Health and Safety at work in Europe: an employers view

1. Health and Safety at work in Europe: an employers view Bob Koning Senior Advisor Health and Safety at work VNO-NCW EARA Conference Amsterdam, 5 October 2006

2. Relevant factors for employers Four major developments: • The European market and the global market • Ageing workers population and less young people • From welfare state to responsible society • Simplification of legislation

3. The European market and the global market • Free movement of goods, services, capital and persons • But still not a European level playing field in the area of health and safety at work

4. Ageing workers population and less young people • Necessity of increasing the employment of older workers and delaying the exit of older workers from the labour market • Necessity of improving health and safety at work and a preventative culture on the workplace

5. From welfare state to responsible society • More responsibility for citizens and enterprises, for employers and workers as well • Less collective arrangements • More private arrangements and agreements • Less government

6. Simplification of legislation • Many and complex directives • Decreasing knowledge of legal obligations amongst employers and workers • Decreasing level of acceptance for legislation as a solution for problems

7. Community Strategy on Health and Safety at work 2007-2012 • Under construction • Important elements: • Promoting the Lisbon objectives • Mainstreaming OSH in broader social and industrial strategies • Making ‘more jobs’ compatible with ‘more protection’ • Harmonisation of conditions across Member States

8. European level playing field • One European legal protection level • No decline in the European level of protection: • Increasing the protection level in current and accessing Member States • Deleting irrelevant legislation • Public domain: concrete goals with as much as possible scientific based health and safety occupational exposure limits • Private domain with agreements on company level, sectoral or central level about the equipment and/or working methods to comply with the legal obligations • A European level for enforcement

9. Review of the Dutch Working Conditions Act,the Working Conditions Degree andthe Working Conditions Regulations • Improving the responsibility of employers and workers • Less stearing by government • Decreasing the administrative burden • Decreasing the feeling of legislative burden and of the burden of compliance with the legislative obligations • More room for the choice of specific means and methods for companies and sectors • A European level playing field • No decline in the current level of protection

10. EU Directives • European Framework directive • About 20 specific directives • Many work related directivesfrom other disciplines, for example: • Machine directive • REACH • ATEX

11. EU policy on H&S at work • Development of EU directive: • From prescriptive targets and prescriptive means and methods to prescriptive targets and prescriptive exposure limits • Development European H&S Strategy: • From reports on the implementation of directives in the national legislation to attention to effectiviness • From legislation to information, promotion and influence on workers behaviour • From directive to guides for good practices • From directives to non legislative initiatives (for example European Social Dialogue)

12. Enforcement • Improving a European level for enforcement • Initiatives from Senior Labour Inspectorate Committee (SLIC): • Audits in Member States • Exchange programmes • Common projects: • 2004: Working at height • 2005: Manual lifting in the construction sector • 2006: Asbestos

13. http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/health_safety/index_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/health_safety/index_en.htm

14. http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/health_safety/asbestos_en.htmhttp://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/health_safety/asbestos_en.htm