CELEX: 51989PC0281
Language: en
Date: 1989-06-07
Title: RE-EXAMINED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE WITH A VIEW TO THE INTRODUCTION OF MEASURES TO ENCOURAGE IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SAFETY AND HEALTH OF WORKERS AT WORK

7. 7. 89                            Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 172/3
                                                            II
                                                   (Preparatory Acts)
                                              COMMISSION
             Re-examined proposal for a Council Directive with a view to the introduction of measures to
                        encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work (')
                                            COM(89) 281 final — SYN 123
             (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149 (2) (d) of the EEC Treaty on 12 June 1989)
                                                     (89/C 172/03)
             O OJ No C 30, 6. 2. 1989, p. 19.
                                                                                REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
                                                                          FOLLOWING THE AMENDMENTS ADOPTED BY
FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE                            THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AT THE
                         COUNCIL                                                SECOND READING ON 24 MAY 1989
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                        THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European           Unchanged
Economic Community, and in particular Article 118a
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,              Unchanged
drawn up after consultation with the Advisory
Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at
Work,
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                    Unchanged
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                Unchanged
Social Committee,
Whereas Article 118a of the Treaty provides that the            Unchanged
Council shall adopt, by means of directives, minimum
requirements for encouraging improvements, especially
in the working environment, to guarantee a better level
of protection of the safety and health of workers;
Whereas this Directive does not justify any reduction in        Unchanged
levels of protection already achieved in individual
Member States, the Member States being committed,
under the Treaty, to encouraging improvements in
conditions in this area and to harmonizing conditions
while maintaining the improvements made;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 172/4                             Official Journal of the European Communities                      7. 7. 89
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                             REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
Whereas it is known that workers can be exposed to the           Unchanged
effects of dangerous environmental factors at the
workplace during the course of their working life;
Whereas, pursuant to Article 118a of the Treaty, such            Unchanged
directives must avoid imposing administrative, financial
and legal constraints which would hold back the
creations and development of small and medium-sized
undertakings;
Whereas the communication from the Commission on its             Unchanged
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, in its resolution of 21 December            Unchanged
 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 the organization of the
safety and health of workers at the workplace;
Whereas in February 1988, the European Parliament                Unchanged
adopted four resolutions following the debate on the
internal market and worker protection; whereas these
resolutions specifically invited the Commission to draw
up a framework directive to serve as a basis for more
specific directives covering all the risks connected with
safety and health at the workplace;
Whereas Member States have a responsibility to                   Unchanged
encourage improvements in the safety and health of
workers on their territory; whereas taking measures to
protect the health and safety of workers at work also
helps, in certain cases, to preserve the health and possibly
the safety of persons residing with them;
Whereas Member States' legislative systems covering              Unchanged
safety and health at the workplace differ widely and
need to be improved; whereas national provisions on the
subject, which often include technical specifications
and/or self-regulatory standards, may result in different
levels of safety and health protection and allow compe-
tition at the expense of safety and health;
Whereas the incidence of accidents at work and occupa-           Unchanged
tional diseases is still too high; whereas preventive
measures must be introduced or improved without delay
in order to safeguard the safety and health of workers
and ensure a higher degree of protection;
 ---pagebreak--- 7. 7. 89                               Official Journal of the European Communities                      No C 172/5
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                             REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
Whereas, in order to ensure an improved degree of                Unchanged
protection, workers and/or their representatives must be
informed of the risks to their safety and health and of
the measures required to reduce or eliminate these risks;
whereas they must also be in a position to contribute, by
means of balanced participation in accordance with
national laws and/or practices, to seeing that the
necessary protective measures are taken;
Whereas information, dialogue and balanced partici-
pation on safety and health at work must be developed
between employers and workers and/or their represen-
tatives by means of appropriate procedures and
instruments, in accordance with national laws and/or
practices;
Whereas the improvement of workers' safety, hygiene              Unchanged
and health at work is an objective which should not be
