Council Decision of 22 July 2003 setting up an Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-07-22
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: advisory committee (EU), occupational safety, rules of procedure, workplace

13.9.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 218/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 22 July 2003

setting up an Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work

(2003/C 218/01)

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community and in particular Article 202 thereof,

Having regard to the Commission's proposal, presented after
consultation of the Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene
and Health Protection at Work,

Whereas:

(1) Protection against occupational accidents and diseases is

amongst the objectives of the Treaty.

(2) The profound transformation in production methods in
all sectors of the economy and the spread of dangerous
techniques and materials have created new problems for
the safety and health of workers at their place of work.

(3) A standing body should be envisaged to assist

the
Commission in the preparation and implementation of
activities in the fields of safety and health at work and
to facilitate cooperation between national administrations,
trade unions and employers' organisations.

(4) A Mines Safety Commission was set up by decisions taken
by the Representatives of the Governments of the Member
States meeting within the Special Council of Ministers at
the 36th and 42nd Council sessions of 6 September 1956
and 9 and 10 May 1957, the remit of which was estab-
lished by the Decision of
the
Governments of the Member States meeting within the
Special Council of Ministers of 9 July 1957 concerning

the Representatives of

the terms of reference and the rules of procedure of the
Mines Safety Commission (1), and the responsibilities of
which were extended by Council Decision 74/326/EEC
of 27 June 1974 (2).

(5) Moreover, Council Decision 74/325/EEC of 27 June 1974
on the setting up of an Advisory Committee on Safety,
Hygiene and Health Protection at Work (3) also set up a
standing body for all economic activities, except for the
extractive industries and the protection of the health of
workers
arising from ionising
radiation.

the dangers

against

(6) The radical changes which have taken place over the past
few years in working life and in the European project,
specifically as a result of incorporating a social protocol
in the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the new prospects
opened up by the current enlargement process require a
critical and constructive re-examination of
the consul-
tation process and the bodies set up for this purpose in
the Community.

(7) In its Communication on a Community programme in the
field of safety, hygiene and health protection at work
(1996-2000),
the Commission stressed the need to
streamline the operation of the two advisory committees
– the Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health
Protection at Work
and Health
and Other Extractive
Commission for
Industries – by merging them, reducing the number of
members and giving them a single secretariat.

and
the Mining

Safety

the

(1) OJ 57, 31.8.1957, p. 487. Decision as last amended by the 1994

Act of Accession.

(2) OJ L 185, 9.7.1974, p. 18. Decision as last amended by the 1994

Act of Accession.

(3) OJ L 185, 9.7.1974, p. 15. Decision as last amended by the 1994

Act of Accession.

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(8) The communication from the Commission on ‘Adapting
to change in work and society: a new Community strategy
on safety and health 2002-2006’ also notes that effective
implementation of Community law requires close coop-
eration between the Commission and the Member States'
administrations and that this cooperation would be better
and simpler if the two advisory committees were to be
merged into a single Advisory Committee.

(9) The structure of

the Advisory Committee on Safety,
Hygiene and Health Protection at Work should be
retained with changes made to streamline its operation
and with a clear statement of the horizontal nature of
its competences to cover all public and private sectors
of activity in accordance with the scope of Community
legislation on health and safety at work. The knowledge
acquired by the Safety and Health
and experience
Commission for
and Other Extractive
Industries
should also be safeguarded by setting up
standing working parties for specific sectors within this
Advisory Committee.

the Mining

(a) conduct, on the basis of the information available to it,
exchanges of views and experience regarding existing or
planned regulations;

(b) help to devise a common approach to problems in the
fields of
and health at work and identify
Community priorities as well as the measures necessary
for implementing them;

safety

(c) draw the Commission's attention to areas in which there is
an apparent need for new knowledge and for suitable
training and research measures;

(d) define, within the

framework of Community action

programmes:

— the criteria and aims for preventing accidents at work

and health hazards within the undertaking;

(10) This reform should be incorporated in a new decision
setting up an Advisory Committee for Safety and Health
at Work as a single advisory body, and repealing Decision
74/325/EEC.

— methods enabling undertakings and their employees to

evaluate and to improve the level of protection;

(11) The Decisions setting up the Mines Safety Commission,
the Decision concerning the terms of reference and rules
of procedure of the Mines Safety Commission and the
Decision 74/326/EEC should also be repealed,

(e) contribute, alongside the European Agency for Safety and
Health at Work, to keeping national administrations, trades
unions
of
Community measures in order to facilitate cooperation
and to encourage
to
exchange experience and establish codes of practice;

any initiatives on their part

organisations

employers'

informed

and

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

(f) give an opinion on plans for Community initiatives which

affect safety and health at work;

Article 1

An Advisory Committee for Safety and Health at Work (here-
inafter called the ‘Committee’) is hereby set up.

(g) give an opinion on the annual programme and the rotating
four-year programme of the European Agency for Safety
and Health at Work.

Article 2

1.
The Committee shall have the task of assisting the
Commission in the preparation, implementation and evaluation
of activities in the fields of safety and health at work.

