Brussels, 05/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EBC (European Builders Confederation) has joined UEAPME (EUROPE 9019) in calling upon the members of the European Parliament to exclude sun rays from the directive on the protection of workers from optic rays. The EBC notes that if this draft legislation is adopted as it stands, employers will be obliged to (1) assess the dangers to their employees when they are exposed to the sun (how often: daily, monthly, annually?); (2) take protection measures (in what form? Will they have to provide their employees with adequate protective equipment: hats, T-shirts, sunglasses, sunscreen?). Over and above the legal shortcomings of the text, the association is also questioning the commitment to this issue on the part of certain representatives of the European Commission and the Council, who have curtailed the scope of this legislation, and who seem to think that all the employer will have to do is look out of the window every morning and warn his or her employees, by asking them to wear a hat and a T-shirt...
Craft and SMEs involved in the construction sector already made a commitment several years ago, which was in itself not without its problems, in the form of programmes to prevent risks in the workplace, the EBC stresses, warning that their reaction would be extremely negative if new constraints were imposed upon them for risks which they could not accept to be held responsible for. Effectively, they could be found responsible in cases brought against them by former employers suffering from diseases linked to exposure to the sun, even although it is not possible to prove that this sun exposure came about slowly in the exercise of their professional duty. "This type of regulation is a perfect example of the ridiculous obligations imposed upon businesses, and which are a negative incentive to enterprise", said the president of the EBC, Jean Lardin. This is why construction-sector craft and small and medium-sized businesses are calling on all MEPs to vote in favour of the amendments put forward by rapporteur Ory, which aim to bring the principle of subsidiarity to the fore, and make it up to the Member States to decide whether or not assessment and prevention obligations in terms of sun risk be included in their own national legislation.