subordinated to purely economic considerations;
Whereas employers shall be obliged to keep themselves            Unchanged
informed of the latest advances in technology and
scientific findings concerning workplace design, account
being taken of the inherent dangers in their undertaking,
and to inform accordingly the workers' representatives
exercising participation rights under this Directive, so as
to be able to guarantee a better level of protection of
workers' health and safety;
Whereas the provisions of this Directive apply, without           Unchanged
prejudice to more stringent present or future Community
provisions, to all risks, and in particular to those arising
from the use at work of chemical, physical and biological
agents covered by Directive 80/1107/EEC, as last
amended by Directive 88/642/EEC;
Whereas, pursuant to Decision 74/325/EEC, the                     Unchanged
Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health
Protection at Work is consulted by the Commission on
the drafting of proposals in this field;
Whereas a committee composed of members nominated                 Unchanged
by the Member States needs to be set up to assist the
Commission in making the technical adaptations to the
individual directives provided for in this Directive,
 ---pagebreak---  No C 172/6                             Official Journal of the European Communities                      7. 7. 89
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                              REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
 HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                      HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
                          SECTION I                                                   SECTION I
                      General provisions                                            General provisions
                           Article 1                                                    Article 1
                            Object                                                       Object
 1.    The object of this Directive is to introduce
measures to encourage improvements in the safety and
                                                                  Unchanged
health of workers at work.
2.     To that end it contains general principles
concerning the prevention of occupational risks, the
                                                                  Unchanged
protection of safety and health, the elimination of risk
and accident factors, the informing, consultation,
balanced participation in accordance with national laws
and/or practices and training of workers and their repre-
sentatives, as well as general guidelines for the
implementation of the said principles.
3.     This Directive shall be without prejudice to existing      Unchanged
or future national and Community provisions which are
more favourable to protection of the safety and health of
workers at work.
                           Article 2                                                   Article 2
                            Scope                                                        Scope
1.     This Directive shall apply to all sectors of activity,     Unchanged
both public and private (industrial, agricultural,
commercial, administrative, service, educational, cultural,
leisure, etc.).
2.     This Directive shall not be applicable where charac-       Unchanged
teristics peculiar to certain specific public service acti-
vities, such as the armed forces or the police, or to
certain specific activities in the civil protection services
inevitably conflict with it.
In that event, the safety and health of workers must be
ensured as far as possible in the light of the objectives of
this Directives.
                           Article 3                                                   Article 3
                         Definitions                                                  Definitions
For the purposes of this Directive, the following terms           Unchanged
shall have the following meanings:
(a) worker: any person employed by an employer,                   Unchanged
     including trainees and apprentices but excluding
     domestic servants;
(b) employer: any natural or legal person who has an              Unchanged
     employment relationship with the worker and has
     responsibility for the undertaking and/or estab-
     lishment;
 ---pagebreak--- 7. 7. 89                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 172/7
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
(c) workers' representative with specific responsibility for    Unchanged
     the safety and health of workers: any person elected,
     chosen or designated in accordance with national
     laws and/or practices to represent workers where
     problems arise relating to the safety and health
     protection of workers at work.
                                                                 (d) prevention: all the provisions or measures taken or
                                                                     provided for at each stage of the activities performed
                                                                     within the undertaking with a view to avoiding or
                                                                     reducing the occupational risks.
                                                                 (e) occupational risk: any work-related situation liable to
                                                                     damage the physical or psychological safety and/or
                                                                     health of the worker, excluding accidents on the way
                                                                     to and from work.
                          Article 4                                                       Article 4
1.     Member States shall take the necessary steps to           Unchanged
ensure that employers, workers and workers' represen-
tatives are subject to the legal provisions necessary for
the implementation of this Directive.
2.     In particular, Member States shall ensure adequate        Unchanged
controls and supervision.