In order to accomplish the above tasks, the Committee
3.
shall
cooperate with the other Committees which are
competent for safety and health at work, inter alia with the
Senior Labour
and the Scientific
Committee for Occupational Exposure Limits to Chemical
Agents, mainly by exchanging information.

Inspectors Committee

This task shall cover the public and the private sectors of the
economy.

Article 3

2.

Specifically, the Committee shall:

1.
The Committee shall consist of three full members for
each Member State, there being one representative for each of
the national governments, trade unions and employers' organi-
sations.

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Two alternate members may be appointed for each full

2.
member.

Without prejudice to Article 6(3), an alternate member shall
attend Committee meetings only when the member for whom
he deputises is unable to be present.

Full and alternate members shall be appointed by the
3.
Council. When submitting the list of candidates
to the
Council, Member States shall endeavour to ensure that the
composition of
the various
economic sectors concerned and the proportion of men and
women in the working population.

the Committee fairly reflects

The list of

4.
published by the Council
European Union for information purposes.

the full and alternate members shall be
the

in the Official

Journal of

Article 6

1.
The Committee shall be chaired by the Director-General
in charge of social policy at the Commission or, where he/she
is prevented from so doing and as an exception, by one of the
Directorate-General's directors to be nominated by him/her.
The Chair shall not vote.

The Committee shall meet when convened by the Chair,
2.
either at the latter's initiative or at the request of at least
one-third of its members.

The Chair may, on his/her own initiative,

3.
two experts to participate in Committee meetings.

invite up to

Each interest group may be accompanied by up to two experts,
provided that it so informs the Chair at least three days before
the Committee meeting.

Article 4

The term of office of full and alternate members shall be

1.
three years. Their term shall be renewable.

The Committee may establish working parties to be
4.
chaired by a Committee member or an alternate member.
Each working party shall be made up of
four experts for
each interest group.

2.
On expiry of their term of office, the full and alternate
members shall remain in office until they are replaced or their
terms are renewed.

A standing working party made up of 5 experts for each
interest group shall be set up within the Committee to deal
on a regular basis with questions relating to the mining and
extractive industries.

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 the Member State concerned indicating
that the term of office is terminated.

The Chairs of these working parties shall submit the results of
their proceedings in the form of a report at a meeting of the
Committee.

For the remainder of the term of office, the member shall be
replaced in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
3.

Article 5

1. Within the Committee,
there shall be three interest
groups, made up of representatives of national governments,
trade unions and employers' organisations respectively.

Each interest group shall select one of its members to be

2.
its spokesperson.

3.
Each interest group shall designate a coordinator who
will take part in meetings of the Committee, the Bureau and
the interest group.

of

Representatives

5.
department
any
concerned shall participate in meetings of the Committee and
the working parties. Secretarial services shall be provided by
the Commission.

Commission

The following may attend meetings of the Committee as

6.
observers:

— the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health

at Work;

— the Director of

the

European Foundation for

the

Improvement of Living and Working Conditions;

— a representative for each interest group of the Member

States of the European Economic Area.

4.
A Bureau shall be formed to organise the Committee's
activities, made up of two representatives of the Commission
and the spokespersons and coordinators designated by the
interest groups.

7.
The Chair may, on the basis of the Bureau's reasoned
opinion, authorise other observers to attend meetings of the
Committee.

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Article 7

Article 9

1.
An opinion delivered by the Committee shall not be valid
unless two-thirds of its members are present. Only members
may vote.

An opinion delivered by the Committee shall state the
2.
it shall be delivered by an
reasons on which it
absolute majority of the votes validly cast. It shall be accom-
panied by a written statement of the views expressed by the
minority, if the latter so requests.

is based;

3.
The Committee shall devise fast-track decision-making
procedures to which the conditions of (1) and (2) shall apply
mutatis mutandis.

Article 8

The Committee shall, having received an opinion from the
lay
Commission, adopt
its rules of procedure which shall
down the practical arrangements for its activities and,
in
particular, those for fast-track decision-making and cooperation
with the other Committees which are competent for Safety and
Health at Work, inter alia with the Senior Labour Inspectors
Committee and the Scientific Committee for Occupational
Exposure Limits to Chemical Agents. The rules of procedure
shall be transmitted for information purposes to the European
Parliament and Council; the latter shall also have the right of
call-back.

Without prejudice to Article 287 of the Treaty, Committee
to disclose information to
members shall be required not
which they have gained access
through Committee or
if the Commission informs them
working party proceedings,
that the opinion requested or the question raised is of a confi-
dential nature. In such cases, only Committee members and
representatives of the Commission shall attend the meetings
concerned.

Article 10

The Decisions setting up the Mines Safety Commission taken at
the 36th and 42nd Council sessions of 6 September 1956 and
9 and 10 May 1957, the Decision of the Representatives of the
Governments of the Member States meeting within the Special
Council of Ministers of 9 July 1957 concerning the terms of
the Mines Safety
reference
Commission
and
74/325/EEC
and
74/326/EEC are hereby repealed.

and rules of procedure of
Council Decisions

Article 11

This Decision shall enter into force on 1 January 2004.

Done at Brussels, 22 July 2003.

For the Council
The President
G. ALEMANNO