Establishment of a European Agency for Health and Safety at Work, 1994-

The European Agency for Health and Safety at Work has been established to support the efforts of the Community, the Member States and other bodies to encourage improvements, especially in the working environment, as regards the safety and health of workers. To this end, the role of the Agency is to:

- Collect and disseminate technical, scientific and economic information in the Member States in order to pass it on to the Community bodies, Member States and other interested parties. The purpose of this collection is to identify existing national priorities and programmes and provide the necessary input to the priorities and programmes of the Community;

- Collect technical, scientific and economic information on research into safety and health at work and on other research activities which involve aspects connected with safety and health at work, and to disseminate the results of such research;

- Promote and support cooperation and exchange of information and experience amongst the Member States in the field of safety and health at work, including information on training programmes;

- Organize conferences and seminars and exchanges of experts from the Member States in the field of safety and health at work;

- Supply the Community bodies and the Member States with the objective available technical, scientific and economic information they require to formulate and implement judicious and effective policies designed to protect the safety and health of workers;

- Establish, in cooperation with the Member States, and to coordinate, a network comprising the national, Community and international bodies and organizations which provide this type of information and services;

- Collect and make available information on safety and health matters from and to third countries and international organizations (WHO, ILO, etc.);

- Provide technical, scientific and economic information on methods and tools for implementing preventive activities, paying particular attention to the specific problems of small and medium-sized enterprises;

- Contribute to the development of future Community action programmes relating to the protection of safety and health at work, without prejudice to the Commission's sphere of competence.
Among its various tasks, the Agency will provide information to the Commission to facilitate the identification, preparation and evaluation of legislation and measures concerning the protection of the safety and health of workers, notably as regards the impact of legislation on enterprises, especially SMEs.
To provide the Community bodies, the Member States and other interested actors with the technical, scientific and economic information for use in the field of safety and health at work.
No details are available for this section.
The activities of the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work are overseen by an Administrative Board, consisting of one representative from each Member State and three representatives of the Commission. In addition, there will be an equal number of members representing both employees' and employers' organizations. With the exception of the Commission representatives, all other members are appointed, on a proposal from the Member States, for a period of three years. A chairman and three vice-chairmen are elected from among the members; their mandate is to run concurrently with that of the Administrative Board.

The Agency is headed by a Director who is appointed by the Administrative Board, on a proposal from the Commission, for a period of five years. This mandate may be renewed. The Director, who is the official representative of the Agency, has responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the Agency, including the preparation and execution of the decisions and programmes adopted by the Administrative Board, the implementation of the Agency's budget, the preparation of the annual report and the preparation of the Agency's preliminary draft budget.

The Agency's activities are financed by an annual subsidy from the Commission and from other revenues gained from services rendered. The Commission subsidy is calculated on the basis of a draft budget submitted to the Commission by the Administrative Board, which much be submitted each year before the 31 March.

The Administrative Board is responsible for adopting the Agency's annual work programme on the basis of a draft drawn up by the Director, and after consulting the Commission and the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work. The annual work programmes feed into rolling four-year programmes.

In conducting the activities assigned to it, the Agency is required to work, as appropriate, with the existing institutions, foundations, specialist bodies and programmes at Community level in order to avoid any duplication of effort. In particular, the Agency is to work closely with the Dublin-based European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and the Community programmes concerning safety, hygiene and health at work.

A Network, which will function as a European monitoring system for collecting information on health and safety at work, is to be set up and coordinated by the Agency. Consisting of the main component elements of the national information networks, national focal points, and any future topic centres, the purpose of the Network is to enable maximum benefit to be derived at Community level from work already carried out by organizations in the Community and the Member States. The Network will be established in cooperation with the Member States and is due to become operational during the course of 1996.

Before the end of September 1999, the Council will review the Regulation establishing the Agency on the basis of a report from the Commission. At this juncture, the present assignments of the Agency will be assessed and, if necessary, modified.

Information and data supplied to, or emanating from, the Agency can be published and is to be made accessible to the public, in accordance with the guidelines laid down by the Administrative Board and subject to compliance with the rules of the Commission and the Member States on the dissemination of information, particularly as regards confidentiality.