EU-OSHA STRATEGY 2013-2020:
MISSION, VISION, VALUES AND
STRATEGIC ACTIVITY AREAS
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THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
The mission:
The mission is a brief statement that defines the fundamental purpose of the Agency. The
statement should include what the Agency provides to its users and inform staff about the
overall goal of the Agency. An example is Google’s statement “To organise the world’s
information and make it universally accessible and useful”.
The current mission statement is:
EU-OSHA is the European Union organisation responsible for the collection,
analysis and dissemination of relevant information that can serve the needs
of people involved in safety and health at work
On the basis of the considerations in the introduction to this note, it is suggested to
formulate the mission statement for the new period as follows:
We provide our partners with reliable and relevant instruments to advance
knowledge raise awareness, and exchange information in order to improve
occupational safety and health policies, programmes and practices
This wording stresses EU-OSHA’s role as a facilitator rather than an OSH information
repository – i.e. EU-OSHA provides the instruments that enable others to network knowledge,
cooperate and work more effectively.
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
The vision:
The vision is a precise statement defining the ultimate goal for the strategy period. The goal
should be external to the Agency. Examples are “We will be among the top three transporters
….”, “We will become the respected leader in financial services …”. Furthermore, the vision
statement – together with the mission statement - should help guiding the strategy development
and must therefore be verifiable. It must also be clear within which niche or area the Agency
has defined its goal.
The vision statement should therefore:
Include a goal which should be aspirational and external to the Agency
Be verifiable
Define the niche within which the Agency aims to reach the goal
The current vision statement says:
to be the European centre of excellence for occupational safety and health
information, promoting a preventive culture to support the goal of making Europe’s
current and future workplaces safer, healthier and more productive
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
The vision:
Following the considerations outlined in the introduction and in order to better comply with the three criteria
defined above, the Agency has worked on a new formulation of the vision statement. It is suggested to use
the following formulation to guide the new EU-OSHA Strategy:
Our ultimate goal is to play an important part in the creation of a European OSH risk
prevention culture based on tripartism and consequently the elimination of workrelated accidents and diseases in Europe. This is an essential element in a smart and
inclusive economy as defined in the Europe 2020 Strategy
This formulation meets the criterion established above in that it includes an external,
aspirational goal (“to play an important part in the creation of a European OSH risk
prevention culture”). It defines the ultimate goal in terms of impact (“elimination of workrelated accidents and diseases”) and a key secondary effect (“smart and inclusive European
economy”). Together with the suggested mission statement, the niche is defined
(“instruments to advance knowledge, raise awareness, and exchange information” and “OSH
risk prevention culture”). The vision statement is, in principle, verifiable. However, this
aspect can be improved when indicators and targets are defined.
At the Bureau meeting 23 November an alternative formulation of the vision was suggested:
Our ultimate goal is the creation of safer, healthier and more productive workplaces in
Europe by playing an important part in the creation of a European OSH risk prevention
culture based on tripartism. This is an essential element in a smart, sustainable and
inclusive economy as defined
the Europe
2020 Strategy.
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OF TRADE
UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
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THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
Values:
The values prescribe EU-OSHA’s desired behaviour, character and culture. The values also
set a framework for decision-making.
The current values are:
Pan-European: EU-OSHA brings together actors from across Europe to create a common
European approach to occupational safety and health, we believe that this is essential if our
activities are to provide European added value
Relevant and responsive: EU-OSHA sees occupational safety and health as an integral
part of Europe’s social policy and as a pre-requisite for employment and competitiveness. By
responding to user needs with practical and user-friendly information, we ensure our work is
relevant to Europe’s social and economic agenda, to our stakeholders and end-users
Reliable and transparent: the information provided by EU-OSHA should be accurate and
unbiased
Tripartite: EU-OSHA works on the basis of, and promotes, tripartism, and
Partnership- and network-based: EU-OSHA cooperates with relevant partners and
participates in – or creates – networks to carry out initiatives at a pan-European level
It is suggested that most of these values are still relevant and should be the basis for the
next strategy period. The proposal below therefore includes very few modifications. It adds
“accountability” as a value which is an issue continuously being stressed and which is a key
issue for the Agency governance structure. The formulation for some of the values has been
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slightly adapted to clarify what their meaning.
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
Values:
It is suggested that the values for the next strategy are:
European: EU-OSHA creates European added value by bringing together actors from
across Europe and by providing the instruments to create a common approach to
occupational safety and health,
Relevant: EU-OSHA ensures that its activities are relevant to the most pressing OSH needs
in Europe and contribute to the realisation of wider EU objectives as expressed in sectoral
strategies or in Europe 2020,
Tripartite: EU-OSHA works on the basis of, and promotes, tripartism,
Partnership- and network-based: EU-OSHA participates in networks and builds
communities to create European added value,
Reliable: EU-OSHA sees the quality assurance of its work as a key condition for success,
Accountable: EU-OSHA places great importance on accountability towards its
stakeholders, particularly its Board and the European Institutions
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
Strategic activities:
The reference point for the strategic activities are the mission and vision statements above.
