Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors. Annual Report

Transcription

1 Doc.828_EN EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Employment and Social Legislation, Social Dialogue Health, Safety and Hygiene at Work Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors Annual Report 2014 Adopted at the 68 th SLIC Plenary, Riga-LATVIA, 27 May 2015

2 CONTENTS 1. FOREWORD OVERVIEW: THE COMMITTEE OF SENIOR LABOUR INSPECTORS ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE OF SENIOR LABOUR INSPECTORS Plenaries Working Groups National Labour Inspections Evaluations Labour Inspectors Exchange Programme SLIC Campaigns Thematic Days Publications and Guidelines Annexes 1. Extract Commission Decision, 95/319/EC. Article 3 2. Members of the Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors ( ) 3. Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors - Working Groups (2014) 4. Progress report against SLIC plan of work Main topics of the SLIC labour inspectors exchange programme

3 1. FOREWORD This Annual Report on the activities of the Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors (SLIC) in 2014 Report is prepared in accordance with Article 12 of the Commission's Decision of 12 July 1995 setting up a Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors 1 as amended by Commission Decision of 22 October Particular highpoints include: The topic of the 2016 SLIC campaign was decided. It will tackle the safety and health of temporary agency workers. Germany will lead the campaign. The Labour Inspectorates from Austria, France, Poland, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal will collaborate in the preparation of the campaign during 2015 A document on how to improve the functioning of SLIC working groups was endorsed The plenary approved a procedure to adopt a SLIC campaign. A tender procedure for a study contract on LI and small and micro companies was launched Evaluating the national labour inspectorates (NLIs) according to the Common Principles approved by the SLIC: the labour inspectorates of Finland and United Kingdom were assessed. Promoting exchanges for labour inspectors between the national labour inspection services: this programme allowed in 2014, 21 inspectors to participate. These activities take forward the plan of work published by the Committee 2. We would like to acknowledge the support and commitment of the Committee, the national labour inspectorates and their inspectors, who through their active and enthusiastic participation in plenaries, working groups, and the conduct of campaigns have contributed to a successful Chairperson: Maria Teresa Moitinho de Almeida Health, Safety and Hygiene Unit Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion European Commission Secretariat to the Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors: 1 OJ No. L 188, , p.11 2 EU strategic priorities, A submission from SLIC-Doc.2091_EN/FR/DE 3

4 Arsenio Fernandez Anna-Maria Luciano Julia Svet 4

5 2. OVERVIEW: THE COMMITTEE OF SENIOR LABOUR INSPECTORS The Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors (SLIC) was established in The Committee consists of one representative - typically the Directors or Chief Executive Officers - from each labour inspection services of the Member States. The Committee assists the Commission on problems relating to the enforcement of EU law on health and safety, and encourages its effective enforcement, notably by means of a closer cooperation between the national labour inspection services. In so doing, the Committee works towards the achievement of a series of objectives (see Annex 1). The administration of the Committee is undertaken by a Bureau. The Bureau comprises the chairman and a troika drawn from the Member States which hold the Presidency - past, current and future - and it is supported by a secretariat. In 2014, the Committee comprised 28 members (see Annex 2). As observers, EFTA countries, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) participated in the plenaries. In 2014, the Committee held its two plenary meetings: the 66 th plenary meeting in Athens Greece- on 27 May 2014, and the 67 th plenary meeting held in Rome Italy- on 14 November Throughout the year, working groups (see Annex 3) worked to deliver the 2014 components of the Committee's Plan of Work, Each plenary meeting was preceded by a thematic day at which a topic of mutual interest, and future impact, was examined. In 2014, the thematic days were devoted to: Greece: worker involvement in the management of occupational health and safety in small businesses. Italy: non-standard work and OSH. Presentations and final reports of both events are available on the SLIC CIRCABC site: 3. ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE OF SENIOR LABOUR INSPECTORS The activities of the Committee are set out in a three-year programme of work. Annex 4 contains a 2014 progress report of the SLIC plan of work. 5

6 3.1 Plenaries Main decisions adopted in the 66 th Plenary: The revision of the mandate of the WG Review of the SLIC activities was approved so as to allow this WG to draw up a proposal for an update of the SLIC common principles. The revision of the mandate of the WG Chemex was approved so as to allow this WG to prepare prepare a questionnaire for labour inspectorates on how in practice IOELVs are implemented across MS, and a collaborative work on dangerous substances. The first substance to be dealt with is respirable crystalline silica The plenary approved the proposals from the WG Cross-border enforcement regarding: a) the preparation of a proposal to enlarge the IMI questionnaire on OSH cross-border enforcement; b) the participation of a member of the WG in the Expert s Group of Posting workers or the setting up of a joint sub-wg and c) the addition of an activity on mutual assistance even joint inspections from different Member States- in the SLIC 2016 campaign. A task-and-finish WG was set up so as to study the impact of the economic crisis in the EU Labour Inspectorates. The plenary approved a guide on how to prepare and carry out a SLIC campaign. The topic of the 2016 SLIC campaign was decided. It will tackle the safety and health of temporary agency workers. Germany will lead the campaign. The Labour Inspectorates from Austria, France, Poland, Luxembourg, Spain and Portugal will collaborate in the preparation of the campaign during The topic of the Thematic Day to be held in Latvia was decided: it will deal with the different approaches taken by the Labour Inspection when enforcing the OSH legislation - control vs. advice- and with the effectiveness of sanctions and other disciplines. Main decisions adopted in the 67 th Plenary: Working group enforcement will prepare a paper on the EP Resolution of 14 January 2014 on labour inspection; a questionnaire will be sent to NLIs on planning and programming inspections. A document prepared by the WG Review of the SLIC activities on how to improve the functioning of SLIC working groups was endorsed. The Monitoring Committee of the Study Contract on LI and small and micro companies was appointed, made up by EC, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The evaluation teams for the 2015 peer-review exercises were nominated. The national labour inspectorates to be evaluated are Belgium and Portugal. Adoption of the topic for the Thematic Day to be held in Luxembourg: training and recruitment of labour inspectors/an initiative on an EU training action. SLIC Secretariat should prepare a mandate for the WG Strategy, which will be entrusted with the revision of the SLIC plan of work in the light of the EU OSH new Strategic Framework 6

