Foundation,
instigate work on collecting data and other information for measuring the
phenomena and for creating monitoring indicators.

– 

Develop  knowledge  of,  and  follow-up  to,  the  “cost  of  non-quality”,  i.e.
the  economic  and  social  costs  arising  from  occupational  accidents  and
illnesses. The Commission will, in conjunction with the Bilbao Agency,
instigate  work  on  collecting  data  and  other  information  with  a  view  to
improving the fund of knowledge on this subject.

20 Guideline  14  (c):  “(Member  States  will)  endeavour  to  ensure  a  better  application  at  workplace  level  of
existing health and safety legislation by stepping up and strengthening enforcement, by providing guidance to
help enterprises, especially SMEs, to comply with existing legislation, by improving training on occupational
health  and  safety,  and  by  promoting  measures  for  the  reduction  of  occupational  accidents  and  diseases  in
traditional high risk sectors.”

21 SEAT for accidents at work, and EODS for occupational illnesses.

14

                                                
The Commission will:

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

considere  to  propose,  in  2002,  an  amendment  to  the  employment
guidelines,  calling  on  the  Member  States  to  adopt  national  quantified
objectives  for  reducing  accidents  at  work  and  occupational  illnesses,
giving  specific  attention  to  sectors  with  a  high  accident  frequency  rate,
and mainstreaming the gender and age dimensions;

examine the appropriateness of proposing the integration of the problem
of stress-related complaints and illnesses into the employment guidelines
for 2003;

analyse  the  role  of  the  ESF  in  terms  of  promoting  a  healthy  and  safe
working environment, in conjunction with the mid-term assessment of the
current programming exercise;

step  up  harmonisation  work  on  European  statistics  and  on 
construction of progress-chasing indicators;

the

improve  the  fund  of  knowledge  on  the  economic  and  social  cost  of
occupational accidents and illnesses.

2.

Voluntary agreements concluded by the social partners

The  social  dialogue  is  an  ideal  instrument  for  applying  innovative  methods:  on  the
one  hand,  the  existing  legislation  can  be  applied  effectively;  on  the  other,  it  is
possible to address all the  questions concerned  with  promoting well-being at work;
additionally,  the  risks  and  problems  specific  to  sectors  of  activity  and  occupations
can be addressed individually. The sectoral social dialogue has already accumulated
a  great  deal  of  experience  in  this  field22.  For  their  part,  certain  European  works
councils have drawn up “good practices”. At multisectoral level, the social partners
are  helping  to  improve  the  existing  legislation  within  the  Advisory  Committee
ACSHH and by way of consultations under Article 138 of the Treaty.

The various elements of the social dialogue structure might usefully address certain
of  the  new  risks,  more  especially  stress,  whose  multifarious  nature  —  bearing  in
mind  the  wide  range  of  complaints  which  can  be  related  to  it  —  fully  justifies  an
approach of this kind, involving the social partners.

The Commission will, in 2002, open consultations with the social partners on stress
and its effects on health and safety at work, pursuant to the procedure laid down in
Article 138 of the Treaty.

22 For example, the adoption of joint  manuals, training  material, common positions on draft  directives  etc.  in
agriculture,  construction,  gas,  cleaning,  private  security  services,  sugar,  telecommunications,  fishing,
hairdressing, road transport, civil aviation and sea transport. The tanning/leather sector and the hairdressing
business  have adopted codes of conduct espousing the  principle  of  a  safe  and  health  working  environment
and the application of best professional practices on the health and safety front. The various transport sectors
have  drawn  up  joint  contributions  and  framework  agreements  on  working  time  and  on  matters  connected
with health and safety.

15

                                                
3.

Corporate social responsibility

The  increasing  trend  towards  outsourcing,  along  with  the  public’s  enhanced
sensitivity to health issues, have led a large number of firms to make a healthy  and
safe working environment an important criterion in the choice of their subcontractors
and  the  way  they  market  their  products.  For  instance,  health  at  work  has  been
included  in  voluntary  certification  and  labelling  initiatives,  more  especially  in
purchasing procedures, often using third parties23.

The  Green  Paper  "Promoting  a  European  framework  for  corporate  social
responsibility"24  stressed  that  health  at  work  is  one  of  the  ideal  areas  for  voluntary
“good  practices”  on  the  part  of  firms  which  want  to  go  beyond  existing  rules  and
standards.  The  ensuing  consultation  exercise,  which  covered  a  wide  range  of
interested parties, will enable a number of possible responses to be identified.

4.

Economic incentives

Economic  incentives  have  long  applied  to  accidents  at  work  and  occupational
illnesses,  with  insurance  premiums,  for  individual  firms  and/or  sectors  of  activity,
varying  according  to  the  accident  rate.  This  encourages  risk  prevention  and
complements the other instruments available in the field. Insurers — both public and
private sector — have already given thought to similar economic incentives, offering
prevention contracts which include an analysis of the risks in the company, technical
assistance,  equipment  aids  and  appropriate  training.  These  kind  of  practices  would
seem to warrant more systematic application.

3.3.3.  Working to mainstream health and safety at work in other Community policies

Well-being  at  work  cannot  be  brought  about  simply  by  way  of  health  and  safety
policy:  there  are  strong  links  with  the  way  work  equipment  is  designed,  with
employment  policy,  with  policy  on  disabled  people,  and  with  other  policies  like
transport  and,  of  course,  health  policy  in  general,  whether  it  be  preventative  or
curative.