                        SECTION II                                                       SECTION II
                EMPLOYERS' OBLIGATIONS                                          EMPLOYERS' OBLIGATIONS
                          Article 5                                                       Article 5
                      General provision                                               General provision
 1.    The employer shall have a duty to ensure the safety       Unchanged
and health of workers in every aspect related to the
work.
2.     Where, pursuant to Article 7 (3), an employer             Unchanged
enlists competent external services or persons, this shall
not discharge him from his responsibilities in this area.
3.     The workers' obligations in the field of safety and       Unchanged
health at work shall not affect the principle of the
responsibility of the employer.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 172/8                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                7. 7. 89
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
4.     This Directive shall not restrict the possibility of     Unchanged
Member States to provide for the exclusion or the limi-
tation of employers' responsibility where facts are due to
circumstances unknown to them, exceptional and
unforeseeable, or to exceptional events, the consequences
of which could not have been avoided despite the
exercise of all due care.
Member States need not exercise the right referred to in
the first subparagraph.
                          Article 6                                                       Article 6
              General obligations on employers                                General obligations on employers
1.     Within the context of his responsibilities, the          Unchanged
employer shall take the measures necessary for the safety
and health protection of workers, including prevention
of occupational risks and provision of information and
training, as well as provision of the necessary organ-
ization and means.
The employer shall be alert to the need to adjust these
measures to take account of changing circumstances and
the aim to improve existing situations.
2.     The employer shall implement the measures                First part unchanged
referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 on
the basis of the following general principles of
prevention:
(a) avoiding risks;
(b) evaluating the risks which cannot be avoided;
(c) combating the risks at source;
(d) adapting the work to the individual, especially as          (d) adapting the work to the individual, especially as
     regards the design of workplaces, the choice of work            regards the design of workplaces, the choice of work
     equipment and the choice of working and                         equipment and the choice of working and
     production methods, with a view, in particular, to              production methods, with a view, in particular, to
     alleviating monotonous work and work at a                       alleviating monotonous work and work at a
     predetermined work-rate;                                       predetermined work-rate, thus reducing the effects
                                                                     on health;
(e) adapting to technical progress;                             Unchanged
(f) replacing the dangerous by the non-dangerous or the         Unchanged
     less dangerous;
(g) developing a coherent overall prevention policy             Unchanged
     which covers technology, organization of work,
     working conditions, social relationships and the
     influence of factors related to the working envi-
     ronment;
 ---pagebreak--- 7. 7. 89                              Official Journal of the European Communities                          No C 172/9
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                               REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
(h) giving collective protective measures priority over         Unchanged
    individual protective measures;
(i) giving appropriate instructions to the workers.              Unchanged
3.    Without prejudice to the other provisions of this          Unchanged
Directive, the employer shall, taking into account the
nature of the activities of the enterprise and/or estab-
lishment:
(a) evaluate the risks to the safety and health of               Unchanged
    workers, inter alia in the choice of work equipment,
    the chemical substances or preparations used, and
    the fitting out of workplaces.
    Subsequent to this evaluation and as necessary, the
    preventive measures and the working and production
    methods implemented by the employer must:
    — assure an improvement in the level of protection
         afforded to workers with regard to safety and
         health,
    — be integrated into all the activities of the under-
         taking and/or establishment and at all hierar-
         chical levels;
(b) where he entrusts tasks to a worker, take into               (b) where he entrusts tasks to a worker, take into
     consideration the worker's capabilities as regards              account the capabilities and, where appropriate, the
     health and safety;                                              handicaps of the worker concerned as regards health
                                                                     and safety;
(c) ensure that the planning and introduction of new             Unchanged
     technologies are the subject of consultation with the
     workers and/or their representatives, as regards the
     consequences of the choice of equipment, the
     working conditions and the working environment for
     the safety and health of workers;
(d) take appropriate steps to ensure that only workers           Unchanged
     who have received adequate instructions may have
     access to areas where there is serious and specific
     danger.
