EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion DG
Employment and Social Legislation, Social Dialogue
Health, Safety and Hygiene at Work
Information from the
Commission
First semester 2014
22 May 2014
Information from the Commission
Progress report on OSH activity
First semester 2014
Contents
1.
LEGISLATION.................................................................................................................... 3
1.1
Transpositions status of OSH Directives ........................................................................3
1.2.
Proposals under ordinary legislative procedure (EP / Council) .....................................3
Initiatives under preparation by the Commission's services (at any stage – e.g. .............
consultation of SP under Article 154, preparatory studies for IA, results of IA Board ..
meetings, ISC, etc.) ........................................................................................................3
1.3.1. Possible future amendment of directive 2004/37/EC on Carcinogens and Mutagens ... 3
1.3.
1.3.2. Fourth List of IOELs ...................................................................................................... 4
1.3.3. Exposure of workers to environmental tobacco smoke at the workplace ...................... 4
1.4.
1.4.1.
1.5.
EMF ......................................................................................................................... 5
Initiatives carried out in the framework of the SMART Regulation Programme ..........5
1.5.1.
REFIT exercise – Ex-post evaluation of the OSH "acquis" .................................... 5
1.5.2.
Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens ..................................... 6
1.6.
2.
Other legislative initiatives (e.g. Commission Directives (delegated acts), ...................
Council/Commission Recommendations, etc.) ............................................................ 5
OSH related labour law initiatives (e.g. Enforcement Directive on posting of workers,
EU platform to fight against undeclared work) ..............................................................6
OTHER POLICY ACTIONS ............................................................................................. 7
2.1.
Occupational diseases .....................................................................................................7
2.2.
Asbestos ..........................................................................................................................8
2.3.
Nanomaterials / nanotechnology ....................................................................................8
2.4.
Cooperation between DG EMPL and DG JRC ..............................................................8
2.5.
Study on occupational exposure to chemicals in the EU ................................................8
1
3.
OSH RELATED SOCIAL DIALOGUE INITIATIVES.................................................. 9
4.
OSH STATISTICS............................................................................................................. 10
5.
ACTIVITIES OF THE OTHER COMMITTEES.......................................................... 11
6.
5.1.
SLIC..............................................................................................................................11
5.2.
SCOEL..........................................................................................................................11
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS ................................................................................... 12
6.1.
7.
Bilateral cooperation.....................................................................................................12
6.1.1.
EU/US ................................................................................................................... 12
6.1.2.
EU/China…. .......................................................................................................... 12
6.2.
Cooperation with international organisations (ILO/WHO) ..........................................12
6.3.
EU enlargement ............................................................................................................13
6.4.
EU Neighbourhood Policy............................................................................................14
INFORMATION FROM EU-OSHA ............................................................................... 14
2
1.
LEGISLATION
1.1
Transpositions status of OSH Directives
Following the expiry of the deadline for transposing Directive 2010/32/EU (implementing the
Framework Agreement on prevention from sharp injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector)
on 11 May 2013, infringement proceedings have been opened against those Member States
which did not communicate all the necessary transposition measures. Currently there is one
open case for non-communication against Austria; . The conformity assessment of Member
States’ measures transposing Directive 2010/32/EU is on-going.
1.2.
Proposals under ordinary legislative procedure (EP / Council)
Adopted: Directive 2014/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February
2014 amending Council Directives 92/58/EEC, 92/85/EEC, 94/33/EC, 98/24/EC and Directive
2004/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, in order to align them to
Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and
mixtures
1.3. Initiatives under preparation by the Commission's services (at any stage – e.g.
consultation of SP under Article 154, preparatory studies for IA, results of IA Board meetings,
ISC, etc.)
1.3.1. Possible future amendment of directive 2004/37/EC on Carcinogens and
Mutagens
Following the two stage consultation of European social partners, the Commission services
have proposed an amending Directive which would introduce additional substances in Annex I
as well as binding occupational exposure limit values for a number of substances in Annex III
of the current Directive. At the same time, the Articles on risk management and setting of
occupational exposure limit values would be amended to better align them with current needs
and the approach presented in the Chemical Agents Directive 98/24/EC.
