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EVALUATION OF THE EUROPEAN STRATEGY ON SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK 2007-2012167part <strong>of</strong> technological development demonstrated by <strong>the</strong> work in nanotechnology,shows <strong>the</strong> way forwards.It is important, however, to ensure, that current societal trends towards riskaversiondo not result in an adverse technological development environment within<strong>the</strong> EU and that controls and safeguards are seen to be proportionate ra<strong>the</strong>r thandetrimental to innovation. Ongoing initiatives in <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> nanotechnologyprovide a valuable ‘enabling safety model’ for technological development, inmaintaining a watching brief on <strong>the</strong> health and safety implications <strong>of</strong> new andemerging risks, without unnecessarily stifling <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> those newtechnologies.It is noted that many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> issues raised in this section are reflected in <strong>the</strong>European Research Challenges for occupational safety and health, recentlypublished by PEROSH, including rehabilitation, workplace wellbeing and <strong>the</strong>multifactorial nature <strong>of</strong> MSDs 197 .6.3 Policy developmentsThe EU is currently in a defining phase. The upcoming programming period from2014 onwards is an important landmark in relation to policy developments in <strong>the</strong>EU. In addition to being heavily involved in budget negotiations, which willdetermine <strong>the</strong> distribution <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> EU budget across <strong>the</strong> different policy areas andprogrammes, <strong>the</strong> Commission has been presenting several proposals to reformmajor policy frameworks, such as <strong>the</strong> Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), <strong>the</strong>Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and <strong>the</strong> Cohesion Policy (CP). It is against thisthriving overarching setting that <strong>the</strong> future <strong>of</strong> European occupational health andsafety policies will be defined. This section looks in more details at <strong>the</strong> futuredevelopment <strong>of</strong> EU policies that are most relevant to OSH and that should be takeninto account in <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> future workers’ health and safety policies at <strong>the</strong>European level.Europe 2020 and <strong>the</strong> economic crisisThe adoption <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> “Europe 2020” Strategy has set <strong>the</strong> direction towards whichEU’s current and upcoming socio-economic policies should move, including healthand safety at work. The objective <strong>of</strong> reaching 75% employment rate by 2020 veryclearly reinforces <strong>the</strong> need for a better protection <strong>of</strong> workers’ health and safety.More effective and inclusive protection <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> health and <strong>the</strong> safety <strong>of</strong> workersensures, inter alia, that:› Workers stay longer at work and <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> costly early retirementschemes decrease;197 Sustainable workplaces <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> future – European Research Challenges foroccupational safety and health. Partnership for European Research in Occupational Safetyand Health (PEROSH), 2012http://projects.cowiportal.com/ps/A019055/Documents/3 Project documents/Interim and final report/Final report October 2012/OSH <strong>evaluation</strong>-report_Final_submitted 14 March2013.docx
168 EVALUATION OF THE EUREVALUATION OF THE EUROPEAN STRATEGY ON SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK 2007-2012168› Workers that have been affected by an accident or a long-term disease canreturn to work after a long absence;› The most vulnerable categories <strong>of</strong> workers (low-skilled, temporary, migrants,ageing, etc.) are less affected by occupational accidents and diseases;› Workers, and in particular women, have fewer difficulties combining <strong>the</strong>irpersonal and pr<strong>of</strong>essional life and involuntary part-time work is limited;› Workers are happier and more productive.Important aspects <strong>of</strong> Europe 2020 are <strong>the</strong> increase in <strong>the</strong> flexibility <strong>of</strong> labourmarkets and <strong>the</strong> support to job creation through targeted reductions <strong>of</strong> non-wagelabour costs, use <strong>of</strong> in-work benefits, flexible contractual arrangement and <strong>the</strong>promotion <strong>of</strong> lifelong learning. 198 While some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se issues are in line with betterOSH protection, in particular <strong>the</strong> promotion <strong>of</strong> up-skilling, o<strong>the</strong>rs, such as flexiblecontractual arrangements and <strong>the</strong> increasing recourse to temporary contracts, canhave negative impacts on <strong>the</strong> health and safety <strong>of</strong> workers. 199Administrative Burdens and Smart RegulationIn this particularly difficult economic context, which will keep framing policydevelopments <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> coming years, one issue has emerged that has importantconsequences for occupational health and safety. The reduction <strong>of</strong> administrativeburdens, in line with <strong>the</strong> objective <strong>of</strong> “smart” growth, has been highlighted in manypolicy documents as a priority to support job creation and economic growth. Inparticular, <strong>the</strong> 2007 Action Programme for reducing administrative burdens in <strong>the</strong>EU has set an objective <strong>of</strong> a 25% reduction in administrative burdens on companiesfrom existing regulation by 2012. 200At <strong>the</strong> same time, as has already been mentioned in this report, a High Level Group<strong>of</strong> independent stakeholders on administrative burdens, was constituted. This maderecommendations for reductions <strong>of</strong> administrative burdens in <strong>the</strong> area <strong>of</strong> “workingenvironment/employment relations”. In particular, referring to Article 9(1)(a) <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> Framework Directive, which lays out <strong>the</strong> obligation <strong>of</strong> employers to “be inpossession <strong>of</strong> an assessment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> risks to safety and health at work, includingthose facing groups <strong>of</strong> workers exposed to particular risks”, Recommendation 58 <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> HLG states that ”a redrafted / clarified Article 9 should give <strong>the</strong> Member States<strong>the</strong> flexibility to provide for exemptions, in <strong>the</strong> light <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> activities198 Council <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> European Union, EPSCO, Joint Employment Report, 8 March 2011.199 Milieu Ltd & OIM, Occupational Health and Safety Risks for <strong>the</strong> most VulnerableWorkers, Study for <strong>the</strong> European Parliament, IP/A/EMPL/ST/2010-03, August 2011, pp92-99.200 European Commission, Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in <strong>the</strong>European Union, COM(2007) 23 final, Brussels, 24.1.2007http://projects.cowiportal.com/ps/A019055/Documents/3 Project documents/Interim and final report/Final report October 2012/OSH <strong>evaluation</strong>report_Final_submitted14 March 2013.docx
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