CELEX: 51989PC0213
Language: en
Date: 1989-04-25
Title: AMENDED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE MINIMUM HEALTH AND SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR HANDLING HEAVY LOADS WHERE THERE IS A RISK OF BACK INJURY FOR WORKERS ( FIFTH INDIVIDUAL DIRECTIVE FALLING WITHIN THE TERMS OF ARTICLE 16 OF DIRECTIVE ... )

%  COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                   COM (89)213    f i n a l -SYN128
                                                    Brussels,25 April 1989
                               Amended Proposal
                           for a Council Directive
4.
                on the minimum health and safety requirements
                   for handling heavy loads where there is
                      a risk of back injury for workers
     (fifth individual Directive falling within the terms of Article 16
                              of Directive ...)
                     (presented by the Commission under
                        Article 149-3 of the Treaty)
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION PROPOSAL
                                                                     £&*JM
                                       AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSAL BASED
COM(88) 78                             ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY THE
OJ C 117 of 4.5.1988                   EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1988
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                Unchanged
COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European Economic
Community and in particular Article
118A thereof,
Having regard to the Commission
proposal drawn up after consultation
with the Advisory Committee for
Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection
at Work,
In cooperation with the European
Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the
Economic and Social Committee,
Whereas Article 118A of the Treaty         Whereas Article 118A of the Treaty
provides that the Council shall adopt,     provides that the Council shall adopt,
by means of directives, minimum            by means of directives, minimum
requirements for encouraging               requirements for encouraging
improvements as regards the health and     improvements, especially in the
safety of workers, especially in the       working environment, which will ensure
working environment;                       better protection of the safety and
                                           health of workers;
Whereas Article 118A also recommends       Deleted
that directives shall avoid imposing
administrative, financial and legal
constraints which would hold back the
creation and development of SMUs;
Whereas the Communication from the         Unchanged
Commission on its programme concerning
safety, hygiene and health at work
provides for the adoption of
directives designed to guarantee the
safety and health of workers;
Whereas the Council Resolution of 21       Unchanged
December 1987 on safety, hygiene and
health at work took note of the
Commission's intention to submit to
the Council in the near future a
directive on protection against the
risks resulting from the handling of
heavy loads;
Whereas Member States have a               Deleted
responsibility to ensure the safety
and health of persons on their
territory, and of workers in
particular;
3733/88 EN esb                                                           Page 1&
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION PROPOSAL.                    AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSAL. BASED
 COM(88) 78                             ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY THE
OJ C 117 of 4.5 1988                    EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1988
Whereas Member States1 legislative          Deleted
 systems differ widely with regard to
the prevention of industrial accidents
and occupational diseases caused by
the manual handling of heavy loads;
Whereas, in order to achieve the            Deleted
maximum degree of protection which is
reasonably practicable, it is
essential that workers and their
representatives be informed of the
risks to their safety and health and
of the measures required to reduce or .
eliminate these risks;
Whereas cooperation between employers       Deleted
and workers and workers'
representatives must be strengthened;
Whereas employers must keep abreast of      Deleted
technological progress in order to
provide optimum safety and health
protection for their workers;
                                            Whereas compliance with the minimum
                                            requirements for ensuring a better
                                            level of safety and health at
                                            workplaces is essential to ensure the
                                            safety and health of workers and
                                            whereas these requirements are also
                                            essential to promote fair competition;
                                            Whereas this Directive is an
                                            individual directive within the
                                            meaning of Article 16 of the Directive
                                            on the introduction of measures to
                                            encourage improvements in the safety
                                            and health of workers at work and that
                                            therefore the provisions of the latter
                                            are fully applicable to the fields of
                                            the manual handling of heavy loads,
                                            without prejudice to more stringent
                                            and/or specific provisions set out in
                                            the present Directive;
Whereas a committee must be set up to       Deleted
assist the Commission in implementing
the additional measures provided for
in the Directive;
                                            Whereas, pursuant to Decision No
                                            74/325/EEC(l), the Advisory Committee
                                            for Safety, Hygiene and Health
                                            Protection at Work shall be consulted
                                            by the Commission on the drawing up of
                                            proposals in this field,
3733/88 EN esb                                                            Page 2
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION PROPOSAL                    AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSAL BASED
COM(88) 78                             ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY THE
OJ C 117 of 4.5.1988                   EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1988
HAD ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE
                Article 1
This Directive, which is an individual     1. This Directive, which is an
Directive within the meaning of            individual directive within the
Article 13 of Directive ...                meaning of Article 16 of the Directive
                                           on the introduction of measures to
                                           encourage improvements in the safety
                                           and health of workers at work, lays
                                           down minimum safety and health
                                           requirements for the manual handling
                                           of heavy loads by workers.