Subsequently, the Commission put to tender two studies to evaluate the health, socio-economic
and environmental impacts of the proposed amendments of Directive 2004/37/EC. The results
of the studies were considered by the Working Party “Chemicals at the work place” between
June 2010 and October 2013. Based on its recommendations, the ACSH adopted in December
2012, May 2013 and November 2013, an opinion and two suplementary opinions. These
opinions contain statements on agreements reach by all interest groups followed by additional
comments of the individual interest groups if considered necessary.
Due to the Commission’s Communication on Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT –
COM (2013) 685 final), and its decision, not to propose legislation in the area of occupational
safety and health for amongst others carcinogens and mutagens, no legislative proposal will be
presented in 2014.
Ongoing action includes:
For each Commission initiative subject to the ordinary legislative procedure, an Impact
Assessment report according to the Commission Impact Assessment Guidelines and its
Annexes is required. This Impact Assessment report must contain a chapter dealing
3
with the economic, social and environmental impacts on SMEs and on the
competitiveness of the EU. The work leading to the Impact Assessment report will
continue in 2014.
In order to speed up the process for amending Directive 2004/37/EC in the future, four
Member States offered in a letter, dated 04 March 2014, addressed to Commissioner
Andor, to support DG EMPL B.3 in its work to assign more Binding Occupational
Exposure Limit Values for carcinogenic and / or mutagenic substances under the
Directive by providing more information and sharing or contributing resources. How
this offer can be put in practice will be discussed with all interest groups in the course
of the next few months.
1.3.2. Fourth List of IOELs
Following the discussion on a first batch of five substances in the meeting of October 2013
within the Working Party on Chemicals (WPC), eight more substances were discussed in the
meeting of 19 and 20th March 2014 for its inclusion in a 4th list of IOELs. Two more batches of
substances are in the agenda for the June and October meetings respectively. It is foreseen that
the WPC draft an opinion to be submitted to the Plenary of the ACSH in November 2014. This
opinion will include the outcome of the discussions and the list of agreed substances for which
an IOEL can be proposed at EU level.
1.3.3. Exposure of workers to environmental tobacco smoke at the workplace
The document for the second-stage consultation of the social partners at EU level will be
accompanied by an Analytical Document (AD) containing additional information to assist the
social partners. A preparatory study to gather information for the Analytical Document was
completed during the 4th quarter of 2011. The draft Analytical Document has been prepared and
submitted to the Impact Assessment Board (IAB) during December 2011. The IAB have
requested certain modifcations to the AD and this will result in a delay in launching the second
stage social partner consultation. A second study to gather additional factual information was
concluded during spring 2014 and the results of this study are currently being analysed..
It will be necessary for the ACSH to adopt an Opinion on this topic. This task is included in the
mandate for this working group and it has been discussed within the Working Party on
Chemicals at its meeting of March 2012 with the intention of preparing a draft Opinion for
submission to the ACSH during 2012.. However, due to an overloaded agenda and the need for
the additional study, this item has now been postponed until 2014.
The Commission adopted a Communication on REFIT results and next steps in October 2013
(COM (20132) 685). In the Annex (section 3 - Areas where the Commission will propose or is
considering to repeal laws withdraw pending proposals or where initiatives will not be taken
forward) it is stated that "During the present mandate, the Commission will not propose
legislation in the area of occupational safety and health for hairdressers, muscular skeletal
disorders and screen displays, environmental tobacco smoke and carcinogens and mutagens".
However, this does not relate to the preparatory work which will continue during 2013 and
2014.
4
1.4.
Other legislative initiatives (e.g. Commission Directives (delegated acts), Council /
Commission Recommendations, etc.)
1.4.1. EMF
As requested by Art 11(2) of the Directive, the Commission has started a preparatory work for
the insertion, by a delegated act, of the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation
Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines for limiting exposure to electric fields induced by movement of
the human body in a static magnetic field and by time-varying magnetic fields below 1Hz into
annex II of the Directive. When adopting a delegated act the Commission shall carry out
appropriate consultations, including at expert level, and work in close cooperation with the
ACSH. In this respect, a mandate of the WP EMF was extended (on 23 April 2014) to cover
this task. First consultative meeting took place on 29-30 April. Second meeting is planned for
1-2 July where a draft opinion is foreseen to be adopted and submitted to the plenary on 27
November. In addition, an expert group meeting with representatives from all Member States
as requested by the Government Interest Group is scheduled for this September.