4.     Without prejudice to the other provisions of this         Unchanged
Directive, where several undertakings share a workplace,
the employers shall cooperate in implementing the safety,
health and occupational hygiene provisions and, taking
into account the nature of the activities, shall coordinate
their actions in matters of the protection and prevention
of occupational risks, and shall inform one another and
their respective workers and/or workers' representatives
of these risks.
 ---pagebreak---  No C 172/10                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 7. 7. 89
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                  REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
 5.    Measures related to safety, hygiene and health at          Unchanged
work may in no circumstances involve the workers in
 financial cost.
                           Article 7                                                        Article 7
              Protective and preventive services                               Protective and preventive services
 1.   Without prejudice to the obligations referred to in         1.    Without prejudice to the obligations referred to in
Articles 5 and 6, the employer shall designate one or            Articles 5 and 6, the employer shall designate with the
more workers to carry out activities related to the              balanced participation of the workers and/or their repre-
protection and prevention of occupational risks for the          sentatives, in accordance with national legislation and/or
undertaking and/or establishment.                                practices, one or more workers to carry out activities
                                                                 related to the protection and prevention of occupational
                                                                 risks for the undertaking and/or establishment.
2.    Designated workers may not be placed at any                2.     Designated workers may not be placed at any
disadvantage because of their activities related to the          disadvantage whatsoever, also as regards their career in
protection and prevention of occupational risks.                 the enterprise, because of their activities related to
                                                                 protection and/or the prevention of occupational risks.
Designated workers shall be allowed adequate time and            Designated workers shall be allowed adequate time and
the necessary means to enable them to fulfil their obli-         the necessary means to enable them to fulfil their obli-
gations arising from this Directive.                             gations arising from this Directive.
3.    If such protective and preventive measures cannot          3.     If such protective and preventive measures cannot
be organized for lack of competent personnel in the              be organized for lack of competent personnel in the
undertaking and/or establishment, the employer shall             undertaking and/or establishment, the employer shall
enlist competent external services or persons.                   enlist competent external services or persons after
                                                                 consulting the workers, as referred to in paragraph 1.
4.    Where the employer enlists such services or                Unchanged
persons, he shall inform them of the factors known to
affect, or suspected of affecting, the safety and health of
the workers and they must have access to the infor-
mation referred to in Article 10 (2).
5.    In all cases, the workers designated from within the       5.    In all cases the workers designated from within the
undertaking and/or the external services or persons              undertaking must have the necessary capabilities and the
consulted must have the necessary capabilities and the           external services or persons consulted must have the
necessary means and be sufficient in number to deal with         necessary skills, staff and occupational resources and be
the organization of protective and preventive measures,          sufficient in number to deal with the organization of
taking into account the size of the undertaking and/or           protective and preventive measures, taking into account
establishment and/or the hazards to which the workers            the size of the undertaking and/or establishment, the
are exposed and their distribution throughout the entire         hazards to which the workers are exposed and their
undertaking and/or establishment.                                distribution throughout the entire undertaking and/or
                                                                 establishment.
6.    The protection from, and prevention of, the health         Unchanged
and safety risks which form the subject of this Article
shall be the responsibility of one or more workers, of
one service of of separate services whether from inside or
outside the undertaking and/or establishment.
 ---pagebreak--- 7. 7. 89                               Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 172/11
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                   REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
The worker(s) and/or agency(ies) must work together
whenever necessary.
7.     Member States may define, in the light of the             Unchanged
nature of the activities and size of the undertakings, the
categories of undertakings in which the employer,
provided he is competent, may himself take responsibility
for the measures referred to in paragraph 1.
8.     Member States shall define the necessary capa-             Unchanged
bilities referred to in paragraph 5.
They may determine the sufficient number referred to in
paragraph 5.