                                           2. The provisions of the Directive
                                           referred to in paragraph 1 are fully
                                           applicable to the field of the manual
                                           handling of heavy loads, without
                                           prejudice to more stringent and/or
                                           specific provisions set out in the
                                           present Directive.
                                                         Article 1 bis
                                           The Member States shall provide
                                           adequate checks and supervision to
                                           ensure the implementation of this
                                           Directive.
                Article 2                                  Article 2
The Member States shall take the           Employers shall take steps to reduce
necessary measures to ensure that, in      the risks arising from the handling of
order to protect the health and safety     heavy loads and shall take the
of workers, employers, as far as           necessary measures to protect the
possible, prevent them from having to      safety and health of workers by, where
handle heavy loads without mechanical      technically feasible, preventing them
assistance.                                from having to handle such loads
                                           without mechanical assistance.
                Article 3                  Unchanged
1. Where the manual handling of a
heavy load cannot be avoided, in order
to assess the safety of the type of
work involved, the employer must
examine in advance:
   - the physical effort required, and
   - the characteristics of the load.
For the assessment of these two
factors reference shall be made to
Annex I.
3733/88 EN esb                                                          Page 3
 ---pagebreak---  COMMISSION PROPOSAL                    AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSAL BASED
 COM(88) 78                             ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY THE
 OJ C 117 of 4.5.1988                   EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1988
 2. In order to take the necessary          2. In order to take the necessary
 measures to reduce the risk of back        measures to reduce the risk of back
 injury, employers must take into           injury, employers must take into
 account the physical and                   account the physical and
 organizational factors listed in Annex     organizational factors listed in Annex
 II when heavy loads are to be handled      II, when work involves the manual
 manually.                                  handling of heavy loads.
                 Article 4                  Unchanged
 Employers must take account of the
 individual characteristics of the
workers when organizing manual
 handling work on the basis of Annex
III.
                 Article 5
 1. Workers must be given proper            1. Workers must be given proper
 training and information on the risks      training and information on the risks
they incur when carrying out                they incur when carrying out
activities which may cause back injury      activities which may cause back injury
 if they are not done correctly. There      if they are not done correctly. There
must be qualified staff to carry out        must be qualified staff to carry out
frequent supervision                        frequent supervision.
2. As far as possible workers shall         Workers shall also be informed of:
also be informed of:
-   the weight of a heavy load              -  the weight of a heavy load;
-   the centre of gravity or the            -  the centre of gravity or the
    heaviest side when a package is            heaviest side when a package is
    eccentrically loaded.                      eccentrically loaded.
                 Article 6                  Unchanged
The employer must consult the workers
or their representatives about the
measures taken pursuant to this
Directive.
                 Article 7
1. The Commission shall adapt the           For the purposes of making changes to
annexes of this Directive to take           Annexes I, II and III as a result of:
account of technical progress and the
development of international
regulations or specifications on the
manual handling of heavy loads.
3733/88 EN esb                                                           Page 4
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION PROPOSAL.                   AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSAI. BASED
COM(08) 78                             ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY THE
OJ C 117 of 4.5 1988                   EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1988
                                           -  technical progress, changes in
2. The Member States shall forward to         international regulations or
the Commission the texts of any               specifications and know-how in the
national legislation which they adopt         field of the manual handling of
in the field governed by this                 heavy loads,
Directive.
                                           the Commission shall be assisted by
                                           the Committee and shall follow the
                                           procedure set out in Article 17 of the
                                           Directive referred to in Article 1,
                                           paragraph 1, of the present Directive.
                Article 8
1. The Member States shall adopt the       1. The Member States shall adopt the
laws, regulations and administrative       laws, regulations and administrative
provisions necessary to comply with        provisions necessary to comply with
this Directive by 1.1.1991 at the          this Directive by the date fixed for
latest. They shall immediately inform      the entry into force of the Directive
the Commission thereof.                    referred to in Article 1, paragraph 1,
                                           of the present Directive. They shall
                                           immediately inform the Commission
                                           thereof.
2. The Member States shall forward to      2. The Member States shall forward to
the Commission the texts of any            the Commission the texts of any
national legislation which they adopt      national legislation which have
in the field governed by this              already been adopted or which they are
Directive.                                 adopting in the field governed by this
                                           Directive.