7 3.2 Working Groups A number of working groups that support the Committee focus on specific technical and administrative aspects of the implementation and compliance with EU legislation. The sections below set out some of their activities in Machinery-Machex Working group Machex met on 4-5 March The proposal submitted to the SLIC plenary to the theme of the 2016 campaign, on work equipment, was ratified, with a small change, in order to allow each country to choose the productive sector, or the type of equipment, to work with. Concerning the Meaning and limits of the word exceptionally, as used in 2009/104/EC and its interplay with 2006/42/EC, Luxembourg will send a questionnaire to all member states in order to systematize all the information that is now dispersed. Regarding the contribution that Machex could give for the evaluation of H&S Directives, namely, the 2009/104/EC Directive - Work Equipment Directive -, and it s interplay with related Directives, a task and finish working group (SLIC WG MACHEX sub-group review EU OSH legislation) was created, made up with Cyprus, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and Portugal as coordinator. This ad-hoc WG met on 5 th November 2014 in Luxembourg. Their work will be presented at the next WG Machex meeting, which will be held on 11 and 12 March Chemical substances-chemex The working group met three times, in March, June and September Information was gathered about OSH Health Surveillance in aircraft cabins. 23 of the 28 MSs responded to the questions set via KSS providing a useful overview of the respective roles of the different national regulators in this sector. Work stream consisting in the production of CHEMEX REACH guidance for NLIs was completed. CHEMEX WG together with DG EMPL had developed a draft paper and question set to gather the necessary information regarding the implementation of OELs at a national level. Next step will be to upload this to KSS and report back on outcomes. The aim of this project is to better understand how MSs implement EU OELs at a national level. The draft paper/questions had been discussed at the CHEMEX WG meeting in September DG EMPL was then in the process of amending the draft paper based on suggestions/feedback from CHEMEX WG members. At the March 2014 CHEMEX WG meeting, its members identified an issue in some MSs of confusion of the status of REACH DNELs compared with OELs established under OSH legislation. CHEMEX WG identified the need to clarify and provide NLIs with advice and guidance on OELs and DNELs. CHEMEX WG produced a draft OELs and DNELs fact sheet and the plenary was asked to note the progress on the preparation of this document. 7

8 Regarding OSH and REACH interface issues, a representative of the CHEMEX WG gave a presentation at the Commission s OSH REACH workshop held in Brussels on the 18 November 2014 covering the main concerns raised, whilst offering some sensible solutions. Sub-WG Long Latency (WS - RCS) Sub-WG met on the 29 th of September. SLIC agreed to focus on respirable crystalline silica. RCS is an issue and on-going consideration of binding OEL. Local Exhaust Ventilation (LEV) and Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) are fundamental to adequate control. CHEMEX sub-working group on silica included BE, BG, IE, IT, SE, NL and UK (the Chair). This subgroup wanted to give inspectors confidence to deal with the problem, emphasis on control of exposures hygiene without numbers. The subgroup will focus on construction using NEPSI (European Network for Silica) agreement to support activities in other sectors. A short guidance for inspectors on RCS would be produced. Enforcement The working group met twice on 26 th February 2014 and on 18 September In the first meeting, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia and Sweden presented their reports on the development of their NLIs in the previous half-year in their MSs, followed by questions of the WG members. Regarding the task consisting in sharing OSH initiatives to foster preventive culture in enterprises, the sub-wg (Enforcement sub-group - Sharing OSH initiatives to foster preventive culture in enterprises) dealing with this activity discussed the purpose, content and focus of a manual for labour inspectors with good practice examples and case studies, containing the definition of OSH culture, information on the importance of social dialogue and other relevant information. With a view to gather information for this manual, a questionnaire would be sent to MSs. Sub-WG met on the same days, as SLIC WG Enforcement - on 26 th February 2014 and on 18 September A task-and-finish group (SLIC WG Review of EU OSH legislation) was set up so as to prepare the Enforcement contribution to the ex-post evaluation of the EU acquis on OSH. MT chairs this sub- WG. Sub-WG met on 11 th of June At the meeting of the WG held on 18 September 2014, Portugal, Denmark, Malta, Croatia and Lithuania presented their reports on the development of the latest legislative and administrative modifications concerning the labour inspectorates in the last half-year in their MSs. The rapporteur of the WG was entrusted by the plenary to compile the half-years reports by NLI presented at the meeting of the WG Enforcement and to upload them into Circa BC The work for the preparation of a contribution to the ex-post evaluation was on-going. EC expects information on problems with implementation and enforcement of the EU acquis together with recommendations on how to improve it. As for the EP report on effective labour inspections as a strategy to improve working conditions in Europe, the WG had discussed the convenience of preparing an opinion or a statement on it and 8

