Council Decision of 22 July 2003 setting up an Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work (Text with EEA relevance)

Council Decision
of 22 July 2003
setting up an Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work
(2003/C 218/01)
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Article 202 thereof,
Having regard to the Commission's proposal, presented after consultation of the Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work,
Whereas:
(1) Protection against occupational accidents and diseases is amongst the objectives of the Treaty.
(2) The profound transformation in production methods in all sectors of the economy and the spread of dangerous techniques and materials have created new problems for the safety and health of workers at their place of work.
(3) A standing body should be envisaged to assist the Commission in the preparation and implementation of activities in the fields of safety and health at work and to facilitate cooperation between national administrations, trade unions and employers' organisations.
(4) A Mines Safety Commission was set up by decisions taken by the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Special Council of Ministers at the 36th and 42nd Council sessions of 6 September 1956 and 9 and 10 May 1957, the remit of which was established by the Decision of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States meeting within the Special Council of Ministers of 9 July 1957 concerning the terms of reference and the rules of procedure of the Mines Safety Commission(1), and the responsibilities of which were extended by Council Decision 74/326/EEC of 27 June 1974(2).
(5) Moreover, Council Decision 74/325/EEC of 27 June 1974 on the setting up of an Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work(3) also set up a standing body for all economic activities, except for the extractive industries and the protection of the health of workers against the dangers arising from ionising radiation.
(6) The radical changes which have taken place over the past few years in working life and in the European project, specifically as a result of incorporating a social protocol in the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the new prospects opened up by the current enlargement process require a critical and constructive re-examination of the consultation process and the bodies set up for this purpose in the Community.
(7) In its Communication on a Community programme in the field of safety, hygiene and health protection at work (1996-2000), the Commission stressed the need to streamline the operation of the two advisory committees - the Advisory Committee for Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work and the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries - by merging them, reducing the number of members and giving them a single secretariat.
(8) The communication from the Commission on "Adapting to change in work and society: a new Community strategy on safety and health 2002-2006" also notes that effective implementation of Community law requires close cooperation between the Commission and the Member States' administrations and that this cooperation would be better and simpler if the two advisory committees were to be merged into a single Advisory Committee.
(9) The structure of the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work should be retained with changes made to streamline its operation and with a clear statement of the horizontal nature of its competences to cover all public and private sectors of activity in accordance with the scope of Community legislation on health and safety at work. The knowledge and experience acquired by the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries should also be safeguarded by setting up standing working parties for specific sectors within this Advisory Committee.
(10) This reform should be incorporated in a new decision setting up an Advisory Committee for Safety and Health at Work as a single advisory body, and repealing Decision 74/325/EEC.
(11) The Decisions setting up the Mines Safety Commission, the Decision concerning the terms of reference and rules of procedure of the Mines Safety Commission and the Decision 74/326/EEC should also be repealed,