                           Article 8                                                         Article 8
First-aid, fire-fighting and evacuation of workers, serious       First-aid, fire fighting and evacuation of workers, serious
                     and imminent danger                                              and imminent danger
1.     The employer shall:                                       Unchanged
— take the necessary measures for first-aid, fire-fighting
     and evacuation of workers, adapted to the nature of
     the activities and the size of the undertaking and/or
     establishment and taking into account other persons
     present,
— arrange any necessary contacts with external services,
     particularly as regards first-aid, emergency medical
     care, rescue work and fire-fighting.
2.     Pursuant to paragraph 1, the employer shall, inter        Unchanged
alia for first-aid, fire-fighting and the evacuation of
workers, designate the workers required to implement
such measures.
The number of such workers, their training and the
equipment available to them shall be adequate, taking
account of the size and/or specific hazards of the under-
taking and/or establishment.
3.     The employer shall:                                       Unchanged
(a) as soon    as possible, inform all workers who are, or
     may be,   exposed to serious and imminent danger of
     the risk   involved and of the steps taken or to be
     taken as  regards protection;
(b) take action and gi^e instructions to enable workers
     in the event of serious, imminent and unavoidable
     danger to stop work and/or immediately to leave the
     workplace and proceed to a place of safety;
 ---pagebreak---  No C 172/12                           Official Journal of the European Communities                             7. 7. 89
           COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                 REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
 (c) save in exceptional cases for reasons duly substan-
      tiated, refrain from asking workers to resume work
      in a working situation where there is still a serious
      and imminent danger.
 4.     Workers who, in the event of serious, imminent            Unchanged
 and unavoidable danger, leave their workstation and/or
 a dangerous area may not be placed at any disadvantage
 because of their action and must be protected against
 any harmful and unjustified consequences, in accordance
with national laws and/or practices.
 5.     The employer shall ensure that all workers are able,     Unchanged
in the event of serious and imminent danger to their own
safety and/or that of other persons, and where the
immediate superior responsible cannot be contacted, to
take the appropriate steps, in the light of their
knowledge and the technical means at their disposal, to
avoid the consequences of such danger.
Their actions shall not place them at any disadvantage,
unless they acted carelessly or there was negligence on
their part.
                          Article 9                                                        Article 9
              Various obligations on employers                                 Various obligations on employers
1.     The employer shall:                                       1.    The employer shall:
(a) be in possession of an assessment of the risks to            (a) be in possession of an assessment of the risks to
     safety and health at work;                                      safety and health at work and of the situation of
                                                                     groups of workers who are exposed to particular
                                                                     risks;
(b) decide on the protective measures to be taken and, if        Unchanged
     necessary, the protective equipment to be used;
(c) keep a list of occupational accidents resulting in a         (c) draw up a list of accidents which resulted in a
     worker being unfit for work for more than three                 worker being unfit for work for more than three
     working days;                                                   working days, and a list of occupational illnesses
                                                                     contracted;
(d) draw up, for the responsible authorities and in              (d) draw up, for the responsible authorities and in
     accordance with national laws and/or practices                  accordance with national laws and/or practices,
     reports on occupational accidents suffered by his               reports on occupational accidents and occupational
     workers.                                                        illnesses suffered by his workers.
2.     Member States shall define, in the light of the           Unchanged
nature of the activities and size of the undertakings, the
obligations to be met by the different categories of
undertakings in respect of the drawing-up of the
documents provided for in paragraph 1 (a) and (b) and
when preparing the documents provided for in paragraph
1 (c) and (d).