9 decided submit to the plenary the decision. The plenary entrusted WG Enforcement with the preparation of such opinion. The brief guideline on prevention culture was in its last stage of preparation. The WG will discuss the European Parliament Resolution on labour inspection adopted on 14 February 2014 and will prepare an opinion or statement on it. Review of SLIC activities The working group met on 25 February, 29 April and 17 September Regarding the handbook, it will be published on the SLIC webpage and will have a structure to be developed by the WG on the basis of the common principles questionnaire, but in a simplified version and containing general information; the annexes should be fine-tuned by the WG, including definitions and follow-up actions taken after the inspection visits. The revision of the mandate of the WG was adopted to include the task consisting in the revision of the common principles. The new rota for SLIC evaluations was approved, including the postponement of the evaluation of Germany until A document on how to improve the functioning of WGs was prepared by the WG and approved by the SLIC plenary. Observatory The WG met twice: on 4 February and on 23 September The WG proposed launching an initiative on an EU-level for the design of a joint training programme that focus on issues and techniques related to OSH. This training action would satisfy the above mentioned EP resolution regarding the need for uniform training of labour inspectors and others in this field, with a view to tightening up enforcement of EU labour law". The WG discussed the ILO ratio of labour inspectors per workers. It is not a formal ILO recommendation but just a benchmark mentioned in a document by a working group of the ILO Governing Body. Therefore, WG Enforcement will address the issue of the ratio of labour inspectors to workers with the support of a question to be put forward by BE via KSS. Rather than challenging the ratio, it would consist on gathering accurate information. As for the training proposal, the Chair of the Committee concluded in the autumn plenary that a step by step approach should be taken. The WG should mature the details; explore the added value that such initiative would offer to the national labour inspectorates, take into account the possibilities given by the SLIC labour inspectors' exchange program and propose a detailed design of the training program to the plenary. The Chair underlined that both the EP Resolution and the new EU OSH Strategic Framework advocate that training of labour inspectors is essential to cope 9

10 with the new OSH challenges and that the role of the EC is trying to facilitate the promotion of some common training action. Cross-border enforcement The WG met on 1 April and on 15 October 2014 and its main tasks were: a) Drawing up the electronic handbook gathering all the national labour inspectorates' competencies, continuously updated in order to facilitate cross-border enforcement and mutual assistance. 22 MS had completed a questionnaire. The consolidated version of the E-Handbook would be ready in the first Semester of 2015 and available for all the SLIC Members on CIRCA BC. b) Collaborating with the Commission for the improvement of the current IMI questionnaire on Cross-border Enforcement on OSH matters. The WG would prepare a set of questions without mentioning whether the facts have happened before, during or after the posting; whether in the host country or in the country of origin. The Framework Directive 89/391/EEC would be taken as a reference in order to make questions understandable to all the stakeholders. c) Carry out a pilot experience in the next SLIC Campaign ( ). The principles would be: participation of one of the cross-border WG members in the preparation of the campaign; collaboration between SLIC Members should be developed on a voluntary basis; agreements between SLIC Members would be concluded in order to establish a common approach and exchanges for the campaign; there would be a common template for results on cross-border enforcement inspection actions; exchanges of inspectors for joint teams should comply with the ordinary programmes approved by the Commission. These common inspection activities would be carried out in border regions or addressed to multinational companies and in the same sector (preferably a sector with posted workers): construction, transport or agriculture. Knowledge Sharing System The project team met on 3 June and on 17 September 2014 In 2012 there were 38 questions and the average number of answers was 18. In 2013 there were 28 questions. A two-days training on CircaBC and KSS, was held on 3 rd and 4 th June It consisted in a basic training to national coordinators and national procedures, among other topics. The leading country BE-, supervises the correct use of the KSS site. Whenever a document doesn t fulfil the requirements, the issuing country is informed and asked to update, to adapt or to withdraw the document in question. The use of keywords would be finalised after the workshop questions. Information would be given via the KSS site of the approved list of keywords A keyword would be assigned to all the new Q (questions), W (warnings) and I (information) once the list is approved. 10

11 The chairperson of the Committee announced that, due to financial constraints, these training days should be held every three years instead of every two years. National internal procedures to make KSS known to and used by all labour inspectors should be adopted. WG Impact of crisis on L.I. WG set up to carry out a study of the evolution of EU Labour Inspectorates in the last few years, including a study on the resources available to each National Labour Inspectorate. The WG met on 24 September The main tasks were: sharing the background and aims of the study; exchanging experiences between MS and discussing the method for the survey. As for the exchange of experience, the WG conclusions were that there are two kinds of situations: a) LI restructurings have been done in The consequences are perceptible today b) LI that are still in the reform process. The most common measures adopted were: budget cuts, downsizing of labour inspectorates, salary reduction, no promotion, no recruitment, reduction in the numbers of cars, offices, reorganization at national and regional level redirecting the activities, increasing the prioritisation by sector of the LI activity, developing new technical supports (tools, call centres, websites...). As for the survey, in order to collect quantitative and qualitative information, questionnaire, will have two parts: a) one with closed-ended questions (quantitative data) and b) another one with open-ended questions (experience in MS). The questionnaire would focus on OSH issues, but it would integrate illegal work and posting of workers aspects. The study will cover the period from 2008 to 2014 and will comprise two parts: a) one with items that may be affected when there was restructuring or budget cuts (organization, human resources and working conditions) and b) a second part with items corresponding to the fields where it is possible to take action to improve the action of the LI (training and working method). 3.3 National Labour Inspections Evaluations While responsibility for the enforcement of EU law lies with Member States, SLIC plays a central role in promoting the correct and uniform implementation and enforcement of Community directives on health and safety. To support this role, the Committee published a number of Common Principles 3. The Principles comprise both core and developmental elements. The former concentrate on the implementation and enforcement of EU legislation, and are vital in all Member States; the latter address the broader aims of the previous EU OSH strategy 4 and the SLIC 3 Common principles for labour inspection in relation to health and safety in the workplace, September Communication from the commission to the European Parliament, the council, the European economic and social Committee and the committee of the regions Improving quality and productivity at work: Community strategy on health and safety at work. Brussels, COM(2007) 11

12 submission for the EU strategic priorities on OSH The essential purposes of these evaluations are: to review the capability of the national labour inspection system to implement and enforce EU Directives on health and safety at work; to promote exchanges of information, ways of working (good practice) and experience between Member States e.g. the early recognition of trends and challenges for the labour inspectorates; and to promote greater consistency. In 2014, the Committee undertook two evaluations. Both evaluations were held on 6-10 October The composition of the evaluation teams is set out beneath. Evaluating the national labour inspection systems. Evaluation teams in 2014 Evaluated FINLAND UNITED KINGDOM Chair Denmark Romania Italy Lithuania Poland Slovakia Sweden Spain Greece Bulgaria Austria Ireland Netherlands These evaluations were conducted in accordance with the guidelines adopted by the Committee to improve the planning, execution and outputs from evaluations in order to gain more benefit for the individual Member States and the Committee Labour Inspectors Exchange Programme Foremost are exchanges that support the objectives of the SLIC resolution on the Commission strategy on safety and health at work (see footnote 3). In this regard, exchanges aim to promote at least one of the following activities: to facilitate cooperation between labour inspectorates; to step up joint action with regards to specific sectors or risk; to encourage training programmes on innovative approaches and good practices to achieving compliance. In 2014, 21 applications from different Member States were received and approved. 5 Ref. Ares(2012) /02/ Evaluation reference manual: Carrying out a SLIC evaluation Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors, December

13 These exchanges, typically one week in duration, offer a unique opportunity for individual inspectors to gain experience, knowledge and direct practical experience of the inspection practices and techniques of another Member State. Annex 5 contains the main topics of the 2014 labour inspectors exchange programme. 3.5 SLIC Campaigns Falls on the same level 26 Member States were taking part in the implementation of the campaign. Austria, UK and Italy participate only in the information awareness rising- campaign. By sector, food manufacture was being carried out by 13 participants, retail; wholesale storage by 13, metal-working by 11, health care by 13 and HoReCa by 14. It was planned to inspect at least enterprises A final conference will be held in Estonia on June The background material prepared included: statistics, which reveals why the campaign is important, legislation, etc. and was sent electronically to every country in their language and be available in the campaign website -website of the Estonian Labour Inspectorate-. Safety and Health of temporary agency workers At the 66 th plenary, the Committee decide to carry out a SLIC campaign in 2016 on Safety and Health of temporary agency workers. 3.6 Thematic Days Two thematic days took place in 2014 under the auspices of the Greek and the Italian Presidencies. Greece The Thematic Day held in Athens, on 26 st May 2014 dealt with worker involvement in the management of occupational health and safety in small businesses. A publication containing all presentations and abstracts for the Thematic Day and Demonstration was presented to all delegates as relevant reference material. It was highlighted that the participation of workers in the working environment is not only a desirable way of management for all kind of companies, but also a legal obligation steaming from the very Framework Directive. 13

14 The labour inspector should keep in mind that worker information, training of workers and consultation and participation of workers are legal duties resulting from the FD articles 10 to 12-. Far from preventing the labour inspector from playing an advisory role, OSH regulations place him in a unique position to convince the employer and his workers not only of the need, but also of the convenience of making these duties/rights of information, training and participation effective. The following presentations were made: o The challenges for participatory OSH management in small firms and the lessons for inspection David Walters, Professor of Work Environment Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre Cardiff University o The state of the art of working conditions in SEs in Europe; by Jean-Michel Miller, Eurofound o The point of view of UEAPME; by Francois Engels, European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises o Workers representation in OSH: an important asset for the EU strategy; by Aida Ponce Del Castillo, ETUI o Survey results of the Questionnaire addressed to MS Alexandros Karageorgiou (Greece) o OSH management & collaboration in SEs and the OSH enforcement in the shared workplaces Suomaa Leo (Finland) o OSH in SMEs in the construction sector in Spain. The role of workers, employers and labour inspection Pablo Paramo (Spain) o Involvement of safety representatives in the OSH management experiences of the Austrian Labour Inspection Dr Gertrud Breindl (Austria) o Current SLI initiatives in OSH enforcement for SMEs in Lithuania Dr. Vilius Mačiulaitis (Lithuania) o Involving employees in building health and safe cultures in SEs Aukje Nauta Prof.Dr of Organisational Psychology University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) o Experiences of the Cyprus Department of Labour Inspection concerning Worker Involvement in OSH Management among SMEs Anastasios Yiannaki (Cyprus) o The Danish experiences with the legislation from 2010 about cooperation with regard to health and safety activities in small enterprises, Ole Honoré (Denmark) o Panel discussion Moderator: Mr. A. Karageorgiou. Panelists: Ms Teresa Moitinho (European Commission), Mrs. Maria Luz Vega (ILO), Aida Ponce Del Castillo(ETUI), Francois Engels (UEAPME) Discussion on The way to the future 14

15 Italy The Thematic Day held in Rome on 14 November 2014 dealt with Non-standard work and OSH. All the presentations are available on CIRCABC site. A publication containing the PowerPoint and abstracts of each presentation was available, as well. The document also contains a synopsis of the results of the questionnaire carried out during the preparation of the Thematic Day. The meeting was opened by the Minister of Labour and Social Policies of the Republic of Italy, Mr Giuliano Poletti. It was said that both flexibility and cost reducing are perfectly understandable goals and can lead to the badly needed creation of new jobs. But, at the same time, the ostensible growth of nonstandard work arrangements has raised concerns about their implications for workers wages and benefits, job stability, and indeed, occupational health and safety conditions. The following presentations were made: o European statistics on accidents at work and occupational diseases occurred to nonstandard workers: data evidences comparing atypical workers to permanent employees o The state of the art of statistical data collection on OSH (accidents at work and occupational diseases) and non-standard work in Italy o Non-standard workers, OSH and statistics: the Italian case o Gabriele GAMBERINI University of Modena and Reggio Emilia: OSH Law and the employer s duty of care towards non-standard and subcontracted workers o Non-standard workers and risk assessment: the point of view of occupational medicine o Non-standard workers: savings or higher costs in Occupational Safe and Health organization o Survey results of the questionnaire addressed to MS o What are the adaptations of European labour inspections to act against the development of various forms of undeclared work and illegal work? - the Spanish experience o What are the adaptations of European labour inspections to act against the development of various forms of undeclared work and illegal work? - the French experience o Flexible regulation and workplace inspection: the Lithuanian experience 15

16 o Minijobs non-standard employment with standard problems? o Temporary Work and labour inspection: the Swedish experience o Experiences of the National Labour Inspectorate in Poland as regards the observance of the law with reference to temporary workers o "Apprenticeship, regulation and labour inspection: the Italian experience" Presentations and final reports of both events are available on the SLIC CIRCABC site: Publications and Guidelines A number of publications are mentioned in the main text. References to documents published under the banner of Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors are repeated here: Reports on the two Thematic Days held in 2014 Agendas and executive summaries of the plenaries held in Guide on how to prepare and carry out a SLIC campaign How to improve the functioning of SLIC working groups. As regards the SLIC campaign on falls on the same level, campaign logos, background documents, in 23 languages, inspection checklist and workshop presentations are available on the following link Estonian Labour Inspection webpage-: The tender specifications of the call for tenders for a Study on 'improving intervention of labour inspection in micro and small enterprises regarding legislation transposing EU OSH directives' are available on Further information, contact: Health, Safety and Hygiene at Work Unit Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion L-2920 Luxembourg EMPL-B3-SECRETARIAT@ec.europa.eu 16

17 Annex 1 Extract from: Commission Decision of 12 July 1995 setting up a Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors (95/319/EC) Article 3 The Committee, in assisting the Commission, shall work towards the achievement of the following objectives: 1. common principles of labour inspection in the field of health and safety at work and developing methods of assessing the national systems of inspection in relation to those principals; 2. promoting improved knowledge and mutual understanding of the different national inspection systems and practices of labour inspection, the methods and legal frameworks for action; 3. developing exchanges between national labour inspection services of their experience in monitoring the enforcement of secondary Community law on health and safety at work, so as to ensure its consistent enforcement throughout the Community; 4. promoting exchanges for labour inspectors between national administrations and the setting up of training programmes for inspectors; 5. drawing up and publishing documents to facilitate the activities of labour inspectors; 6. developing a reliable and efficient system of rapid information exchange between labour inspectorates on all problems encountered in monitoring the enforcement of Community legislation in the field of health and safety at work and to assist in resolving any cross-border problems; 7. establishing active cooperation with labour inspectorates of third countries, so as to promote the work done by the Community on health and safety at work and to assist in resolving any crossborder problems; 8. studying the possible impact of other Community policies on labour inspection activities relating to health and safety at work and working conditions. 17