1.5.
Initiatives carried out in the framework of the SMART Regulation Programme
1.5.1. REFIT exercise – Ex-post evaluation of the OSH "acquis"
The REFIT exercise, launched by Commission Communication COM (2012) 746 as a part of
the SMART Regulation Programme, is indented to ensure that that EU legislation remains fit
for purpose. The exercise aims to identify burdens, inconsistencies, gaps and ineffective
measures in the body of the EU legislation, with a view to providing evidence for possible
improvements.
Pursuant to Framework Directive 89/391/EEC, the Commission is committed to evaluating by
the end of 2015 virtually the entire body of the EU OSH legislation (24 Directives). This largescale exercise contains several and significant elements of a REFIT fitness check – covering
relevance, effectiveness and coherence of the legislation as well as administrative burdens 1.
Due to its broader scope and specific regulatory regime under the Framework Directive, the expost evaluation aims at a wider evaluation of the legislation including in terms of benefits, of
research and new scientific knowledge. It will be substantiated by a Commission Report
summarising the results of the evaluation and providing, where appropriate, suggestions on
how to improve the functioning of the EU OSH regulatory framework. The report will be
based, on the one hand, on national implementation reports provided by Member States, and on
the other hand on the outcomes of a preliminary report set out by an independent external
contractor. In addition, the Commission will use the experience it has gained from monitoring
the transposition and application of the directives in the Member States.As regards the study by
an independent contractor, following the inception report, the contractor prepared a first interim
report which was discussed at the meeting of the WP on Evaluation of OSH Directives on 26
February 2014. The second interim report is due in June 2014, to be discussed at the WP
meeting of 27 June 2014.
1
SWD (2013) 401.
5
1.5.2. Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens
Under the Commission Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the
European Union2, three OSH Directives have been selected in the priority area of working
environment: 89/391/EEC (Framework directive); 92/57/EEC (construction) and 2004/37/EC
(carcinogenic agents). As for all the other priority areas, the objective of the Action Programme
in the area of OSH is to cut unnecessary burdens on businesses, i.e. what can be suppressed
without compromising the achievements already attained in terms of levels of protection and of
reduction of occupational accidents and illnesses3.
In this framework, the "High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative
Burdens" (HLG) adopted, in May 2009, an opinion putting forward its recommendations for
reducing unnecessary administrative burdens in the priority area working environment /
employment4. In particular, one of the HLG recommendations refers to a possible exemption
for very small firms undertaking certain low-risk activities from documenting risks to health
and safety in accordance with Article 9 of Directive 89/391/EEC.
In order to provide any future possible decision in this area with an adequate evidence basis,
the OSH Commission services decided: a) to survey the situation in the Member States as
regards the obligation of keeping record of risk assessment via a questionnaire sent to all
Member States in 2011, and b) to entrust an external consultant with the preparation of a
comparative study examining the two scenarios of compliance with the current obligation, on
the one hand, and the consequences of a possible exemption from that obligation, on the other
hand. The main results of the study were presented to both the ACSH and SLIC during their
plenaries of the second semester 2012.
The follow-up of the HLG recommendation on the documentation of risk assessments by very
small enterprises in low risk sectors will be based on the results of the independent study,
together with the results of the analysis of the questionnaire sent to the Member States, and the
consultations of the ACSH and SLIC. The recommendation will be further assessed in the
context of the on-going ex-post evaluation of the practical implementation of EU Occupational
Safety and Health Directives.
1.6. OSH related labour law initiatives (e.g. Enforcement Directive on posting of workers,
EU platform to fight against undeclared work)
The Enforcement Directive5 of the Posting of Workers Directive 96/71/EC was adopted by the
European Parliament on 16 April 2014 and by the EU's Council of Ministers on 13 May 2014.
The Directive aims to improve and facilitate the implementation, monitoring and enforcement in
practice of the rules laid down in the 1996 Directive on Posting of Workers.
