Health and Safety

The European Commission launched on 25 March 2008 a public consultation on patient safety.
The consultation aims at developing the Commission’s proposal for on general patient safety issues planned for the end of 2008.The proposal will address the important issue of patient safety throughout the European Union including a specific section on addressing healthcare-associated infections (HCAI), on which separate public consultations have been held.
Two main goals of the Commission’s general (...)

On 31 January 2008, the European Risk Observatory (ERO), part of EU-OSHA, unveiled the emerging risks related to workplaces.
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA), is the European technical agency promoting a culture of risk prevention to ensure safer, healthier and more productive workplaces in Europe. As part of OSHA, the European Risk Observatory (ERO) provides information on safety and health at work in Europe, describes trends, anticipates changes in work and (...)

A study by a specialised unit of the European Agency for Safety and Work (EU-OSHA), unveils the risky working conditions faced by many migrants.
The report published by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), was researched and written by the European Risk Observatory (ERO) and analyses issues related to occupational safety and health of migrant workers.
The overview of migrant workers is complex. Migrants can be found concentrated in some high skill sectors such IT. (...)

Launched by the Commission, the new five year plan concerning safety and health at work aims at cutting work-related accidents by a quarter across the EU.
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 (...)

A series of seminars have been anounced by the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work targeting small firms in the new Member States

The World Health Organisation European branch has carried out a review of housing and health regulations in selected European countries with cooperation and support from the French Ministry of Health, the Region Emilia Romagna and the city of Forlì (Italy).
The WHO’s Housing and Health programme aims to highlight the relationship betwen housing conditions and the health status of European citizens, as well as propose effective strategies that ensure housing conditions positively (...)

*UPDATED with the Council conclusions*. The European Commission has unveiled the Community Strategy for health and safety at work 2007-2012 which aims to achieve a 25% overall reduction of occupational accidents and diseases in the EU.
The new strategy builds upon the evaluation of the previous Community strategy on health and safety at work 2002-2006 and on European legislations on the matter. It is worth noting that the European Union has legislative competence on health and safety at (...)

The European Union is falling behind other jurisdictions in terms of protecting its children and older citizens. One measure that would reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and fires, across Europe - an ignition propensity standard for cigarettes - have been implemented in other countries and should be introduced In Europe without delay.
In all countries where data is available, cigarettes are the leading cause of fire deaths. In the EU25, at least 1,000 people, including children and (...)

Safety Improvement for Patients in Europe (SIMPATIE) holds a two-day conference entitled ’Building a Strategy for Patient Safety in Europe’ on 18-19 September 2006 in Luxembourg.
The conference aims to have Consensus on a Strategy Framework for Patient Safety in Europe.
The target audience will include different groups of experts in the field of patient safety:
Simpatie expert group
National authorities/governments
International organizations (Council of Europe, WHO, OECD)
Members of (...)

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has launched a website to provide both employers and employees with information about how to make a safer and healthier work environment.
The Healthy Workplace Initiative" (HWI) gathers information about risk assessment tools and already addresses the inclusion of people with disabilities, the prevention of biological hazards and the prevention of harrassement and violence on the workplace.
The project wants to present practical information (...)