18 18 Annex 2

19 19

20 20

21 Annex 3 COMMITTEE OF SENIOR LABOUR INSPECTORS - WORKING GROUPS (2014) Working Group Principal activity (in 2014) Meetings Chair Membership MACHEX Information exchange and problem-solving on compliance with work equipment and related Directives 1 PT 28 Member States + Croatia, Norway, Switzerland MACHEX sub-group - Review of EU-OSH legislation Enforcement Contribution to the SLIC plan of work, setting up specific sub WG for each task and updating mandate 1 PT Cyprus, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, United Kingdom 2 AT 28 Member States + Croatia, Norway, Iceland Enforcement subgroup - Review of EU OSH legislation Enforcement subgroup - Sharing OSH initiatives to foster preventive culture in enterprises 2 MT Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Lithuania, Luxembourg, United Kingdom 2 PL Sweden, Ireland, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Poland, United Kingdom + Norway Impact of crisis on LI Study of the impact of crisis on the Labour Inspectorates 2 FR Italy, Spain, Romania, Sweden, Portugal, Luxembourg, Greece and United Kingdom Review SLIC activities Annex to SLIC plan of work for the period , labour inspectors exchange programme and NLI annual report 3 DK Spain, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovak Republic, Greece, France, Cyprus 21

22 CHEMEX CHEMEX sub-group Long Latency (WS - RCS) Guidance for labour inspectors on REACH Regulation and Chemical Agents Directive and related Directives 3 UK Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland and Cyprus 1 UK Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands Observatory Inventory of projects on undeclared work 2 BE Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Luxembourg Cross-border enforcement Preparation of third questionnaire on cross-border enforcement and posting of workers; preparation of IMI questions on OSH cross-border enforcement 2 ES Austria, Portugal, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Romania and Poland 22

23 Annex PROGRESS REPORT OF THE SLIC PLAN OF WORK Luxembourg 19 January 2015 Theme 1: Mainstreaming and Promoting OHS at the workplace Purpose: To integrate OSH management with other Policies, business and working activities; to draw attention to the benefits of doing so and to highlight OSH priorities. Key objectives: SLIC will 1. (Continue to) promote preventive OSH Culture at the workplace 2. Continue to seek effective ways to integrate OSH arguments into the wider public health and safety debate, drawing on the contributions of others where appropriate. (This includes issues where general public health and safety are affected by, or impact upon, OSH, but excludes issues related to security). 3. Publicise and disseminate OSH successes in promoting the idea of safe and healthy work and of OSH as a core management function in enterprises of all sizes. 4. Work to initiate and improve wider understanding of risk concepts in education. 5. Promote the social and economic (business) case for OSH and emphasise the importance of stipulating a return on investments in OSH. 23

24 6. Identify priorities for attention and reflect these in its activities. Activities Theme 1: Description What Will Be Done? Responsibilitie s Who Will Do It? Contributors Who Will Help? Timeline By When? Priority According questionnaire to Evidence Of Success What are the benchmarks? Progress by the end 2014 Status of completion 1. - Conduct a campaign in 2014 on slips, trips and falls on the same level. EE DK, IE, UK, PL and OSHA By the end of 2014 the campaign should be carried out High priority Info material prepared by the end of 2013 Final conference and/or final report delivered by 1 st quarter2015 Ongoing: the campaign was carried out along A summing up conference will be held in Tallinn-Estonia on 18 June Review/impr ove SLIC web presence WG Review activities DK to produce a paper to be discussed at the next WG meeting By the end of 2013 Medium priority Effective improvement of the SLIC webpage by the end of 2013 Completed: a new link to CircaCB opened to the broad public prepared 3.-Hold relevant Thematic Days a) IE b) LT a) SE,DK,IK,LT,EE,FR and SK-replaced by ESb) LV,BE,SE,UK and a)21 May 2013 b)14 November a) Completed (programme and a thorough report on this event are available on CIRCABC site, as well as the power point presentations used by the 24

25 4. - Consider how to support the OSHA campaign in on leadership in OSH and worker participation, Working together for risk prevention. c) EL d) IT e) LV f) LU WG Enforcement OSHA To be decided in plenary meetings The SLIC secretariat has made a list of former campaign topics which will be uploaded at CIRCABC 2013 c) 1 st semester2014 d) 2 nd semester2014 e) 1 st semester 2015 f) 2 nd semester 2015 High priority Rather obsolete activity since the campaign is already being carried out Low priority Reports summarizing Thematic Day's presentations Effective involvement of labour inspectorates in the OSHA campaign speakers) b) Completed (Idem) c) Completed (Idem) d) Completed (Idem) e) Under preparation f) Under preparation Completed: Thematic Day on worker involvement in the management of OSH in SMEs in Athens on 26 May Share OSH initiatives that WG Enforcement Subgroup under WG Enforcement: By the end of 2015 An on-line and/or paper manual for Ongoing: Sub-WG under WG Enforcement: PL chair-, DK, EL, SE, UK, 25