2
COM (2007) 23.
3
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament — Action Programme for
Reducing Administrative Burdens in the EU — Sectoral Reduction Plans and 2009 Actions (COM (2009)
544).
4
Opinion of 28 May 2009:
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/secretariat_general/admin_burden/docs/enterprise/files/hlg_opinion_working_environme
nt_09052009_en.pdf
5
Not yet published in OJ.
6
In order to do that, the new Directive contains a comprehensive and balanced package of
appropriate measures guaranteeing a better protection of posted workers and a more transparent
and predictable legal framework for service providers. In particular, some of the provided
measures are:
more ambitious standards to raise the awareness of workers and companies about their
rights and obligations as regards the applicable terms and conditions of employment ,
i.e. better information and transparency;
improved state enforcement mechanisms, including national control measures,
inspections and sanctions, as well as the cross-border enforcement of administrative
penalties and fines;
enhanced private law enforcement mechanisms, for instance the introduction of a
limited subcontracting liability in the construction sector.
On 9 April 2014 the Commission adopted a Proposal6 to establish a European Platform to
improve cooperation at EU level between the Member States in tackling undeclared work more
effectively. The Platform will bring together Member State enforcement bodies such as the
labour inspectorates and the social security, tax and migration authorities. It will contribute to
better enforcement of EU and national law and to the creation of formal jobs, promote quality
working conditions and integration in the labour market and social inclusion.
The Platform aims at improving cooperation between Member States' different enforcement
authorities, increasing their technical capacity to tackle cross-border aspects of undeclared
work and increasing public awareness of the urgency on the action to tackle the phenomenon.
To achieve these objectives, the Platform would exchange best practices and information,
develop expertise and analysis and coordinate cross-border operational actions.
The Proposal was transmitted to the Council and to the European Parliament. The Council has
already started to examine the text, the EP is expected to do so in Autumn 2014 following the
European elections.
2.
OTHER POLICY ACTIONS (e.g. user guides, studies, conferences, workshops,
consultation of experts, etc.)
2.1.
Occupational diseases
A presentation of the "Report on the current situation in relation to occupational diseases’
system in EU Member States and EFTA/EEA countries" was provided at the nineteenth plenary
meeting of the ACSH of 5 December 2012. A conference on occupational diseases took place
in Brussels in December 2013. A special conference website was created; it is available in:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=88&eventsId=940&furtherEvents=yes
Information available in the website includes:
Documents related to the conference programme
6
Proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on establishing a European Platform to
enhance cooperation in the prevention and deterrence of undeclared work (COM(2014) 221 final of 9 April 2014).
7
The conference programme proper
List of speakers
Presentations made during the conference
Links related to the topic of the conference
2.2.
Asbestos
Following the adoption of the EP Resolution of 14th March 2013 on asbestos related
occupational health threats and prospects for abolishing all existing asbestos7, the Commission
services (EMPL/B3) organised a Member States meeting on Asbestos on the 27th of June 2013.
The meeting focussed on the suitability of the current EU legal framework, in particular as
regards the adequacy of the exposure value set under Directive 2009/148/EC. Taking into
account the results of this consultation, the Commission intends in the first instance to consult
the SCOEL on the suitability of the current exposure limit-value.
2.3.
Nanomaterials / nanotechnology
The guidance document initially submitted be contractors RPA will still be the object of final
changes at the occasion of the WPC meeting to be held in June 2014. A draft opinion will be
prepared by the group with a view to its adoption by the ACSH at its 2nd 2014 plenary.
2.4.
Cooperation between DG EMPL and DG JRC
A cooperation programme between DG EMPL and DG JRC has been established based on an
Administrative Arrangement (AA) signed at Director level. The overall objective is to provide
technical and scientific services to DG EMPL and SCOEL in the area of OELs for hazardous
chemicals. The operation of this support activity is mainly focused on the preparation of
comprehensive Criteria Documents (CDs) which summarise all the relevant scientific
information for a hazardous chemical agent, and scoping studies covering complex areas where
an exploratory analysis is necessary for establishing the feasibility and specifications of future
work on CDs.
