Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (optical radiation) (19th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)
Date: 2005-05-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: approximation of laws, health control, occupational safety, working conditions, workplace

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 4.5.2005 
COM(2005) 189 final 

1992/0449 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on the minimum health and safety requirements 
regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (optical 
radiation) (19th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 
89/391/EEC) 

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1992/0449 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

common position of the Council on the adoption of a Directive of the European 
Parliament and of the Council on the minimum health and safety requirements 
regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (optical 
radiation) (19th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 
89/391/EEC) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Proposal  (document  COM(1992)  560  final  –  1992/0449  (COD))  forwarded  to  the 
European Parliament* and Council on: 

8.2.1993 (OJ C 77, 18.3.1993) 
* not subject to the codecision procedure at the time of the proposal. 

Opinion delivered by the Economic and Social Committee on: 

30.6.1993 (OJ C 249, 13.9.1993). 

Opinion delivered by the Committee of the Regions on*: 

* stated in a letter dated 13 January 2000 that it would not deliver an opinion. 

Opinion of the Parliament (first reading) delivered on: 

20.4.1994 (OJ C 128, 9.5.1994), confirmed on 16.9.1999 (OJ C 54, 25.2.2000). 

Amended proposal forwarded to the Council on: 

8.7.1994 (OJ C 230, 19.8.1994). 

Date of unanimous formal adoption of the common position by the Council: 

18.4.2005 

2. 

AIM OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The original proposal is based on Article 118a of the Treaty (now Article 137) and 
takes the form of an individual directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of the 
Framework Directive 89/391/EEC. 

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Its  aim  is  the  protection  of  workers  against  risks  to  their  health  and  safety  arising 
from  exposure  to  physical  agents.  The  proposal  covers  four  physical  agents:  noise 
(risks to hearing), vibration (risks to the hand, arm and whole body), electromagnetic 
fields and optical radiation (risks to health from induced currents in the body, shocks, 
burns and absorption of thermal energy).  

The  provisions  concerning  vibration,  electromagnetic  fields  and  optical  radiation 
were  new,  whereas  those  concerning  noise  already  existed  in  Council  Directive 
86/188/EEC.  

The Council opted to concentrate on a single physical agent at a time, starting with 
vibration. 

All  delegations  and  the  Commission  accepted  this  approach,  consisting  in  dealing 
with one aspect of the Commission’s proposal at a time, though without abandoning 
the other aspects, which remained on the Council’s agenda to be discussed at a later 
date. 

The European Parliament and the Council have adopted three directives covering the 
first  three  physical  agents,  i.e.  vibration  (Directive  2002/44/EC),  noise  (Directive 
2003/10/EC)  and  electromagnetic  fields  (Directive  2004/40/EC).  The  present 
proposal constitutes the fourth and last phase of the general approach adopted by the 
Council, namely to introduce a separate individual directive for each physical agent1. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION 

3.1. 

General 

Owing to the splitting of the proposal, the common position is concerned only with 
the specific minimum requirements for the protection of workers from risks to their 
health and safety arising or likely to arise from exposure to optical radiation.  

The common  position adopts a different approach for exposure to  artificial sources 
and  for  natural  sources.  In  the  case  of  exposure  to  artificial  sources,  the  common 
position sets exposure limit values (ELVs) which are based directly on health effects 
and biological considerations. Compliance with these limits will ensure that workers 
exposed  to  optical  radiation  are  protected  from  all  known  harmful  effects  on  their 
health.  These  values  are  very  conservative  and  largely  based  on  the  ICNIRP2 
guidelines  and  recommendations  for  limiting  exposure  to  non-ionising  radiation. 
These scientifically based guidelines are designed to prevent the acute and long-term 
effects to the eyes and the skin that can occur at high levels of exposure. The ELVs 
prescribed  in  the  ICNIRP  Guidelines  correspond  with  those  developed  by  other 
independent  scientific  advisory  bodies.  Because  of  the  conservative  nature  of  the 
recommended ELVs for exposure to optical radiation, the common position abstains 
from  introducing  lower  action  values  as  it  was  the  case  for  exposure  to 
electromagnetic fields (Directive 2004/40/EC).  