The Agency should undertake activities in the following areas to fulfill its mission and vision:
• Anticipating change: new and emerging risks
• Facts and figures
• Tools for OSH management
• Networking knowledge
• Raising awareness
• Good Governance
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
Strategic activities:
The reference point for the strategic activities are the mission and vision statements above.
The Agency should undertake activities in the following areas to fulfill its mission and vision:
Anticipating change: new and emerging risks
Through its European Risk Observatory, the Agency aims to identify new and
emerging risks in occupational safety and health, in order to improve the
timeliness and effectiveness of preventive measures. This activity started when
the Community Strategy 2002-06 indicated that “anticipating new and emerging
risks, whether they be linked to technical innovation or caused by social change,
is vital if the risks are to be brought under control”, and the Observatory has
piloted forecast and foresight techniques as the best available instruments to
identify new and emerging OSH risks.
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
Strategic activities:
The reference point for the strategic activities are the mission and vision statements above.
The Agency should undertake activities in the following areas to fulfill its mission and vision:
Facts and figures
Decision-makers need to have an accurate and comprehensive picture of OSH
risks, their health effects and how they are prevented and managed. The Agency’s
regulation requires it to “supply the Community bodies and the Member States with
the objective available technical, scientific and economic information they require to
formulate and implement judicious and effective policies designed to protect the
safety and health of workers”. Instruments such as ESENER aim to provide that
evidence base for policy-makers and researchers. These instruments can be
complemented with data from other sources, such as estimates of the occupational
burden of disease and injury, or the costs of ‘non-OSH’, to better guide decisionmaking and the prioritisation of resources.
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
Strategic activities:
The reference point for the strategic activities are the mission and vision statements above.
The Agency should undertake activities in the following areas to fulfill its mission and vision:
Networking knowledge
A key role for EU-OSHA is to “collect, analyse and disseminate technical, scientific
and economic information” on risks, good practices and research aspects of
occupational safety and health. This represents a very broad remit which –combined
with different information needs across the 27 Member States, the goal of covering
24 languages, and the ever-growing task of maintaining the currency of the
information– constitutes a very demanding challenge to meet with the available
resources. Recently, the growing availability and popularity of social media and
collaborative tools provide a great opportunity to bring together all the available
knowledge across the large ‘OSH community’ of practitioners and researchers. By
mobilising this OSH community through instruments such as the OSHwiki, the
Agency can promote and facilitate the generation and maintenance of a body of
knowledge well beyond what would be possible with only its limited own resources.
At the same time, social media such as Twitter allow the Agency to communicate
instantly and at very low cost with a growing number and variety of users.
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
Strategic activities:
The reference point for the strategic activities are the mission and vision statements above.
The Agency should undertake activities in the following areas to fulfill its mission and vision:
Raising awareness
Getting the occupational safety and health message across to multiple target groups
and beneficiaries, including policy-makers, researchers, social partners and others,
and raising awareness about workplace risks and how to prevent them are key
elements in the creation of a culture in which occupational safety and health risks
are prevented. The Agency’s Healthy Workplaces Campaigns, and the more
focused promotion and communication activities on specific topics, play an
important role in reaching this goal by bringing the available information to the
different target groups, primarily intermediaries and other message multipliers, with
the ultimate aim of benefiting people at European workplaces.
Beneficiaries are those, who an activity is designed to support or help. The Agency,
in most cases, does not work directly with beneficiaries but with others (target
groups) who are in contact with or can influence the beneficiaries. The Agency, in
most cases, aims at increasing the capacity and understanding of target groups
(e.g. by providing them with
tools)
for OF
them
to better
help and support beneficiaries.
THE
ROLE
TRADE
UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland
Strategic activities:
The reference point for the strategic activities are the mission and vision statements above.
The Agency should undertake activities in the following areas to fulfill its mission and vision:
Good Governance
The Agency’s decisions and their implementation will be guided by Good
Governance principles. This implies that the mission and vision statements together
with the aim of producing results for the Agency’s users will guide the Agency.
Consequently, decisions will be informed and taken in a transparent way, and risks
associated with the Agency’s activities will be managed. Ensuring accountability
towards its different stakeholders, especially the Board and the European
institutions, will be a key priority. Some of the Agency’s main building blocks in
ensuring Good Governance are the efficient and effective management of its
resources (particularly its Human and Financial Resources), an effective Governing
Board, and fulfilling its social and environmental responsibility
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS
REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
[email protected] (2011)
THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS REGARDING THE COMMUNITY STRATEGY
ON HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
12-13 December 2011, Krakow, Poland