The first pilot phase of 18 months came to an end on 30 September 2012 and a first series of
CDs documents and other supporting documents prepared by the JRC has been presented to
SCOEL. An extension of the AA for a further 24 months has been agreed. During this second
phase of the AA the JRC will prepare a range of scoping studies, CDs and other documents on
ten identified priority substances.This work is progressing according to plan.
2.5.
Study on occupational exposure to chemicals in the EU
Two bids were received for the open call for tenders VT/2013/079: “Service contract to create
a database and develop a model to estimate the occupational exposure for a list of hazardous
chemicals in the Member States of the European Union and in the EFTA/EEA countries”.
7
Available in
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2013-0093+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
8
The most advantageous tender in terms of quality/price was selected by an evaluation
committee established for this procedure, according to the criteria stated in the Tender
Specifications:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=624&langId=en&callId=396&furtherCalls=yes
Both tenderers were informed of the award decision of the evaluation committee at the
beginning of May 2014. Arrangements for the signature of the contract will start after the
established period for requests of information by the tenderers.
A “Monitoring Committee”, consisting of members of the different interest groups and
EMPL.B3 will be appointed within the WPC in the meeting of June 2014 in order to follow up
the development of this study by the external contractor.
3.
OSH RELATED SOCIAL DIALOGUE INITIATIVES
Since 2010, the EU social partners acting in the sea-fisheries (ETF, Europêche, Cogeca) sector
have initiated a negotiation process with a view to conclude an Agreement concerning the
implementation of the ILO Convention n°188 on "Work in Fishing" which was adopted on 14
June 2007. They have developed this process with the intention to request the EU legislative
implementation of the Agreement, in accordance with Article 155 §2 TFEU.
The negotiation was a follow-up to the invitation, expressed by the Commission on the
occasion of its "Article 138 (now article 154 TFEU) Consultation of 2007 concerning the
regulatory social framework for more and better seafaring jobs in the EU(see the
communication COM(2007) 591 final of 10.10.2007) , to "examine the possibilities of a joint
initiative" to promote the implementation of the ILO Convention at EU level along the same
procedure that was adopted for the implementation of the "Maritime Labour Convention, 2006"
of the ILO (Council Directive 2009/13/EC of 6 February 2009).
On 27 May 2008, the Commission adopted a Decision proposal (COM(2008)320) inviting the
Member States to ratify the "Work in fishing" Convention. The Commission has, in particular,
indicated that:
"The EU was very much involved in the negotiations and in the finalisation of
Convention 188 through EU coordination. The consistency and compatibility between
the ILO provisions and the Community acquis was followed-up in the EU coordination
during the discussions in 2004, 2005 and 2007 (…)
"In order to ensure compliance with the sharing of competences between the
Community and Member States as laid down by the Treaty, the Commission proposes
that the Council should authorise the Member States to ratify Convention 188 in the
interests of the Community.
"The application of Community rules in areas covered by Convention 188 should be
preserved and a clear signal should be given to the rest of the world regarding the
importance that the Community attaches to Convention 188 and to the working and
living conditions of fishers"
The Commission also facilitated EU coordination by organising, in cooperation with the
EU presidency, meetings of Member States' experts and consultations with EU and
9
international social partners. The Commission was present as an active observer. It
should be noted that it is necessary for this Convention to enter into force at the earliest
opportunity.
On 7 June 2010, the Council adopted the Decision (2010/321) inviting the MS's to ratify the
ILO C188: "as soon as possible, preferably before 31 December 2012"
The negotiation process made it possible for EU social partners of the sector to conclude an
Agreement, which was formally signed during the European Maritime Day Conference in
Gothenburg on 21 May 2012, in presence of Ms Damanaki. From that date onwards, the
signatories have closely worked with the Commission to revise the text of this Agreement so as
to make it fully compatible with the existing “acquis communautaire” in the sea-fisheries sector
and the relevant social dialogue provisions of the Treaty and, thus, make its legislative
implementation possible at EU level.
The EU social partners of the sea-fisheries sector adopted the revised text of the Agreement on
8 May 2013. This revised text is intended to accommodate the expectations expressed by the
services of the Commission and to remove legal obstacles to the EU legislative implementation.