3. The Member States shall report back     3. The Member States shall report back
to the Commission every two years on       to the Commission every five years on
the practical implementation of the        the practical implementation of the
provisions of this Directive on the        provisions of this Directive,
handling of heavy loads, indicating        indicating the opinions of the two
the views of the employers and             sides of industry. The Commission
workers. The Commission shall inform       shall inform the Council, the European
the Committee and the tripartite           Parliament, the Economic and Social
committee.                                 Committee, the Advisory Committee for
                                           Safety, Hygiene and Health at Work and
                                           the Committee described in Article 17
                                           of the Directive referred to in
                                           Article 1, paragraph 1, of the present
                                           Directive.
                                           4. At regular intervals, the
                                           Commission shall forward a report on
                                           the implementation of the Directive to
                                           the Council, the European Parliament
                                           and the Economic and Social Committee,
                                           taking into account the provisions of
                                           paragraphs 2 and 3.
                Article 9                  Unchanged
This Directive is addressed to the
Member States.
3733/88 EN esb                                                            Page 5
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION PROPOSAL                   AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSAL BASED
COM(88) 78                            ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY THE
OJ C 117 of 4.5.1988                  EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1988
Done at Brussels,
For the Council
The President
                 ANNEX I                  Beginning unchanged
Characteristics of the load and the
physical effort involved
1. A load may present a risk of back      1. A load may present a serious risk
injury if it is:                          of back injury if it is:
-  too heavy, too large or both           -  excessively heavy
-  unwieldy and/or difficult to grasp        unchanged
-  unbalanced, unstable or has            -  unstable or has contents likely to
   contents likely to shift                  shift
-  located in a position requiring to        unchanged
   be held or manipulated at a
   distance from the trunk, or with
   the trunk in a stooped or twisted
   posture, or with the trunk leaning
   sideways.
2. A physical effort may present a        2. A physical effort may present a
risk of back injury if it is:             risk of back injury if it is:
-  too strenuous                          -  too strenuous
-  badly placed in relation to the
   body (see last indent above)           deleted
-  only achieved by a twisting
   movement of the trunk                  unchanged
-  likely to result in a sudden
   movement by the object being           unchanged
   manipulated
-  made with the body in an unstable      unchanged
   posture.
                ANNEX II                  beginning unchanged
Reference factors referred to in
Article 3
3733/88 EN esb                                                         Page 6
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION PROPOSAL.                   AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSAL BASED
COM(88) 78                             ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY THE
OJ C 117 of 4.5.1988                   EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1988
1. The work environment may present a      1. The work environment may present a
risk of back injury if:                    risk of back injury if:
-  the activity cannot be carried out      -  rest of point 1 unchanged
   with adequate headroom
-  the floor is uneven, presents
   tripping hazards, or is slippery in
   relation to the worker's footwear
-   it prevents access to, carriage of
   or placement of a load at a safe
   height with good posture by the
   worker
-  an exceptional effort is required
   for maintenance work on machinery.
2. The task may also present a risk of     2. The task may present a risk of back
back injury if it requires:                injury if it requires:
-  too frequent or prolonged physical      -  too frequent or prolonged physical
   effort by a part or all of the body        effort by the spine
-  an insufficient rest and recovery       rest of point 2 unchanged
   period
-  excessive lifting, lowering or
   carrying distances.
                ANNEX III                  Unchanged
3733/88 EN esb                                                           Page 7
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak--- Commission of the European Communities                                   <,l '
COM(89) 213 final                                                      f •?/"
Amended proposal for a                                                   f V
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
on the minimum health and safety requirements for handling heavy loads    vj|
where there is a risk of back injury for workers
(fifth individual Directive falling within the terms of Article 16 of      •''-.
Directive...)                                                                  :
(presented by the Commission under Article 149(3) of the EEC Treaty)           *'
25.4.1989
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
L - 2985 Luxembourg                                                    kfr : /
Series: DOCUMENTS                                                      £•*?
 1989 - 8 pp. - Format: 21.0 * 29.7 cm                                 |;:*
EN                                                                        îj
ISSN 0254-1475
ISBN 92-77-49346-1                                                     ,<$
Catalogue number: CB-CO-89-174-EN-C                                     .*>* *5*
                                                                            7
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                                                                       **,
 ---pagebreak---                                                 ISSN 0254-1475
COM(89) 213 final
 DOCUMENTS
Amended proposal for a
COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
on the minimum health and safety requirements
for handling heavy loads where there is a risk of
back injury for workers
(fifth individual Directive falling within the terms
of Article 16 of Directive ...)
(presented by the Commission under
Article 149(3) of the EEC Treaty)
05                                            25.4.1989
Catalogue number: CB-CO-89-174-EN-C
ISBN 92-77-49346-1
€
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES