Health and safety at work
Improving health and safety at work has been an important concern for the EU since the 1980s. Legislation at European level sets minimum standards for the protection of workers, while allowing Member States to maintain or introduce more stringent measures. Health and safety at work is a key component of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan.
Legal basis
Articles 91, 114, 115, 151, 153 and 352 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
Objectives
On the basis of Article 153 TFEU, the EU can adopt legislation (directives) on health and safety at work in order to support and complement the activities of the Member States. Legislation at EU level lays down minimum requirements, while allowing the Member States to introduce a higher level of protection at national level if they wish. The Treaty also stipulates that the directives adopted must not impose administrative, financial or legal constraints that would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Achievements
A. Institutional development
Under the auspices of the European Coal and Steel Community, various research programmes were carried out in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH). The need for a global approach to the matter became manifest with the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957. The Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work was set up in 1974 to assist the Commission. Minimum OSH requirements were needed in order to complete the EU single market, so a number of directives were adopted, including on metallic lead, asbestos and noise.
1. Single European Act
The adoption of the Single European Act in 1987 brought health and safety at work into the EEC Treaty for the first time, in an article laying down minimum requirements and allowing the Council to adopt occupational health and safety directives by qualified majority. The aims were: to improve workers’ health and safety at work; to harmonise conditions in the working environment; to prevent ‘social dumping’; and to prevent companies from moving to areas with a lower level of protection in order to gain a competitive edge.
2. Treaty of Amsterdam (1997)
The Amsterdam Treaty strengthened the status of employment issues by introducing the title on employment and the Social Agreement. For the first time, directives setting out minimum requirements in the field of health and safety at work and working conditions were adopted by both Parliament and the Council by means of the codecision procedure.
3. Contribution of the Lisbon Treaty (2007)
The Treaty of Lisbon contains a ‘social clause’ under which social requirements must be taken into account in the EU’s policies. With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union became legally binding on the Member States when they apply EU law.
4. European Pillar of Social Rights (2017)
The European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) sets out 20 rights and principles, including the right, enshrined in Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, to working conditions which respect workers’ health, safety and dignity. According to principle 10 of the EPSR, workers have the right to a high level of protection of their health and safety at work, as well as the right to a working environment adapted to their professional needs and which enables them to prolong their participation in the labour market. The EPSR, though not legally binding, is a package of legislative and soft-law measures that aims to drive upward convergence in the EU.
B. Milestones
1. Framework Directive 89/391/EEC and individual directives:
The adoption of Framework Directive 89/391/EEC, with its specific focus on the culture of prevention, was a milestone. It forms the basis for 25 individual directives in different areas and for Council Regulation (EC) No 2062/94 establishing a European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
The individual directives include the following:
- Health and safety requirements for the workplace (89/654/EEC) and the provision of safety and/or health signs at work (92/58/EEC);
- The use of work equipment (89/655/EEC amended by Directive 2001/45/EC and Directive 2009/104/EC); of personal protective equipment (89/656/EEC) and work with display screen equipment (90/270/EEC) and manual handling (90/269/EEC);
- Sectors: temporary or mobile construction sites (92/57/EEC); mineral-extracting industries (drilling) (92/91/EEC; 92/104/EEC) and fishing vessels (93/103/EC);
- Groups: pregnant workers (92/85/EEC) and protection of young people at work (94/33/EC);
- Agents: protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work (2004/37/EC), chemical agents at work (98/24/EC, amended by Directive 2000/39/EC and Directive 2009/161/EU), asbestos at work (2009/148/EC, amended by Directive (EU) 2023/2668), biological agents at work (2000/54/EC); protection against ionising radiation (Directive 2013/59/Euratom); protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres (Directive 1999/92/EC); exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibration) (2002/44/EC), noise (2003/10/EC), electromagnetic fields (2004/40/EC, amended by Directive 2013/35/EU), and artificial optical radiation (2006/25/EC);
- Substances: alignment of several directives on classification, labelling and packing of substances and mixtures (Directive 2014/27/EU).
Social partner agreements concluded within social dialogues are another way to initiate OSH legislation (2.3.7).
2. Recent and ongoing initiatives
Updating Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work is an ongoing process which will continue in the future: a first batch of 13 substances was covered in a proposal in May 2016, adopted in December 2017 (Directive (EU) 2017/2398). A second proposal in January 2017 reviewing limits for a further seven substances was adopted in January 2019 as Directive (EU) 2019/130 after Parliament succeeded in getting an occupational exposure limit value for diesel engine exhaust included in the scope. A third proposal in April 2018, covering a further five substances used in metallurgy, electroplating, mining, recycling, laboratories and healthcare, was adopted in June 2019 (Directive (EU) 2019/983). A fourth revision of the directive, with new or revised limit values for three cancer-causing substances (acrylonitrile, nickel compounds and benzene) was adopted in March 2022 (Directive (EU) 2022/431). The directive was one of the first measures adopted under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. In February 2023, the Commission proposed another update of Directive 2004/37/EC and an amendment to the Chemical Agents Directive (98/24/EC) in order to lower the limit values for lead and add a limit value for diisocyanates to the Chemical Agents Directive. Both lead and diisocyanates are used during building renovations, in the production of batteries and wind turbines and in the manufacturing of electric vehicles. The updated directive was adopted in March 2024 (Directive (EU) 2024/869) and will help to protect those working to ensure the green transition. In February 2025, the Commission presented an indicative list of hazardous medicinal products (HMPs) with a view to protecting nurses, pharmacists and radiotherapists working in oncology and veterinarians. This communication is in the context of the Commission’s commitment to continuously update Directive 2004/37/EC.
Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biological Agents Directive (2000/54/EC) was updated to include SARS-CoV-2 in the list of biological agents. In November 2022, the Commission adopted a recommendation on recognising COVID-19 as an occupational disease in certain cases.
In September 2022, the Commission presented a communication on working towards an asbestos-free future and a proposal to amend the directive on asbestos at work in order to further reduce workers’ exposure (adopted in November 2023 as Directive (EU) 2023/2668).
In the light of the increasing use of digital technologies at work, the Commission incorporated OSH aspects into Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 on machinery. OSH aspects are also addressed in the Artificial Intelligence Act and the directive on improving conditions in platform work, which also addresses the health and safety risks of algorithmic management.
3. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), a tripartite agency based in Bilbao, promotes a culture of risk prevention through knowledge and information sharing. Its web-based platform for Online interactive Risk Assessment (OiRA) contains SME-friendly sectoral risk assessment tools in all languages, and the Dangerous Substances e-tool provides company-specific advice on dangerous substances and chemical products, and on good practices and protective measures. The agency’s European Risk Observatory monitors and forecasts new and emerging risks. It also runs ‘healthy workplaces’ awareness-raising campaigns. The 2023-2025 campaign focuses on the impact of new technologies on work and the associated OSH challenges and opportunities.
C. Community action programmes and strategies on health and safety at work
Between 1951 and 1997, European Coal and Steel Community research programmes operated in the field of health and safety at work. The European Social Agenda, adopted in 2000, introduced a more strategic approach at EU level. Subsequent strategic frameworks focused on prevention, achieving a continuous reduction in occupational accidents and diseases in the EU, the ageing workforce, and improving and simplifying rules. Particular attention has always been paid to the needs of micro- and small businesses.
The 2021-2027 EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work focuses on anticipating and managing change in the new world of work, improving the prevention of workplace accidents and illnesses, and increasing preparedness for any potential future health crises.
Role of the European Parliament
Parliament has frequently emphasised the need for optimal protection of workers’ health and safety. It has adopted resolutions calling for all aspects directly or indirectly affecting the physical or mental well-being of workers to be covered by EU legislation. It supports the Commission in its efforts to improve the provision of information to SMEs. It takes the view that work must be adapted to people’s abilities and needs, and not vice versa, and that working environments should take greater account of the special needs of vulnerable workers.
Parliament has urged the Commission to investigate emerging risksthat are not covered by current legislation, e.g. exposure to nanoparticles, stress, burnout and violence and harassment in the workplace. In particular, Parliament was instrumental in the adoption of a framework agreement signed by the EU social partners on preventing injuries caused by medical sharps in the hospital and healthcare sector, which was implemented by Council Directive 2010/32/EU.
In September 2018, Parliament adopted a resolution on pathways for the reintegration of workers recovering from injury and illness into quality employment, based on three pillars: prevention and early intervention, return to work, and changing attitudes towards the reintegration of workers. In October 2021, Parliament adopted a resolution with recommendations to the Commission on protecting workers from asbestos. It proposed developing a comprehensive European strategy for the removal of all asbestos in order to safely remove the substance from the built environment once and for all and thus better protect workers and citizens. It also proposed updating Directive 2009/148/EC on asbestos. A revised directive has since been adopted.
Beyond amending proposed legislation and monitoring and encouraging the Commission’s other work in the field of health and safety, Parliament also approaches the subject in a forward-looking manner, looking into new risks. It addressed the increasing use of digital technologies and teleworking and the impact on workers’ physical and mental health in its resolution of 21 January 2021 on the right to disconnect. On 10 March 2022, Parliament adopted a resolution on a new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020, in which it makes a series of demands, including for more ambitious action on work-related cancer, a broader and more comprehensive directive on musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases, and for the gender dimension to be mainstreamed in all OSH measures. It also calls for the right to disconnect to be included in the strategic framework and for a directive to be proposed on the prevention of psychosocial risks. On 5 July 2022, Parliament adopted a resolution on mental health in the digital world of work, recognising the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organisation of work and the mental health of workers. In the resolution, Parliament calls on the Commission to propose legislative initiatives on the management of psychosocial risks and well-being at work and to put forward an EU mental health strategy and a European care strategy, both of which the Commission has since presented. On 12 December 2023, Parliament’s resolution on mental health urged the Commission to revise the European Schedule for occupational diseases (Recommendation (EU) 2022/2337) so as to include work-related mental health conditions, in particular depression, burnout, anxiety and stress. In March 2024, Parliament adopted a resolution giving consent to the draft Council decision inviting the Member States to ratify the International Labour Organization’s 2019 Violence and Harassment Convention (No 190).
Parliament also addressed oral questions to the Commission on mental health at work and improving firefighters’ working conditions.
For more information on this topic, please see the website of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.
Victor Manuel Martinez Garzon / Monika Makay