They formally requested the Commission on 10 May 2013 to present to the Council a Decision
proposal with a view to make the implementation of this Agreement legally binding at EU
level.
On 6 September 2013, the Legal Service of the Commission delivered a positive Legal
Opinion as regards the full compliance of the agreement with EU law
The Commission is on the verge to launch a costs/benefits analysis which will contribute to the
overall Commission assessment of the Agreement.
Hairdressers
In its Communication on regulatory fitness and performance (REFIT) of 2 October 2013, the
Commission announced that during the present mandate, it would not bring forward a proposal
to the Council for legislative implementation of the European sectoral social partners'
framework agreement on the protection of occupational health and safety in the hairdressing
sector. At the same time the Commission confirmed that it would continue the assessment of
the agreement as announced previously. To support the analysis of the added value of the
agreement, the Commission has contracted an external study to collect background information
on the hairdressing sector, gather medical-scientific data and estimate the costs and benefits of
the provisions of the agreement. This study was finalized in the beginning of 2014. The
Commission's overall assessment, examining the appropriateness of EU action, the
representativeness of the parties and their mandate, the legality of the clauses in relation to EU
law and the provisions regarding SMEs, is expected to be available in the coming months.
4.
OSH STATISTICS
Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Community
statistics on public health and health and safety at work, and its implementing Regulation (EU)
No 349/2011, is the legal basis for the EU level health and safety statistics. In addition, the LFS
10
ad hoc modules programmes are adopted by means of Commission Regulations (Regulation
(EC) No 220/2010 of 16 March 2010 defined the programme for the LFS ad hoc modules 2013
to 2015, including a module on accidents at work and work related health problems
implemented by way of an ESS agreement).
The 2013 EU LFS ad hoc module results should be made available by the end of 2014. Another
module is being planned for 2019.
The European Statistics on Accidents at Work data are currently available for reference year
2011.
On the 6th of May 2014 the European Statistics on Occupational Diseases Working Group met
in order to approve the proposal for an EU level simplified data collection on occupational
diseases. The proposal will target a short list of diseases which are recognised in all Member
States, to be further elaborated by the Diagnostic Criteria Working Group in collaboration with
the EODS Working Group. A pilot data collection is provisionally foreseen for 2017.
5.
ACTIVITIES OF THE OTHER COMMITTEES
5.1.
SLIC
5.2.
SCOEL
Commission Decision 2014/113/EU8 setting up SCOEL and repealing Commission Decision
95/320/EC9, was adopted on the 3rd of March 2014. The new Decision aligns the functioning
of SCOEL with the Commission’s rules on expert groups and, among other provisions, it
establishes a new selection procedure of the members via an open call for expression of
interest. During 2014 the Commission will launch an open call for expression of interest with a
view to appointing members for the next term of office of SCOEL.
SCOEL has had two regular meetings, on 11-12 December 2013 and on 12-13 March 2014
(90th and 91st), respectively. Concerning the development of regular SCOEL documents, the
meetings resulted in the following:
Documents finally adopted and published: Copper and inorganic compounds, 1,4Dichlorobenzene
Documents discussed at different degrees of finalisation: Bisphenol A, Phosphoryl trichloride,
Nitrogen dioxide, Nitrogen monoxide, Trimethylamine, Tert-Butyl acetate, Beryllium and
compounds, Formaldehyde, Titanium dioxide, Chloromethane, Zinc and compounds, Diethyl
and dimethyl phthalates, Aniline, iso-amyl alcohol, Hexachlorobenzene, 2-Phenylpropane,
Diacetyl.
8
9
OJ L 62, 3.3.2014, p. 18.
OJ L 188, 9.8.1995, p. 14.
11
Initial discussions with no draft yet available: Styrene, Carbon nanotubes, n-Butanol, Lead,
Respirable crystalline silica, Asbestos, Toluene.
6.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
6.1.
Bilateral cooperation
6.1.1. EU/US
No significant developments have occurred since the latest plenary meeting in November 2013.
The US has recently confirmed their intention to organise a new joint Conference, but also
announced its postponement to 2015. Both sides agreed on the 2nd half of October 2015 as a
possible time for the Conference to take place.