 ---pagebreak--- 7. 7. 89                              Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 172/13
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                 REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
                           Article 10                                                     Article 10
                   Information of workers                                          Information of workers
 1.    The employer shall take appropriate measures so           1.    The employer shall take appropriate measures so
that workers and/or their representatives in the under-         that workers and/or their representatives in the under-
taking and/or establishment receive, in accordance with         taking and/or establishment receive, in accordance with
national laws and/or practices which may take account           national laws and/or practices which may take account
 inter alia of the size of the undertaking and/or estab-         inter alia of the size of the undertaking and/or estab-
lishment, adequate information concerning:                      lishment all necessary information concerning:
(a) the safety and health risks and protective and              Unchanged
     preventive measures and activities in respect of both
     the undertaking and/or establishment in general and
     each type of workstation and/or job;
(b) the measures taken pursuant to Article 8 (2).               Unchanged
                                                                (c) such information shall also be provided in a suitable
                                                                     form to temporary workers and hired workers
                                                                     present in the establishment or entreprise.
2.     The employer shall take appropriate measures so          Unchanged
that employers of workers from any outside under-
takings and/or establishments engaged in work in his
undertaking and/or establishment receive, in accordance
with national laws and/or practices, adequate infor-
mation concerning the points referred to in paragraph 1
(a) and (b) which is to be provided to the workers in
question.
3.     The employer shall take appropriate measures so          3.     The employer shall take appropriate measures so
that workers with specific functions in protecting the          that workers with specific functions in protecting the
safety and health of workers, or workers' representatives       safety and health of workers, or workers' representatives
with specific responsibility for the safety and health of       with specific responsibility for the safety and health of
workers shall have access, in accordance with national          workers shall have access, in order to perform their
laws and/or practices, to:                                      duties and in accordance with national laws and/or
                                                                practices, to:
(a) the risk assessment and protective measures referred         Unchanged
     to in Article 9 (1) (a) and (b);
(b) the list and reports referred to in Article 9 (1) (c)        Unchanged
     and (d);
(c) the information yielded by protective and preventive         Unchanged
     measures, inspection agencies and bodies responsible
     for safety and health.
                           Article 11                                                     Article 11
         Consultation and participation of workers                       Consultation and participation of workers
1.     Employers shall consult workers and/or their             Unchanged
representatives and allow them to take part in discussions
on all questions relating to safety and health at work.
 ---pagebreak---  No C 172/14                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                    7. 7. 89
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
 This presupposes:
 — the consultation of workers,
— the right of workers and/or their representatives to
     make proposals,
— balanced participation in accordance with national
     laws and/or practices.
 2.    Workers with a specific function in protecting the        2.    Workers with specific functions in protecting the
safety and health of workers or workers' representatives         safety and health of workers or workers' representatives
with specific responsibility for the safety and health of        with specific responsibility for the safety and health of
workers shall, provided the number of such represen-             workers shall participate in a balanced way, in
tatives is sufficient in accordance with national laws           accordance with national laws and/or practices, or be
and/or practices, be consulted in advance by the                 consulted in advance and in due time by the employer
employer with regard to:                                         with regard to:
(a) any measure which may substantially affect safety            Unchanged
     and health;
(b) the designation of workers referred to in Article 7          (b) the designation of workers referred to in Article 8
     (1) and Article 8 (2) and the activities referred to in         (2) and the activities referred to in Article 7 (1);
     Article 7 (1);
(c) the information referred to in Article 9 (1) and             Unchanged
     Article 10;
(d) the enlistment, where appropriate, of the competent          Deleted
     services or persons outside the undertaking and/or
     establishment, as referred to in Article 7 (3);
(e) the planning and organization          of   the  training    Unchanged (becomes (d))
     referred to in Article 12.
                                                                 3.    Workers with specific functions for the protection
                                                                 of the safety and health of workers at work, and
                                                                 workers' representatives, may call on the employer to
                                                                 take appropriate measures and submit to him relevant
                                                                 proposals by means of which all risks to workers may be
                                                                 reduced and/or sources of danger eliminated.
3.     The workers and workers' representatives referred         Unchanged (becomes paragraph 4)
to in the introductory part of paragraph 2 may not be
placed at any disadvantage because of their specific
responsibility for the safety and health of workers.