– 

– 

There  should  be  a  stronger  element  of  integration  of  health  at  work  into  the
European employment strategy, given its importance in terms of promoting the
quality  of  employment  and  making  full  use  of  the  EU’s  productive  potential.
This strategy puts forward new proposals for strengthening this link.

There  should  be  improved  linkage  with  the  Community  rules  on  the
manufacture  and  marketing  of  work  equipment  and  chemical  products.  This
could  be  fostered  by  a  more  systematic  effort  to  collect  information  on  the
effects  such  equipment  and  products  have  on  health  at  work,  and  their
repercussions  for  manufacturers.  In  this  respect,  voluntary  labelling  practices
can have an important contribution to make.

– 

There should be stronger links between the new Community strategy on health
and  safety  and  the  Community's  strategy  on  public  health,  by  way  of  closer

23 “Occupational Safety and Health in Marketing and Procurement”, report to the European Agency for Safety

and Health at Work, 2000, ISBN 92-95007-01-8.

24 COM (2001) 366 final.

16

                                                
cooperation.  Experience  gained  on  how  to  prevent  the  major  public  health
scourges  —  more  especially  the  various  types  of  substance  dependence  —
should be built in to preventive measures at the workplace. On the other side of
the coin,  health  at work should be  recognised  as  an  important  determinant  of
the population’s general state of health.

–  We  should  develop  an  approach  which  is  coordinated  with  other  policies
pursuing  protection  objectives  and  based  on  preventative  measures,  more
especially transport policy, the  environment, civil protection and the common
fisheries policy.

– 

As regards the common fisheries policy, the Commission will invite the social
partners  to  identify  measures  for  improving  living,  working  and  safety
conditions in the industry, for strengthening the role of women, and for helping
to develop the employment situation, particularly for young people, in regions
which are dependent on the fishing industry.

–  Whenever  a  public  contract  is  awarded  on  the  strength  of  a  tendering
procedure, the contractor must fully comply with all the rules and  regulations
which  are  of  mandatory  application  in  the  field  of  health  and  safety  at  work.
Bids entered by tenderers who would appear not to have taken into account the
obligations  concerning  protection  arrangements  and  working  conditions  as
indicated by the awarding authority in the specifications cannot be regarded as
in conformity with the specifications, or might appear abnormally low for the
work in question, and can be rejected on those grounds. The social partners in
the  private  security  and  cleaning  businesses  have  addressed  the  question  of
compliance with health and safety rules.

3.4. 

Preparing for enlargement

Enlargement is one of the major challenges facing the European Union. This is true
first and foremost of the EU itself, which has to ensure that the new Member States
can  be  absorbed  in  conformity  with  the  rules  and  with  a  guarantee  that  the
institutions and bodies of the EU will continue to function smoothly. It is also true,
though,  of  the  candidate  countries  themselves,  which  have  to  absorb  into  their
national systems an enormous and complex corpus of legislation. To ensure that the
acquis communautaire is being properly applied, there must be an effective transfer
of experience and knowledge, with special reference to:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Beefing-up programmes of technical assistance, using partnership and twinning
arrangements;

Developing  arrangements  for  the  exchange  of  experience  and  access  to
knowledge  and  to  the  results  of  Community  research,  by  integrating  the
candidate countries into the institutions and bodies concerned;

Strengthening the social dialogue at all levels, particularly in firms;

Promoting  the  collection  and  analysis  of  data  on  accidents  at  work  and
occupational  illnesses,  notably  by  integrating  the  candidate  countries  into
ongoing Community work on statistical harmonisation.

17

3.5. 

Developing international cooperation

Community policy on health and safety at work must link up with work being done
by  the  international  organisations.  The  Commission  will  continue  its  active
collaboration with the agencies of the United Nations — the WHO and the  ILO —
which  have  a  similar  role  to  play  in  improving  the  level  of  protection  of  workers’
health  and  safety,  and  with  whom  the  Commission  has  long  enjoyed  a  fruitful
cooperation. This cooperation should focus on the following areas:

– 

– 

– 

Eliminating  the  worst  forms  of  child  labour  in  the  world,  under  the  “IPEC”
programme  and  in  application  of  ILO  Convention  No  182  of  17  June  1999,
which all the EU Member States have ratified or will shortly be ratifying;

Supporting  improvements  to  occupational  health  throughout  the  world,
more  particularly  by  encouraging  the  ILO  to  draw  up  conventions  and
recommendations  which  take  account  of  Community  legislation,  and  by
cooperating to ensure that they are effectively applied;

The effects of dependence on medicinal drugs and alcohol on health and safety
at work, the importance of which is recognised by the WHO and the ILO.

Cooperation  with  third  countries  —  more  particularly  those  of  the  Mediterranean
Basin, ASEAN, NAFTA and the Mercosur group — is essential if we are to ensure
that  minimum  health  and  safety  standards  are  adhered  to,  even  though  the  prime
objectives are to facilitate the free movement of goods, services and capital. In this
respect, the legislative framework adopted by the European Union could serve  as a
basis for exchanges of information with these countries.

Cooperation  and  exchanges  of  experience  on  occupational  health  and  safety  issues
already initiated with the USA under the Transatlantic Pact should be strengthened.
The  two-yearly  bilateral  conferences  involving  the  EU  and  the  USA,  and  the
exchanges  of  information  coordinated  by  the  Bilbao  Agency,  are  illustrations  of  a
desire  to  cooperate  in  the  interests  of  improved  labour  protection  at  international
level.

18