Council Resolution of 25 June 2007 on a new Community strategy on health and safety at work (2007-2012)
Date: 2007-06-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU policy, European Employment Strategy, occupational health, occupational safety

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Official Journal of the European Union

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I

(Resolutions, recommendations, guidelines and opinions)

RESOLUTIONS

COUNCIL

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 25 June 2007

on a new Community strategy on health and safety at work (2007-2012)

(2007/C 145/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Commission Communication of 21
February 2007 on improving quality and productivity at work:
a Community strategy 2007-2012 on health and safety at work,
which is one of the points included in the European Social
Agenda,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Article 137 of the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity has led to the adoption of a substantial corpus of
Community legislation on health and safety at work.

Quality at work has a considerable human, but also an
economic dimension, and the Member States have
acknowledged under the Lisbon Strategy that health and
safety policy makes
contribution to
economic growth and employment.

an important

The European social model is based on a smoothly oper-
ating economy, on a high level of social protection and
education and on social dialogue, and thus involves
improving the quality of employment, particularly health
and safety at work.

The European Union has to strengthen the competitive-
ness of businesses in the light of ongoing demographic
change, taking into account the Conclusions of the Stock-
holm European Council on 23 and 24 March 2001, the
Barcelona European Council on 15 and 16 March 2002
and the Brussels European Council on 8 and 9 March
2007.

(5)

The new Community strategy on health and safety at
work (2007-2012) (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Com-
munity strategy’) should promote further progress by

building on the momentum created by the previous
Community strategy on safety and health at work (2002-
2006), which was based on an overall approach to well-
being at work and led to relaunched prevention policies
and significant improvements.

(6)

(7)

The implementation of existing legislation remains one of
the most important obligations for all Member States to
stimulate the creation of a healthy and safe work environ-
ment.

The figures for accidents at work and the incidence of
occupational illnesses, which differ from Member State to
Member State, are still too high in absolute terms in
certain sectors and for some categories of workers, and it
is therefore important
the new strategy should
remedy this situation,

that

HEREBY ADOPTS THIS RESOLUTION:

I.

1. The Council notes the Commission's opinion that, in order
to achieve an ongoing, sustainable and consistent reduction
in accidents at work and occupational illnesses, the parties
involved must pursue a number of objectives, including:

(a) placing more emphasis on the implementation of Com-

munity legislation;

(b) supporting compliance with Community legislation,

in
particular in sectors and undertakings considered to be
at risk and for categories of workers who are most
vulnerable;

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(c) adapting the legal framework to changes in the work-

place and simplifying it;

(d) promoting the development and implementation of

national strategies;

(e) creating a general culture that values health and risk
prevention by encouraging changes in the behaviour of
workers and at the same time by encouraging employers
to adopt health-focused approaches;

(f) finalising the methods to identify and evaluate new

potential risks;

(g) assessing
strategy;

the

implementation of

the Community

(h) promoting health and safety at work at international

level.

2. The Council notes the Commission's opinion that in order to
achieve these objectives, an overall approach has to be
further developed, taking into account the following areas of
action:

(a) National strategies should give priority to implementing
a package of instruments which guarantee a high level of
compliance with the legislation,
in particular in small
and medium enterprises (SMEs) and high-risk sectors:

— dissemination of good practice at local level,

— training and education,

— development of simple tools and guidelines,

— better access to high-quality preventive services,

(d) The coherence of the relevant policies such as public
health and employment policy with policies for health
and safety at work has to be strengthened;

(e) New and existing risks at
research in areas such as:

the workplace need more

— psychosocial issues and musculoskeletal disorders,

— dangerous substances, reproductive risks and risks
caused by new technologies, e.g. nanotechnologies,

— risks arising from new forms of work organisation,

and

— occupational health and safety management,

— taking appropriate account of gender aspects;

(f) Workplaces must be designed in such a way that the
their
employability of workers is ensured throughout
working lives. At the same time, workplaces should be
tailored to the individual needs of older and disabled
workers;

(g) Changes in behavioural patterns with regard to safety
and health at work need to be promoted at all levels of
education and in all fields;

(h) New instruments to measure progress achieved and the
efforts made by all players at both national and European
level need to be further developed, in particular, by using
score boarding;

(i) It is necessary to step up international cooperation and
to continue to cooperate actively with the International
Labour Organisation, the World Health Organisation and
other international organisations.

— adequate financial and staff

resources for

labour

II.

inspectorates,

— use of economic incentives at national and Com-

munity level.

These strategies should, where appropriate and in accord-
ance with national priorities and circumstances, espe-
cially address demographic change, preventive effective-
ness of health surveillance, rehabilitation and reintegra-
tion of workers, better and more effective enforcement
and the strengthening of policy coherence;

(b) National strategies should seek to establish measurable
targets for reducing the incidence of occupational acci-
dents and illnesses for relevant categories of worker,
types of company and/or sectors;

(c) The improvement of the administrative and institutional
regulatory framework will
remain a key priority at
national and Community level, and evaluation has an
important role to play in this;

The Council:

1. welcomes the Commission Communication on a new Com-
munity strategy on health and safety at work (2007-2012);

2. considers that the Communication in question provides a
valuable framework for further effective implementation of
Article 137 of the EC Treaty at Community level;

3. shares the Commission's opinion that occupational health
and safety not only safeguards workers' life and health and
enhances their motivation but also plays a vital role in
increasing the competitiveness and productivity of enter-
prises and in contributing to the sustainability of social
protection systems by reducing the social and economic
costs of occupational accidents, incidents and diseases;

4. emphasises

and
combating risks at source are fundamental principles of
prevention;

protective measures

collective

that

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5. considers that Community policy on health and safety at
work based on an overall approach to well-being at work
should have as its purpose an ongoing, sustainable and
consistent reduction in accidents at work and occupational
illnesses;