6.1.2. EU/China
The fifth EU China dialogue meeting will be held on Friday 26th September 2014 in Beijing the
programme is under development with the focus of the dialogue with SAWS being how market
forces affect health and safety in the extractive industries and chemical industries.
EU Presentations should focus on situations where the end user has placed certain requirements
upon the supplier in this area. For example where Health Safety and Environmental standards
form part of supply contract conditions.
We are looking for case studies that may be available which define the requirements upon the
supplier, the actions taken to comply with the specific requirements, end user audits or other
controls such as visits and any benefits to the supplier which came about as part of the process.
During the period 24th and 25th September will be the 7th China International Forum on Work
Safety.
6.2.
Cooperation with international organisations (ILO/WHO)
Cooperation between ILO and the European Commission in the area of OSH
The intention to step up cooperation between ILO and the European Commission in the area of
occupational safety and health was recently reiterated by Commissioner Andor and ILO
Director General Ryder. According to the relevant Commission's press release of 28 April
2014, both sides:
•
have a mutual interest in supporting each other's activities, in particular concerning
cooperation in promoting occupational safety and health in emerging economies, implementing
the decent work agenda and improving working conditions in global supply chains
•
share a preventative approach to counter occupational and work-related diseases, in
particular by tackling new and emerging risks related to physical and mental health, associated
with new technologies and new work organisation patterns. In this framework, they agree on
the need to explore possibilities to improve cooperation in the area of prevention and on data
collection on occupational and work-related diseases
•
recognise the vital role played by labour inspectorates in prevention, advice and
enforcement at enterprise level and acknowledge the complementary role that private
12
compliance initiatives could play in improving working conditions. They both highlight the
need to reinforce the capacity of labour inspection and enforcement institutions and the role of
technical assistance and capacity building to that aim
•
share a common understanding of the need to reinforce the tripartite occupational safety
and health governance culture at all levels and therefore the importance of promoting the active
participation of governments, employers' and workers' organisations in the development of
OSH policies and programmes.
The High Level Meeting, consisting of high level representatives of the Commission and ILO,
will be asked to follow up the agreement between Commission Andor and Director General
Ryder.
G20 initiative on Safe Workplaces
Launched by the G20 Leaders' Declaration issued in St. Petersburg in September 2013, the G20
initiative on Safe Workplaces aims at developing a succinct statement or action plan to be
endorsed by the G20 Leader's at their next November meeting (Australian Presidency). The
statement / action plan may serve as a basis to establish future G20 multi-country initiatives to
promote safer workplaces. An analytical report, to be submitted by the ILO, on global trends
and challenges in the area of OSH is expected to inform the statement.
As a G20 member, the European Union, represented by the European Commission, is
participating in the preparatory phase. A "sub-group on safer workplaces", established in the
framework of the G20 Task Force on Employment, is driving the process. The most recent
meeting of the sub-group took place in Istanbul on 6 May 2014. The meeting confirmed the
willingness to strengthen commitments towards more attention for and efforts on OSH in both
G20 economies and elsewhere, including in the global supply chain. Emphasis was in general
put on the need to improve the awareness of OSH as a global political challenge, and in this
regard the importance of coordinative initiatives at international level.
6.3.
EU enlargement
EU candidate countries are Iceland, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Montenegro, Turkey and Serbia to which the European Council granted the status of a
candidate country on 1 March 2012. Accession negotiations are on-going with Turkey (since
October 2005) and with Iceland (since July 2010). Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Kosovo10 are EU potential candidate countries.
In June 2012 a new law aiming to align the national legislation with the EU framework
Directive was adopted in Turkey. B 3 provided an analysis of this law in February 2013, and
carried out a fact finding mission to Ankara on 3 and 4 October 2013 to follow up its adoption.
The accession negotiations with Montenegro were opened in June 2012. The screening of
Montenegrin legislation for the social policy and employment (i.e. an analytical examination of
legislation in bilateral meetings), under which B 3 provided presentations of EU OSH acquis
10
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1244/99.
