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...) (presented by the Commission under Article 149-3 of the Treaty)

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DE LA COMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (89) 213
Vol. 1989/0074
 ---pagebreak--- Disclaimer
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 ---pagebreak---       COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                                          COM (89)213 final -SYN128
                                                          Brussels , 25 April 1989
                                      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 . . . )
'-t
 i
 ■i
                           ( presented by the Commission under
                               Article 149-3 of the Treaty )
    i
    !
 ---pagebreak---  COMMISSION PROPOSAL                    AMENOED 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 l£
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSION PROPOSAI..                  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 States' 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 ) 7 8                            ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY HIE
 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 ssb                                                             Page 3
 ---pagebreak--- COMMISSIONI PROPOSAL                        AMENDEI) COMMISSIONI PROPOSAL BASCO
COM ( 88 ) 78                             ' ON THE OPINION! DFLIVERI U 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 PROPOBAL                    AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSAL BASED
 OGM ( 88 ) 78                          ON TME 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.                     AMENDE !) COMMISSION PROPOSAI BASER
COM ( 08 ) 78                            ON THE OPINION DELIVERED BY I HE
OJ C 117 of 4.5.1988                     EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 16 NOVEMBER 1908
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          deleted
    body ( see last indent above )
- only achieved by a twisting                unchanged
    movement of the trunk
-   likely to result in a sudden             unchanged
    movement by the object being
    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 PROPOSE.                      AMENDED COMMISSION PROPOSTI.. 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