6. supports the Commission in seeking to reduce the inci-
dence rate of accidents at work by 25 % at Community
level, taking into account the Member States' experiences,
circumstances and opportunities;

7. stresses the need to:

(a) recognise the importance of Good Work and its under-
lying principles,
i.e. workers' rights and participation,
equal opportunities, safety and health protection and a
family-friendly organisation of work;

(b) take into account new challenges such as demographic
change and ageing of the workforce, new employment
trends, and new and increasing flows of migrants
towards and within Europe;

(c) — ensure a modern and effective legislative framework

for health and safety at work,

— guarantee a proper implementation of Community

legislation,

— simplify Community legislation without reducing

the level of protection already in place and

— adapt Community legislation to changes in the

workplace;

(d) enhance awareness among those concerned of the need
for rehabilitation and reintegration of workers excluded
from the workplace for a long period of time because
of an accident at work, an occupational
illness or a
disability;

(e) deploy additional efforts including economic incentives
to trigger changes in attitudes with a view to a more
participatory,
integrated management of health and
safety in undertakings;

(f) invite the European Agency for Safety and Health at
Work to foster the exchange of information and good
practice and to draw up, through its risk observatory,
high-quality information on the specific challenges.
More consideration should be given to the wider socio-
economic trends and influences;

8. calls on the Member States to:

(a) develop and implement coherent national health and
safety at work strategies geared to national conditions,
in cooperation with the social partners, and, where
appropriate, with measurable targets set in this context
for further reducing accidents at work and the incidence
of occupational illnesses, especially in those sectors of
activity in which rates are above average;

(b) give the national social protection and health care
systems, as appropriate, a more active role in improving
prevention and in the rehabilitation and reintegration
of workers;

(c) consider the possibilities offered by the Community
Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity
(Progress), the European Social Fund and other Com-
munity funds for the promotion of the Community
strategy;

(d) encourage national research centres to exchange infor-
mation and collaborate on their programmes
at
national and European level,
focusing on problem-
solving and on the prompt transfer of results to enter-
prises, in particular SMEs;

(e) raise awareness by improving the information, training
simple
of workers,
and
participation
guidance, particularly
and
for
analysing and disseminating examples of good practice,
in particular by means of networking of the parties
involved at the local level;

providing
enterprises,

small

(f) promote a systematic approach to well-being at work
through initiatives for quality of work by integrating, in
lifelong learning and
particular, health and safety,
gender into business management and all
levels of
education;

(g) ensure better and more effective enforcement

in all
Member States and to take appropriate steps to provide
adequate resources for labour inspectorates;

(h) (further implement the International Labour Organisa-
tion Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health,
adopted in 2003, by all appropriate means;

(i) give particular attention to new employment trends,
such as the increase in self-employment, outsourcing,
subcontracting, migrant workers and posted workers;

9. calls on the Commission to:

(a) promote occupational

safety and health by taking
appropriate measures with regard to changes in the
world of work;

(b) ensure better cooperation with and between different
organisations and committees, such as the Advisory
Committee on Safety and Health at Work (ACSH), the
Senior Labour Inspectors' Committee,
the European
Agency for Health and Safety at Work, and the Euro-
pean Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions, and to take account of the infor-
mation provided by those organisations and of
the
views of the committees in developing new policies and
legislation in this area;

(c) continue to monitor and support the implementation

of legislation in all Member States;

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(j) work with the ACSH to examine ways

employers can work together when several
sub-contracting coexist at the same workplace;

in which
levels of

(k) cooperate with the legislative authorities in establishing
an appropriate European statistical system in the area
of occupational safety and health, which takes account
of
the different national systems and which avoids
imposing additional administrative burdens;

10. calls on the social partners to:

(a) draw up initiatives in the context of the sectoral social
dialogue and ensure that workers' representatives are
given more opportunities
in the
to participate
systematic management of occupational risks;

(b) play an active part in disseminating the basic principles
the Community strategy at European, national,

of
regional and individual business level;

(c) cooperate actively with their countries' authorities on
developing and implementing national health and safety
at work strategies;

(d) promote and publicise in the workplace the proper
application of occupational risk-prevention principles;

(e) continue negotiations on preventing violence and
harassment at the workplace and to take account of the
assessment of
the European
the implementation of
framework agreement on work-related stress;

(f) enhance, both at national and Community level, tech-
nical assistance and training to worker representatives
with health and safety responsibilities and to employers,
particularly SMEs.

(d) draw up, in conjunction with the ACSH and the social
partners, guides on how to apply directives, especially
for SMEs;

(e) improve coordination with other Community policies,
in particular on the manufacture and marketing of
work equipment and chemicals and on public health,
education and anti-discrimination policy;

(f) encourage the exchange of views and experiences

within the ACSH regarding national strategies;

(g) with the support of the ACSH, improve the implemen-
tation of Article 7 of 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) with regard to the quality, coverage
and accessibility of prevention services;

(h) establish a common methodology for evaluating the
directives on health and safety at work in close coop-
eration with the ACSH and to intensify efforts to
further improve and simplify the administrative and
regulatory framework, taking into account the target
expressed by the Brussels European Council on 8 and
9 March 2007 and the Commission's activities on redu-
cing administrative burdens, without lowering the level
of protection already in place and giving appropriate
attention to the needs of micro-firms in relation to the
implementation of this legislation;

(i) ensure that any new legislation brought forward under
the Community strategy respects
the principles of
Better Regulation reasserted by the Brussels European
Council in 8 and 9 March 2007 and is thus accompa-
nied by an effective impact assessment, where appro-
priate;

(1) OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1. Directive as amended by Regulation (EC)
No 1882/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L
284, 31.10.2003, p. 1).