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and analysis of existing Montenegrin health and safety legislation, took place in January and
March 2013 and the process will continue throughout 2013 and 2014. A mission aiming
notably to provide assistance to the Montenegrin authorities with the alignment of the national
legislation to Directive 89/391/EEC was carried out in April 2014. Accession negotiations were
opened with Serbia in January 2014. The screening of Serbian legislation for the social policy
and employment took take place in February and will continue with a bilateral screening
meeting in June 2014.
Unit B 3 continues to provide input in negotiations with EU potential candidate countries with
a view to building their capacity to adopt and implement EU law on health and safety at work.
Unit B3 also continues to provide contributions in its respective area to the annual progress
reports prepared by DG Enlargement on the progress made by the candidate and potential
candidate countries towards EU accession.
6.4.
EU Neighbourhood Policy
The ENP was launched in 2004 to promote closer relations with the countries adjacent to the
EU - Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya,
the Republic of Moldova, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria, Tunisia and
Ukraine. In the context of this policy, it is planned to conclude Association Agreements with
ENP countries which incorporate a chapter on Employment, Social Policy and Equal
Opportunities.
Unit B 3 has been consulted on and provided input in certain draft Association Agreements (i.e.
with Moldova, Armenia, Ukraine and Georgia).
7.
INFORMATION FROM EU-OSHA
EU-OSHA ran a foresight workshop on 20 March with the electricity sectoral social dialogue
committee as part of its on-going dissemination of the findings from the foresight of new and
emerging OSH risks associated with technologies in green jobs. Scoping of topics will finalise
shortly as part of the preparation for the next large-scale foresight, due to start in 2015.
Fieldwork for ESENER-2, examining how health and safety is managed in practice at the
workplace, will start in June 2014. The survey will cover around 49,000 enterprises across 36
European countries (EU28 + Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Albania, FYROM, Montenegro,
Serbia and Turkey). First results should be available by the end of this year, with more detailed
reporting early in 2015.
The European Parliament pilot project on older workers’ occupational safety and health,
delegated to EU-OSHA, is progressing according to plan with the delivery of various draft
reports. The conference to discuss the findings will be held in June 2015, following which the
reports will be published.
A major project examining how effective preventive action can be fostered in micro and small
enterprises will start in August, following conclusion of the on-going procurement process. The
project will finalise with a conference in mid-2017.
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Following the recent publication of a report reviewing methodologies used to estimate the costs
resulting from occupational accidents and work-related diseases, an expert group will meet in
June to help define the next steps in a large scale project to estimate such costs at European
level.
Two state of the art reports will be published before the end of 2014 in the area of work-related
diseases; the first on reproductive risks and the second on work-related cancers. Furthermore,
an expert workshop will be held to scope the agency’s future work on the burden of workrelated diseases.
Uptake of the agency’s online interactive risk assessment (OiRA) tool is increasing steadily at
both national and EU sectoral level. In addition to the 18 tools already available, another 55 are
under development that will cover 15 Member States by the end of the year.
Following its recent launch as a Beta version, OSHwiki - the new free source of OSH
knowledge within the OSH community - will be fully launched in August at the XX World
Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Frankfurt.
The latest Healthy Workplaces campaign was launched on 7 April 2014. Under the tagline
‘healthy workplaces manage stress’, the campaign aims to focus attention on the prevention and
management of work-related psychosocial risks. It is supported by a multilingual website
(www.healthy-workplaces.eu) and range of campaign material, information reports, videos and
other audio-visual material. An EU-OSHA / Eurofound joint report will be published in the
coming months, while an e-guide targeted at SMEs is being finalised and will be available in
30 national versions for promotion in the second year of the campaign. Recruitment of
campaign partners began at a partnership meeting on 8 April and the 2014-2015 good practice
awards competition is also now underway. An external evaluation of the 2012-2013 campaign
‘working together for risk prevention’ is set to report before the summer.
Finally, two significant events for the Agency as an organisation took place on the 31st March
2014. Commissioner Andor inaugurated the Agency’s new premises in the Miribilla area of
Bilbao and the Spanish Deputy Secretary for Employment and Social Security, Pedro Llorente
and EU-OSHA Director Dr Christa Sedlatschek signed a Seat Agreement between the
Kingdom of Spain and the European Union.
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