92000E2059

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2059/00

by Elisa Damião (PSE) to the Commission

(30 June 2000)

Subject: Workplace accidents

Despite the evolution of legislation in the EU in the direction of greater workplace protection and safety, in particular in the construction and processing sectors, the numbers of accidents and mortal falls have actually increased.

Legislation is clearly not enough: we have to find out whether measures proposed are suitable and whether they are being implemented.

Can the Commission state what data exist on workplace accidents and illnesses, and provide information on its assessment of the work of the national inspection and administration bodies?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(28 July 2000)

The Commission fully shares the Honourable Member's conviction that it is not enough to adopt and transpose Community directives on health and safety at work; rather, what counts is that they be enforced in practice.

The whole drift of the Commission's policy in this area is to ensure that the national legislation transposing the directives is enforced on the ground, resulting in a genuine reduction in the number of accidents at work and occupational diseases.

In this regard, the Commission, already in its last programme on safety and health at work (1996-2000)(1), adopted measures to evaluate the impact of the legislation in force.

Amongst other things this evaluation will make it possible to identify the degree of practical enforcement, as well as the efforts being made and the difficulties encountered by the various players in enforcing the law.

To this end the Commission has since 1990 been developing projects to harmonise statistics on accidents at work and occupational diseases(2). These indicators confirm that from 1993 to 1996(3) there was a slight reduction in the incidence of fatal accidents at work and accidents involving absence from work of more than three days.

However, the Commission also intends to develop other indicators, for example the existence of appropriate preventive structures and the level of investment in training in this field, which should cast more light on the impact of Community law.

Finally, in order to help ensure that Community legislation is enforced effectively and consistently by the Member States, the Commission, in its Decision of 12 July 1995(4), created a Senior Labour Inspectors Committee, whose main task is to coordinate labour inspection activities and to facilitate the pooling of experience in this area.

This Committee has devoted particular attention to the problems of monitoring inspection in high-risk sectors or activities, and has organised specific sessions devoted to agriculture, the building industry, and work involving exposure to asbestos.

(1) COM(95) 282 final.

(2) SEAT and EODS projects.

(3) Eurostat Statistics in brief Population and social conditions, Theme 3-4/2000.

(4) OJ L 188, 9.8.1995.