26 help to foster a preventive culture in enterprises of all sizes. was identified as a means for developing guidelines for inspectors to foster a preventive leadership and management culture in small organizations Chair Poland Members Sweden, Greece, Denmark and Netherlands High priority inspectors containing good practices from a number of MMSS prepared NL, CY, FI and IE Document to be deliver by the end 2015 Theme 2: Better Regulation Purpose: To share expertise on the practice of regulation, and to strengthen co-operation between MS and between organizations which have OSH remits. Description: This theme recognizes the mutual learning that is possible between MS, under the auspices of SLIC. It also captures work under way to improve cross-border regulation. SLIC WGs, Enforcement, MACHEX and CHEMEX (in particular) make important contributions to this theme. Note: WG felt that burdens on MS to provide inputs to reports and data-gathering exercises should not be increased, and that some current exercises were of questionable value. Therefore WG suggests that some should be on an opt in basis by MS for whom the issue in question is of particular importance. Key objectives: SLIC will 1. Strengthen co-operation with ACSH particularly on legislative initiatives and evaluating the implementation of directives. 26

27 2. Strengthen co-operation with other bodies such as EU OSHA, ILO/IALI, Eurostat, ECHA and the European Foundation. 3. Reinforce the importance of worker protection as the core component of better regulation. 4. Make effective use of its existing information exchange networks to secure good co-operation and understanding between MS. 5. Make particular use of the skills and knowledge of its information exchange networks to inform and direct future cross-community Campaigns. 6. Ensure that new legislation is effectively embedded (or integrated) in MS through active management and oversight of activity via eg CHEMEX to aid compliance, and further develop synergies and working in co-operation with other interested bodies, where appropriate e.g. the ECHA FORUM for Exchange of information on Enforcement, OSHA Bilbao, ACSH WPC (WG:CHEMEX). 8. Provide input from an OSH perspective to the development of Directives which primarily address non-osh issues, in particular market surveillance to ensure safe products at the workplace. 7. Evaluate LIs against the Common Principles, to reflect on any specific challenges that are apparent in MS and to share lessons. 8. Share experiences on changes in Labour Inspection practice, organisation and resource support. 9. Consider what is adequate labour inspection in the current and future circumstances (including culture, standards and procedures as well as resources). 10. Make effective use of the Inspectors Exchange Programme to achieve better and uniform enforcement of EU Legislation and Policies Activities Theme 2: Description What Will Be Done? Responsibilities Who Will Do It? Contributors Who Will Help? Timeline By When? Priority? Evidence Of Success What are the benchmarks? Progress by the end 2014 Status of completion 27

28 6. - Exchange plans of work with other organisations Seek to run campaigns on common themes. 8.- Contribute to the EU- review of health and safety Acquis (OSH Directives), in particular on their effective and consistent application in MS. a) Enforcement b) MACHEX c) CHEMEX d) Observatory e) Cross-border Enforcement All WGs WG Enforcement subgroup (NL, Bulgaria, DK, Malta, Austria, UK ) a) ACSHW b) ADCO c) ECHA d) ILO e) OSHA f) Committee on Posting MS, OSHA WG Enforcement subgroup Chair Sweden Members Portugal, Poland, Estonia See activity 16 MACHEX submits to the Plenary a proposal for a SLIC campaign on the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work Low priority By the end of 2014 the topic of the 2016 SLIC Campaign should be decided High priority By the end of 2014 Medium priority Effective exchange of plan of work Common actions agreed as a result of the exchange Topic on the SLIC 2016 agreed on before 2015 Report to the Commission by the end of Also attention for Social Partner Agreements. No action taken Completed: plenary in Athens on 27 may 2014 decided to carry out a SLIC campaign on 2016 on OSH conditions of temporary agency workers. Ongoing: sub WG within WG Enforcement: MT chair-, AT, BG, DK and UK 28

29 9.- Review the purpose and use made of NLI Annual Reports with a view to simplification, and consider how to use ARs to gather information on matters of interest to some/all MS (on an opt in basis), such as: o Training of inspectors o Use of enforcement tools 10.- Review the programme of exchanges of inspectors and make proposals WG "Review of SLIC activities" Subgroup WG review of activities Chair - Slovakia WG "Review of SLIC activities" WG Enforcement WG Enforcement SLIC secretariat has made an overview of exchanges taken place and has furthermore made a template for reporting back. The subject will be discussed at the Plenary in autumn 2013 UK offered to put together some bullet points outlining the scope of the scheme By the end of 2014 High priority By the end of 2014 High priority New or modified template of NLI ready by the end of 2014 An online handbook has been discussed in the WG with standard contributions from MS Template for labour inspectors exchange program's report Increased number and quality of exchanges between MS Increased number and quality of exchange opportunities from MS, and Ongoing: WG Review of the SLIC activities. Proposal of substituting the Annual Report by an on-line handbook Completed: A new template for reporting and new specifications for the program in 2014 and beyond. 29