4.     Employers must allow workers' representatives with        Unchanged (becomes paragraph 5)
specific responsibility for the safety and health of
workers adequate time off work, without loss of pay,
and provide them with the necessary means to enable
such representatives to exercise their rights and functions
deriving from this Directive.
 ---pagebreak--- 7. 7. 89                               Official Journal of the European Communities                           No C 172/15
         COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                  REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
5.    Workers and/or their representatives are entitled to       Unchanged (becomes paragraph 6)
appeal, in accordance with national law and/or practice,
to the authority responsible for safety and health
protection at work if they consider that the measures
taken and the means employed by the employer are
inadequate for the purposes of ensuring safety and health
at work.
Workers' representatives must be given the opportunity           Workers' representatives and the workers designated in
to submit their observations during inspection visits by          accordance with Article 7 (1) must be invited to — and
the competent authority.                                         be able to submit their observations at — inspection visits
                                                                 by the competent authorities.
                         Article 12                                                        Article 12
                   Training of workers                                               Training of workers
1.    The employer shall ensure that each worker                 Unchanged
receives adequate safety and health training, in particular
in the form of information and instructions specific to his
workstation or job:
— on recruitment,
— in the event of a transfer or a change of job,
— in the event of the introduction of new working
    equipment or a change in equipment,
— in the event of the introduction of any new tech-
    nology.
The training shall be:
— adopted to take account of new or changed risks,
    and
— repeated periodically if necessary.
2.    The employer shall ensure that workers from                 Unchanged
outside undertakings and/or establishments engaged in
work in his undertaking and/or establishment have in
fact received appropriate instructions regarding health
and safety risks during their activities in his undertaking
and/or establishment.
3.    Workers' representatives with a specific role in            Unchanged
protecting the safety and health of workers shall be
entitled to appropriate training.
4.    The training referred to in paragraphs 1 and 3 may          First part unchanged
not be at the workers' expense or at that of the workers'
representatives.
The training referred to in paragraph 1 must take place
during working hours.
The training referred to in paragraph 3 must take place           The training referred to in paragraph 3 must take place
during working hours or in accordance with national               during working hours or in accordance with national
practice.                                                         practices, either inside or outside the enterprise and/or
                                                                  establishment.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 172/16                             Official Journal of the European Communities                     7. 7. 89
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                             REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
                        SECTION III                                                  SECTION III
                 WORKERS' OBLIGATIONS                                         WORKERS' OBLIGATIONS
                          Article 13                                                  Article 13
1.    It shall be the responsibility of each  worker to take       Unchanged
care as far as possible of his own safety     and health and
that of other persons affected by his acts    or omissions at
work in accordance with his training and      the instructions
given by his employer.
2.    To this end, workers must, in particular, in                 Unchanged
accordance with their training and the instructions given
by their employer:
(a) make correct use of machinery, apparatus, tools,
    dangerous substances, transport equipment and other
    means of production;
(b) make correct use of the personal protective
    equipment supplied to them and, after use, return it
    to its proper place;
(c) refrain from disconnecting, changing or removing
    arbitrarily safety devices fitted e.g. to machinery,
    apparatus, tools, plant and buildings, and use such
    safety devices correctly;
(d) immediately inform the employer and/or the
    workers with specific responsibility for the safety and
    health of workers of any work situation they have
    reasonable grounds for considering represents a
    serious and immediate danger to safety and health
    and of any shortcomings in the protection
    arrangements;
(e) cooperate, in accordance with national practice, with
    the employer and/or workers with specific responsi-
    bility for the safety and health of workers, for as
    long as may be necessary to enable any tasks or
    requirements imposed by the competent authority to
    protect the safety and health of workers at work to
    be carried out;
(f) cooperate, in accordance with national practice, with
    the employer and/or workers with specific responsi-
    bility for the safety and health of workers, for as
    long as may be necessary to enable the employer to
    ensure that the working environment and working
    conditions are safe and pose no risk to safety and
    health within their field of activity.
