Community strategy for improving health and safety at work

The new strategy will be in effect from 2007-2012 and follows the previous community strategy of 2002-2006, which is proving to be effective. The main challenge of the new strategy is to reduce the total incidence rate of accidents by 25% in the EU-27.

To achieve this goal, the Commission has proposed the following:
 guarantee the proper implementation of EU legislation
 support SMEs [1] in the implementation of the legislation in force
 adapt the legal framework to changes in the workplace and simplify it, particularly in view of SMEs
 promote the development and implementation of national strategies
 encourage changes in the behavior of workers and encourage their employers to adopt health-focused approaches
 finalize the methods for identifying and evaluating new potential risks
 improve the tracking of progress
 promote health and safety at international level

Challenges concerned with health and safety at work

Results from the latest European survey of working conditions demonstrate that many workers believe that their jobs negatively impact their health and safety. Some categories of workers are still overexposed to occupational risks including young workers, workers with job insecurity, older workers, and migrant workers. Also, certain types of companies are more vulnerable to hazards than others. For example, SMEs often have limited resources for installing complex systems of worker protection, and some are just more susceptible to the negative impact of health and safety problems. Another challenge comes with the fact that some occupations are dangerous, providing a substantial increase in risk of injury. The presence of these continuing challenges underlines the need for persistent work to improve health and safety throughout the EU.

Importance of health and safety at work

In the EU-15, workers are injured in accidents every five seconds. Furthermore, one dies every two hours. Overall, this equals 7.6 million accidents at work and 4,900 fatalities every year. In addition, a significant amount of these injuries result in three days of absence from work. Not only is health and safety at work important to the individual, but also it is important to the business. The cost of accidents at work and occupational illnesses ranges from about 3-4% of Gross National Product. In addition to individual businesses, national economies feel the detrimental impact of these statistics.

Role of the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is a key player within the framework of this strategy. The Commission has called upon the agency to carry out the following actions:

 ensure that its activities raise awareness and promote and disseminate best practice, focus to greater degree on high-risk sectors and SMEs
 review the extent to which health and safety aspects have been incorporated into Member States’ vocational and occupational training policies
 anticipate risks associated with new technologies, biological hazards, complex human-machine interfaces, and the impact of demographic trends
 develop sectoral awareness raising campaigns targeted at SMEs in particular, and promote the management of health and safety at work enterprises

For further information:
 Community strategy 2007-2012 on health and safety at work
 Fourth European Working Conditions Survey