Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

of data due to the need for major adaptations to national administrative and statistical systems
in order to comply in full with Regulation (EC) No 1338/2008 200 .
As regards the survey data collection on health and safety at work, on 16 March 2010 the
Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 220/2010 defining the programme of the Labour
Force Survey ad hoc modules for 2013 to 2015 201 . For the reference year 2013, the
programme includes a module on accidents at work and other work-related health problems.
Box 8.2: Significant judgements regarding EU legislation in the field of health and safety
at work in 2010 - 2012
Nussbaumer 202 : in a ruling on national legislation which provided for a derogation from the
requirement to appoint a coordinator for private construction works not subject to planning
permission, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), interpreting Article 3(1) of the Construction
Sites Directive 92/57/EEC, confirmed that a coordinator for safety and health matters must
always be appointed for a construction site on which more than one contractor is to be
present, irrespective of whether the works are subject to planning permission. Such a
coordinator is to be appointed at the project preparation stage or, in any event, before the
works commence.
In addition, while national legislation as regards private construction works not subject to
planning permission required the coordinator to draw up a safety and health plan only for such
sites where more than one contractor is engaged, the ECJ held that, pursuant to Article 3(2) of
the Directive, prior to the setting up of a construction site, a safety and health plan must be
drawn up for any construction site on which the works involve particular risks, such as those
as listed in the Directive, the number of contractors present on the site being irrelevant in that
connection.
Barcenilla Fernández 203 : In a case concerning workers working on a stone-cutting machine
with a noise level exceeding 85 dB(A), the ECJ declared that, pursuant to the Noise Directive
2003/10/EC, it is not sufficient for an employer merely to provide the workers with individual
hearing protectors reducing the noise level to below 80 dB(A). The Directive instead requires
employers to implement a programme to reduce noise exposure if the noise level exceeds 85
dB(A), measured without taking account of any individual hearing protection. Only if such a
programme does not reduce the noise levels is there an additional obligation for the employer
to provide individual hearing protection to workers.
200 OJ L 97, 12.4.2011, p. 47.
201 OJ L 67, 17.3.2010, p. 1.
202 Judgement of 7 October 2010 in case C-224/09, European Court reports 2010, page I-09295.
203 Judgement of 19 May 2011 in cases C-256/10 and C-261/10, not yet reported.
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