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2 

See statement in the Council minutes of 25 June 2001 
International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection. 

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Since the application of ELVs is not deemed appropriate in the case of exposure to 
natural sources of optical radiation, for instance the exposure to the sun radiation or 
natural fires, the common position emphasises the importance of the information and 
training  of  the  workers,  of  the  ex  ante  assessment  of  risks  and  of  the  subsequent 
preventive  measures  in  order  to  eliminate  or  reduce  the  effects  of  the  exposure  to 
natural sources. 

The common position describes the preventive measures needed to reduce the risks 
to which workers are exposed. These preventive measures are primarily based on the 
employer’s obligation to identify and assess the various risks resulting from exposure 
of  workers  to  optical  radiation  during  their  work.  One  of  the  main  elements  in  the 
common  position  is  therefore  the  assessment  of  the  levels  of  optical  radiation  to 
which workers are exposed, which may require measurements and/or calculations. In 
this  connection, 
the 
methodology  to  be  applied  in  order  to  assess  the  levels  of  exposure:  the  standards 
and  recommendations  of  IEC,  CEI  or  CEN3  should  be  used  and,  if  these  are  not 
available,  national  or  international  science-based  guidelines  should  be  followed. 
Moreover,  in  order  to  avoid  unnecessary  burden  to  the  enterprises,  the  assessment 
may  take  account  of  data  provided  by  manufacturers  of  the  equipment  producing 
optical radiation where it is covered by a relevant Community Directive 

instructions  concerning 

the  common  position 

includes 

On  the  basis  of  the  risk  assessment,  and  unless  the  assessment  carried  out 
demonstrates that the exposure limit values are not exceeded and safety risks can be 
excluded,  the  employer  is  required  to  devise  and  implement  an  action  plan 
comprising  technical  and/or  organisational  measures  intended  to  prevent  exposure 
exceeding the limit values.  

The  common  position  includes  detailed  provisions  on  information  and  training  for 
workers exposed to risks from optical radiation. It also imposes “appropriate health 
surveillance” for workers who might suffer adverse health or safety effects. 

Overall,  the  Council’s  common  position  follows  the  lines  of  the  Commission’s 
proposal, even if its structure differs as a result of the splitting of the proposal and if 
some  changes  have  been  introduced  due  to  the  evolution  of  the  technical  progress 
and  of  the  scientific  knowledge  in  this  field  since  the  adoption  in  1994  of  the 
Commission proposal. 

3.2. 

The European Parliament's amendments in first reading 

The  European  Parliament’s  amendments  adopted  on  first  reading  which  concern 
optical radiation are numbers 1, 4-21, 25, 27 and 34-36. 

Amendments 1, 5, 9, 14 and 16 have been accepted in full, both in article 5 of the 
common position and in the amended proposal. 

Amendment  13  has  been  accepted  in  full  in  the  common  position  with  a  different 
formulation in Article 5. 

3 

IEC: International Electrotechnical Commission 
CEI: International Commission on Illumination 
CEN: European Committee for Standardisation. 

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Amendment  4  has  been  accepted  in  part  in  the  common  position,  in  Article  2(e), 
whereas  it  was  accepted  in  full  in  the  amended  proposal.  The  Commission  accepts 
the modification which is more relevant in view of the new structure of the text and 
the new preventive approach imposed by the evolution of technical knowledge since 
1994. 

Amendments 10 and 17 have been accepted in spirit in Article 4(4) of the common 
position. 

Amendment  12  has  been  included  in  spirit  in  Article  5(1)  of  the  common  position 
and  in  full  in  the  amended  proposal.  The  common  position  now  refers  to  the 
elimination  of  the  risk  or  a  reduction  to  the  minimum.  This  is  acceptable  to  the 
Commission  since  it  ensures  a  higher  level  of  protection  in  line  with  Directive 
89/391/EEC. 