30 opportunities which align with SLIC priorities Insight in hosting possibilities of Member States; Insight in special requests of Member States; 11.- Evaluate 2 or 3 NLIs per year against the "Common Principles" Evaluated countries 2013 AT BG PL 2014 FI FR UK 2015 BE DE PT 2016 EL IT Chairs of the evaluations team 2013 LT SE UK 2014 LU HU RO 2015 BG ES PL 2016 DK FI SLIC Secretariat to By the end of 2013 By the end of 2014 By the end of 2015 By the end of 2016 Medium priority Possible changes. system Final reports delivered and accepted by the evaluated NLI by the end of the 1 st quarter of the following year Completed Completed To be prepared To be prepared 30

31 12.- Report on developments in the use of ICT by NLIs, following the Thematic Day in Dublin in May Proposal for the SLIC opinion on the EU platform to fight undeclared work and to propose follow-up actions make new rota to be presented for SLIC Plenary Spring 2015 at the latest. IE Immediately after the Thematic Day BE FR, EL, LU,IT and ES Resolution adopted at the 63rd SLIC Plenary in Nicosia (CY) on Medium priority Report on the Thematic Day sent in June 2013 Completed Completed Completed 14.- Complete the input from Project CIBELES to the review of cross-border enforcement, the Enforcement Directive, and posted workers WG Cross-border enforcement MMSS by answering the questionnaire to be sent By the end of 2014 Medium priority Report on the questionnaire by the end of 2013 Pilot experience and handbook ready by the end of 2014 Ongoing: first and second questionnaires answered, third one to be replied 31

32 15.-Complete work on practical enforcement of REACH and CLP alongside OSH Directives, including through preparing guidelines for NLIs on REACH enforcement 16.- Consider the role of SLIC within the EU strategy towards market surveillance and prioritise the work of MACHEX accordingly WG CHEMEX OSHA, ECHA By the end of 2014 Medium priority WG MACHEX By the end of 2014 Medium priority Guidelines for NLIs on REACH enforcement ready by the end of 2014 Remark: A new proposal for a 2016-SLIC campaign on the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work. Surveillance of safe products, machinery, equipment and ppe for professional use, tuned with the EU-OSH strategy. Guidance for NLI s (draft blue guide available) Completed: Guide sent to EC translation services Completed: new mandate of MACHEX adopted by the plenary. Focus on work equipment and related Directives rather than on market surveillance 32

33 17. - Provide OSH input to the development of related Directives such as those on pyrotechnics, offshore oil-drilling and shipbreaking Prepare guidelines on competence of crane examiners 19.- Further explore options for mutual support between sub groups of MS with particular interests in common themes Up to the ACSHW? To be taken up by WG Enforcement to agree with WG Observatory Low priority WG MACHEX ACSHW New proposal to be discussed in March 2013 Low priority WG Enforcement All SLIC WGs 2015? Medium priority Proper problem analysis. Submissions to relevant Commission DGs leading on Directives, which are agreed between SLIC standing WG s and/or the SLIC Plenary as appropriate. Remark: A new proposal on the issue to be submitted at the 64 th Plenary Guideline published; Insight in acceptance and use Report to SLIC Plenary autumn 2015? No action taken Completed: published on d=148&langid=en&intpageid=685 Ongoing: Six sub WG within WG Enforcement set up to work on specific themes 33

34 20.- The functioning of the SLIC WGs WG Review SLIC activities By the end 2014 High priority Report to SLIC Plenary autumn 2014 Completed: A paper on how to improve the functioning of the SLIC WGs approved by the plenary Theme 3: Selecting and Targeting Interventions Purpose: To improve impact through the selection of priority sectors and activities; and through the use of the most effective intervention methods. Description: Every Inspectorate must choose which sectors, organizations and activities to pay attention to, from the huge potential workload presented. This Theme is about making the best-informed choices. There are many different ways to intervene, from inspection and investigation through to publicity campaigns. This Theme also addresses which methods to use when. Key objectives: SLIC will 1. Publicise examples of where the complexities of targeting have been successfully addressed as an improved way of focussing labour inspectors work. 2. Make links between effective targeting approaches and tailored interventions to achieve greatest impact in worker protection. 3. Share knowledge and learning on the value of different approaches to hazard or sector-based targeting and influencing the management of risk, with particular emphasis on micro, start-up and small businesses. 4. Set priorities based on a sound (national) evidence base. 5. Co-ordinate and analyse the outputs of existing SLIC Working Groups to further improve performance in this area. Activities Theme 3: 34

35 Description What Will Be Done? Responsibilities Who Will Do It? Contributors Who Will Help? Timeline By When? Priority? Evidence Of Success What are the benchmarks? Progress by the end 2014 Status of completion 21.- Publish the findings of a Thematic Day in Cyprus in November 2012 on ergonomics CY January 2013 Medium priority Completed Completed Develop shared priority actions on MSD, long latency diseases, exposure to chemicals and work-related psychosocial risks. WG Enforcement+CH EMEX? UK will draft a proposal on long latency diseases focussing on those levers available to NLI s on this area. Other Member States are encouraged to take up MSD, exposure to chemicals and work-related psychosocial risks By the end of 2015 Medium priority Report delivered by the end of 2015 Ongoing: sub-wg under CHEMEX working on long-latency diseases, in particular tackling the issue of respirable crystalline silica 35