Health and safety/exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents

EESC opinion: Health and safety/exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents

Key points

Taking into account the arguments put forward by the Commission and those presented in this opinion, the EESC takes a positive view of the Commission's proposal.

Simply postponing the transposition of Directive 2004/40/EC will not solve the problems arising from the practical implementation of its provisions. The EESC therefore agrees with the Commission on the need to undertake urgent work on improving this directive.

The EESC emphasises that the postponement by four years of the date on which the current directive will enter into force and the planned amendments to its content will give workers and employers an unclear message about the Commission's legislative plans.