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         COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                               REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
                       SECTION IV                                                     SECTION rv
            MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS                                        MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
                         Article 14                                                     Article 14
                    Health surveillance                                            Health surveillance
1.    To ensure that workers receive health surveillance         Unchanged
appropriate to the health and safety risks they incur at
work, measures shall be introduced in accordance with
national law and/or practices.
2.    The measures referred to in paragraph 1 shall be           Unchanged
such that each worker, if he so wishes, may receive
health checks at regular intervals.
3.    Health surveillance may be provided as part of a            Unchanged
national health system.
                         Article 15                                                     Article 15
                       Risk groups                                                    Risk groups
Particularly sensitive risk groups must be protected             Unchanged
against the dangers which specifically affect them.
                         Article 16                                                     Article 16
                   Individual Directives                                          Individual Directives
                       Amendments                                                     Amendments
             General scope of this Directive                                General scope of this Directive
1.    The Council, acting on a proposal from the                 Unchanged
Commission based on Article 118a of the Treaty, shall
adopt individual directives inter alia in the areas listed in
the Annex.
2.    This Directive and, without prejudice to the                Unchanged
procedure referred to in Article 17 concerning technical
adjustments, the individual directives, may be amended
in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article
118a of the Treaty.
3.    The provisions of this Directive shall apply in full        Unchanged
to all the areas covered by the individual directives,
without prejudice to more stringent and/or specific
provisions contained in these individual directives.
                         Article 17                                                     Article 17
                        Committee                                                      Committee
1.    For the purely technical adjustments to the indi-           Unchanged
vidual directives provided for in Article 16 (1) to take
account of:
 ---pagebreak--- No C 172/IS                            Official Journal of the European Communities                      7. 7. 89
          COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                             REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
— the adoption of directives in the field of technical
     harmonization and standardization, and/or
— technical progress, changes in international regu-
     lations, or
— specifications, and new findings,
the Commission shall be assisted by a committee
composed of the representatives of the Member States
and chaired by the representative of the Commission.
2.     The representative of the Commission shall submit         Unchanged
to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken.
The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft
within a time limit which the Chairman may lay down
according to the urgency of the matter.
The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down
in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions
which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal
from the Commission.
The votes of the representatives of the Member States
within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set
out in that Article. The Chairman shall not vote.
3.     The Commission shall adopt the measures                   Unchanged
envisaged if they are in accordance with the opinion of
the committee.
If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the
opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered,
the Commission shall, without delay, submit to the
Council a propsal relating to the measures to be taken.
The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
If, on the expiry of three months from the date of the
referral to the Council, the Council has not acted, the
proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission.
                         Article 18                                                    Article 18
                      Final provisions                                              Final provisions
1.     Member States shall bring into force the laws,            Unchanged
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
comply with this Directive by 31 December 1992.
They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
 ---pagebreak--- 7. 7. 89                               Official Journal of the European Communities                         No C 172/19
         COMMON POSITION ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL                                 REVISED COMMISSION PROPOSAL
2.    Member States shall communicate to the                     Unchanged
Commission the texts of the provisions of national law
which they have already adopted or adopt in the field
covered by this Directive.
3.    Member States shall report to the Commission                3.  Member States shall report to the Commission
every five years on the practical implementation of the          every three years on the application of the provisions of
provisions of this Directive, indicating the points of view      this Directive, having regard to the point of view of
of employers and workers.                                        employers and workers.
The Commission shall inform the European Parliament,
the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and
the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health
                                                                 Unchanged
Protection at Work.
4.    The Commission shall submit periodically to the
European Parliament, the Council and the Economic
and Social Committee a report on the implementation of
                                                                 Unchanged
this Directive, taking into account paragraphs 1 to 3.
                         Article 19                                                      Article 19
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.                Unchanged
                          ANNEX                                                           ANNEX
                                                                 Unchanged