Brussels, 26/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 25 November, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to use the 2016 report on the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020 as an opportunity to include new legislative measures on musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and harassment and violence in the workplace.
The own initiative report by Ole Christensen (S&D, Denmark) was adopted in the plenary session in Strasbourg (536 for, 95 against and 28 abstentions). Its primary objective is to make this strategic framework more comprehensive. The EP is therefore proposing the introduction of indicative targets for reducing work-related diseases and accidents. It also identified incomplete and ineffective application of the framework in its current form and calls on the Commission to introduce clear guidelines and to promote the exchange of good practices by prioritising the sectors where workers are most exposed to risks at work.
At a legislative level, the EP is highlighting better prevention of work-related illness and new and emerging risks. It has therefore asked the Commission to “submit without delay a proposal for a comprehensive legal instrument on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)”. The goal is to consolidate these legislative acts by establishing minimum requirements to protect workers against risk factors at an ergonomic level. The EP also wants the Commission to put forward a legal act based on the framework agreement on harassment and violence in the workplace and that it presents a proposal for a revision of Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers against the risks of exposure to carcinogenic or mutagenic agents, by possibly introducing more binding professional exposure limit values and by taking into account not only the period of exposure but also the mixture of chemical and/or toxic substances.
The Commission is also expected to present, “without delay”, a global strategy on endocrine disruptors and examine the possible revision of the 2006/54/EEC directive (implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment between men and women in employment and work) in order to extend its scope to new forms of violence and harassment. The EP is also suggesting a revision of the 2010/32/EEC directive on the prevention of injuries by bladed instruments in the hospital and health sector.
This report was welcomed by Marianne Thyssen (Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Workers', Mobility), who described it as “a rich and balanced report” during the plenary session debate before the vote. She pointed out that the Commission was committed to revising the current legislation on health and safety in the workplace in 2016 and emphasised that “Our ambition is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the European legislative framework for protecting workers while making the rules simpler and reducing regulatory burden and red tape, in particular for small and micro-enterprises. In addition, we need to enhance the protection of workers' health and safety and reflect recent scientific advances”. She also said that the most recent scientific data in this field will also be taken into account. She promised that in mid-2016, she would be presenting a legislative proposal to extend the list of substances for which there are occupational exposure limits in place.
The EP proposals did not go down well with the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME). The latter did not want to see legislative measures for MSDs and violence at work. In a press release published on Wednesday 25 November, the organisation's secretary general, Peter Faross, asserted that this would just increase the difficulties SMEs and micro-enterprises are facing by imposing additional costs on them. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)