The European agency for safety and health at work
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is the European Union’s information agency for occupational safety and health (work safety). EU-OSHA contributes to the European Commission’s Strategic Framework for Safety and Health at work 2014-2020 and other relevant EU strategies and programs, such as Europe 2020 .
EU-OSHA works to make European workplaces safer, healthier and more productive. To learn more about EU-Osha you can visit their homepage or look at the Youtube video about EU-OSHA below |
By clicking on the image below you will access the webpage of the European Agency for Safety and health at work
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European legislation
A wide variety of Community measures in the field of work safety have been adopted on the basis of Article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. European directives are legally binding and are implemented through the national legislation of Member States. The EU legislation on work safety is built around the two terms ‘working environment’ and ‘health’. Both terms are not defined in the EU legislation itself but they are important for the context and understanding
European Directives set out minimum requirements and fundamental principles, such as the principle of prevention and risk assessment, as well as the responsibilities of employers and employees. A series of European guidelines aims to facilitate the implementation of European directives as well as European standards which are adopted by European standardisation organisations.
Member States may adopt stricter rules to protect workers but their legislation must comply with the minimum standards. As a result, national safety and health legislation varies across Europe.
European Directives set out minimum requirements and fundamental principles, such as the principle of prevention and risk assessment, as well as the responsibilities of employers and employees. A series of European guidelines aims to facilitate the implementation of European directives as well as European standards which are adopted by European standardisation organisations.
Member States may adopt stricter rules to protect workers but their legislation must comply with the minimum standards. As a result, national safety and health legislation varies across Europe.
Workplace minimum requirements
The European Directives on work safety all set minimum standards for protecting workers. Member States may exceed those standards when transposing the Directives, but they may not lower existing ones.
The Framework Directive (1989/391/EEC) can be looked as the 'basic law' when it comes to work safety in the. The Framework Directive establishes common principles which are generally applicable. They are specified further by nineteen individual directives or daughter Directives, based on Article 16 (1) of the Framework Directive. Among the 19 individual directives we want to lift up 4 principles that are of importance when it comes to work safety during work base learning
Directive 1989/654 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace establishes basic requirements for safety and health at workplaces in general, aiming at introducing minimum measures in order to improve the working environment and to guarantee a better standard of work safety.
The Directive gives a basic definition for workplaces: A workplace is a ‘workstation housed on the premises of the undertaking and/or establishment, and any other place within the area of the undertaking to which the worker has access in the course of his/her employment.’
It is important to remember that the Directive does not apply to all kind of workplaces. A workplace in the meaning of this definition must be temporary and spatially permanent, i.e. in buildings or on the permanent site of the company. The Directive does not apply to:
The Framework Directive (1989/391/EEC) can be looked as the 'basic law' when it comes to work safety in the. The Framework Directive establishes common principles which are generally applicable. They are specified further by nineteen individual directives or daughter Directives, based on Article 16 (1) of the Framework Directive. Among the 19 individual directives we want to lift up 4 principles that are of importance when it comes to work safety during work base learning
- The general responsibility of the employer for preventing ill-health at work
- The obligation of the employer to take appropriate measures to make work safer and healthier
- Key elements of the safety processes, in particular the risk assessment and training;
- Inclusion of the workers and their representatives.
Directive 1989/654 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace establishes basic requirements for safety and health at workplaces in general, aiming at introducing minimum measures in order to improve the working environment and to guarantee a better standard of work safety.
The Directive gives a basic definition for workplaces: A workplace is a ‘workstation housed on the premises of the undertaking and/or establishment, and any other place within the area of the undertaking to which the worker has access in the course of his/her employment.’
It is important to remember that the Directive does not apply to all kind of workplaces. A workplace in the meaning of this definition must be temporary and spatially permanent, i.e. in buildings or on the permanent site of the company. The Directive does not apply to:
- mobile workplaces in means of transport used outside the premises of the company and workplaces situated inside means of transport (e.g. drivers, machine operators and ticket inspectors);
- temporary workplaces;
- workplaces on mobile work sites