Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1978 > Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities > Report No. 18 - Health and Safety at Work

REPORT

Introduction

1. The Joint Committee has considered the draft Council Resolution on a Community action programme on safety and health at work which the Commission sent to the Council on 19th December, 1977 [R/3311/77 (SOC 341)]. In the Social Action Programme which it adopted in 1974 the Council committed itself to adopting a programme to improve health and safety conditions at work as one of the measures aimed at achieving one of its stated objectives, namely, the improvement of living and working conditions. The programme proposed by the Commission follows on consultations over a period of two years with national Governments, trade unions, employers and groups of experts.

2. All the Member States have a long tradition in promoting industrial safety and health. The Commission, however, is seeking to “initiate, promote and develop a common preventive policy with regard to all occupational risks”. This will make it “necessary not only to harmonise ideas and basic principles, but also to plan and guide technical progress and the organisation of work in such a way as to take account of the requirements of health and safety”.

3. The Commission has asked that the Council take a decision on the proposed programme by the end of this year. The Joint Committee is informed that the draft programme has been under examination by the Council’s Social Questions Group and that an early decision by the Council may be expected.

Proposed Programme

4. The stated objectives of the proposed programme are (a) the improvement of the working situation with a view to increased safety and with due regard to health requirements in the organisation of the work, (b) the improvement of knowledge in order to identify and assess risks and perfect prevention and control needs and (c) the improvement of human attitudes in order to promote and develop safety and health consciousness. For the attainment of these objectives the Commission is proposing the following initiatives:-

—incorporating safety aspects into the design, production and operation of places of work, machinery, equipment, etc.

—determining the exposure limits for workers of pollutants and harmful substances present or likely to be present at work

—monitoring workers’ health and safety more extensively

—enquiring into the causes of accidents and diseases and assessing the risks connected with work

—co-ordinating and promoting research on occupational health and safety, and

—developing health and safety consciousness by education and training.

In each of these areas a number of particular measures are envisaged as outlined in the draft programme.

Implications for Ireland

5. If the draft programme is accepted by the Council, it can be expected that various proposals will emanate from the Commission on the many aspects of health and safety at work covered by the programme. Until these detailed proposals are available, it is not possible to assess the ultimate effect on Irish industry and agriculture.

6. The Joint Committee is informed that it is not the intention that binding directives should be introduced for all the various measures proposed. The Committee understands that when the general framework has been agreed, the Commission intends to convene working groups of experts on the various “initiatives”, who will recommend the form of instruments to be put forward by the Commission. The general aim is to produce manuals or models at Community level which will serve as guides for individual Member States. However, some directives are likely, especially on specific pollutants.

7. There is a considerable body of legislation dealing with the occupational safety, health and welfare of workers mainly in industry which is administered by the Department of Labour. Machinery already exists for adapting existing legislation to comply with any Community legislation that may emerge. Apart from regulations under the European Communities Act, 1972, there is provision in the Safety in Industry Bill, 1978, which is at present before the Dáil, enabling the Minister for Labour to amend existing legislation by order so as to comply with any international obligations. The Bill also proposes to place a statutory obligation on suppliers of plant to ensure that such plant is provided with all necessary safeguards for its safe operation prior to its being supplied. This is in line with one of the initiatives of the draft programme.

8. The initiatives proposed in the draft programme aiming at the development in the medium and long-term of safety and health consciousness by means of education and training will be of interest to the Department of Education. Insofar as education is concerned the aim is to have the basic principles of safety and of health education taught in schools. In this connection the Commission proposes to carry out, together with the bodies responsible for national education, preparatory studies for the purpose of defining harmonised planning at Community level.

9. The question of education and training in safety consciousness at work has also a direct interest for the Department of Agriculture in that it has formed the basis of the Department’s policy in relation to the promotion of farm safety over the years. It has particular relevance to the Irish farming situation in which the major workforce is comprised of the farmers themselves and their families, rather than employed workers. The major source of accidents on Irish farms is in the handling of tractors. Other sources are in the use of other machines and implements, the use of chemicals, the handling of animals etc. The most effective way of removing these risks is considered to be the education and training of the farming community to take the necessary precautions. The Department has already been the national co-ordinator of two EEC promotions of Safety in Agriculture and will have a direct interest in any further work undertaken by the Community on the subject.

Views of Bodies Consulted

10. The Federated Union of Employers consider that the contents of the draft programme are in general acceptable. However, due to the wide scope and rather general proposals of the programme, it considers that more specific comment will only be possible on examination of eventual draft recommendations, regulations or directives. It has also drawn the Joint Committee’s attention to the success in the past of the Industrial Inspectorate’s policy actively to assist companies on safety matters and has expressed the hope that such assistance may be extended when made necessary by further measures adopted to implement the programme.

11. The Irish Farmer’s Association has expressed its full support for Community efforts in making work on farms safer. In particular, it approves of the efforts being made to improve tractor and machinery design with a view to making such machinery safer to operate. While the Association has not completed its examination of the draft programme, it has expressed reservations regarding a proposal relating to dangerous substances and preparations, for the harmonisation at Community level of working restrictions and prohibitions and the number of hours worked. It favours reasonable measures to make the use of toxic chemical substances safer but stresses the need for ensuring that measures adopted are workable and practical. In regard to the proposed monitoring of hygiene and working conditions from which types of exposure to different physical, chemical and biological agents present in the working environment are derived, the Association considers it desirable that some of this monitoring should be done in Ireland so that due account is taken of Irish conditions.

12. Mr. Donal O’Sullivan of the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union expressed whole-hearted support of the proposed programme. In his view, it embraces a number of areas notably that of health at work in which improvements are urgently needed in Ireland. He believes that developments in several Member States are already in advance of those in this country and that the adoption of a common programme would facilitate the raising of standards here.

Views of the Joint Committee

13. The Joint Committee regards the proposed Community programme as an excellent framework within which the better protection of workers can be pursued. As the least industrially advanced of the Member States, Ireland has the opportunity of ensuring that in newly established industries the highest standards in the matter of safety and health are adopted from the outset and the standards which will be more readily accepted are those that are the product of wide ranging research and have the support of internationally acknowledged experts. The proposed programme should help to achieve that objective if it is adopted.

14. The Joint Committee welcomes the emphasis placed on the proposed programme on the need for incorporating safety aspects in the design of workplaces, machinery, equipment and plant. It also commends the stress placed on health at work, an aspect which could perhaps be given more attention in this country. In the Committee’s view there is need not merely for ensuring that proper standards are prescribed but also for regular monitoring of workers’ health to ensure the adequacy of those standards. The promotion of health and safety consciousness is obviously a necessary ingredient of the programme and in the Committee’s view training programmes should be expected to contribute to this task.

15. The proposed programme ranges over such a wide field that there will presumably be a need, if the programme is adopted, to establish priorities and to set a time scale for the implementation of the various measures. The Joint Committee would like to see some priority given to the action proposed in relation to (a) noise and vibration control, (b) harmonisation of permissible levels of exposure to toxic substances or physically harmful substances, (c) carcinogens, (d) toxicological evaluation and (e) monitoring of workers’ safety and health.

Acknowledgements

16. The Joint Committee wishes to record its appreciation of the considerable assistance it received in examining this proposal from the Federated Union of Employers, the Irish Farmers Association and Mr. Donal O’Sullivan of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union.

(Signed) EOIN RYAN,

Vice-Chairman of the Joint Committee.

28th June, 1978.