Amendment 15 on health surveillance which was included in the amended proposal, 
has not been included in the common position, contrary to the Commission’s initial 
wishes. Despite the fact that the Commission would have preferred this amendment 
to  be  included  in  full  in  the  common  position,  it  accepted  its  exclusion  in  order  to 
facilitate the reaching of a global compromise. 

Amendment  25,  which  was  not  included  in  the  amended  proposal,  has  been 
incorporated into the common position in full under Article 12. 

Amendments 6, 7, 8, 11, 18, 19, 20, 21, 27 and 34 - 36 have not been included in the 
common  position  whereas  they  were  included  in  the  amended  proposal.  The 
Commission accepts the non-inclusion of these amendments, which are not relevant 
in view of the new structure of the text and the new preventive approach imposed by 
the evolution of technical knowledge since 1994. Moreover: 

– 

– 

amendments  18,  19  and  20  are  redundant  as  the  common  position  does  not 
include any special provision for derogations or exemptions; 

concerning  amendment  21,  the  Commission  accepted  the  Council's  view  to 
consider  the  standard  provision  in  Article  11  on  a  Committee  to  assist  the 
Commission as sufficient. 

The  major  differences  between  the  Common  Position  and  the  Commission's 
amended proposal concern: 

– 

– 

– 

the new structure due to the fact that optical radiation is dealt with in a specific 
directive; 

the  restructuring  and  redefinition  of  the  exposure  limit  values,  including  the 
deletion of the action value and the threshold level. This was done in order to 
bring  the  provisions  of  the  directive  in  line  with  the  latest  technical  and 
scientific developments in the matter;  

the  Tables  and  provisions  in  the  Annexes  which  closely  follow  the  ICNIRP 
recommendations. In the very limited number of cases where ICNIRP did not 
make  a  quantifiable  recommendation,  namely  for  special  situations  with 
coherent optical radiation (lasers), those from IEC were introduced. It must be 

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noted that there are few areas in occupational health and safety where there is 
such  widespread  agreement  among  national  and  international  health  advisory 
authorities concerning safe levels of exposure;  

– 

– 

the reference to standards, recommendations and science-based guidelines for 
the  assessment,  measurement  and  calculation  of  the  levels  of  exposure  to 
artificial  sources  of  optical  radiation  to  be  done  in  the  context  of  the  risk 
assessment; 

the  deletion  of  the  requirement  to  declare  certain  activities  as  presenting  an 
increased risk to the responsible authority; 

As  regards  health  surveillance,  the  Commission  has  accepted  Article  8  of  the 
common  position  as  a  matter  of  compromise  despite  the  fact  that  the  preventive 
aspect of health surveillance is not made explicit and that the workers are not entitled 
to a specific medical examination in the event of overexposure.  

4. 

CONCLUSIONS/GENERAL COMMENTS 

The Commission considers that the Common Position is in line with the fundamental 
objectives  of  its  original  amended  proposal.  It  also  considers  that  the  common 
position has taken account of the latest technical and scientific progress in the area of 
risks  from  exposure  to  optical  radiation  and  of  most  of  the  requests  from  the 
European Parliament in its proposed amendments. 

The Commission supports the common position in its entirety. 

5. 

COMMISSION STATEMENT 

During  the  final  discussions  before  adoption,  the  Council  made  the  following 
statement on the development of practical guidelines: 

"The Council invites the Commission to develop, after consultation of the Advisory 
Committee  on  Health  and  Safety  at  Work,  practical  guidelines  to  facilitate  the 
implementation of the provisions of this Directive, in particular Articles 4 and 5 and 
the Annexes." 

Commission’s response to the Council’s statement in its minutes: 

"The Commission takes note of the Council's request and will give it due attention. 
The Commission reserves however its right to respond in accordance with the rules 
of  the  Treaty,  with  due  regard  in  particular  to  its  right  of  initiative  and  taking  into 
account the budgetary and human resources at its disposal." 

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