2004 Activity Report of the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee (SLIC) - Hoofdinhoud

COUNCIL OF Brussels, 19 May 2005 (23.05)

THE EUROPEAN UNION (OR. fr)

9063/05

SOC 215

COVER NOTE

from: Secretary-General of the European Commission,

signed by Ms Patricia BUGNOT, Director

date of receipt: 11 May 2005

to: Mr Javier SOLANA, Secretary-General/High Representative

Subject: 2004 Activity Report of the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee (SLIC)

Delegations will find attached Commission document 039/05.

________________________

Encl.: Doc. 039/05

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities

Adaptability, Social Dialogue and Social Rights Health, Safety and Hygiene at Work

Doc. 039/05 EN

2004 ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE SENIOR LABOUR INSPECTORS

COMMITTEE (SLIC)

• 1. 

  ABOUT THE COMMITTEE

1.1 SLIC: structure and procedures

Since 1982, at the initiative of the Commission, a Senior Labour Inspectors Committee (SLIC) has held regular meetings with the aim of improving cooperation between Member States and the Commission and encouraging the effective and consistent application of European legislation in the Member States.

SLIC is both a forum in which national experts from the Member States and the Commission work closely together and exchange information and a network of officials working towards the effective enforcement of Community social legislation.

By Decision of the Commission of 12 July 1995 (95/319/EC), the SLIC was established as an official advisory committee for the Commission.

The SLIC consists of two senior representatives of each Member State’s labour inspectorate. The members are appointed by the Commission following a proposal from the Member States. The names of the members are then published in the Official Journal of the European Union for information purposes. The list of SLIC members is given in Annex A. The Committee’s current term of office began on 1 January 2004 and will end on 31 December 2006. Because of the accession of the ten new Member States on 1 May 2004, two representatives were appointed for each of the new countries. The SLIC thus has 50 members in its new configuration.

A representative of the Commission sits on the SLIC, and the Commission provides secretarial services for the Committee and the working groups. SLIC meetings are normally held twice a year and are hosted by the Member State holding the EU Presidency. They are held over the course of three days. The SLIC plenary meeting is held on one of the days, and the other two days are allocated to a particular topic (so-called Thematic Day), where a subject of common interest is discussed and technical inspections are undertaken in conjunction with the subject being discussed.

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As Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are members of the European Economic Area, they attend the SLIC meetings as observers. In 2004, delegates from the new countries also attended the SLIC meetings, now as full members rather than observers. Representatives of Romania and Bulgaria continue to attend the Thematic Days organised following each SLIC plenary meeting.

Working groups may be set up. These groups are required to present the results of their activities at the plenary session.

Rules of procedure were adopted by the SLIC in 1996 (Doc. 1155/02/96).

1.2 Objectives of the Committee

The objectives of the Committee are set out in Article 3 of the Decision and are detailed herein in section 2 (Activities).

1.3 Work programme

The SLIC has drawn up a three-year work programme specifying the individual activities to be undertaken. The evaluation of previous activities is taken into account. In 2003, the SLIC drew up its work programme for 2004-2006 based on the new Community strategy; this work programme was definitively adopted at the plenary meeting in May 2004. Taking account of developments in the SLIC’s work, the programme for 2005-2006 was updated at the plenary meeting in Maastricht in November 2004.

1.4 Annual report

The SLIC submits an annual report on its activities, which the Commission forwards to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work. The 2003 Annual Report was adopted in May 2004.

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1.5 The national labour inspectorates

All Member States have ratified the ILO Labour Inspection Convention of 11 July 1947 (No 81). This Convention lays down the main rules concerning the system in which the labour inspectorate is the body responsible for ensuring the protection of workers at work and promoting legislation adapted to changing needs in the workplace.

In many Member States, in addition to health and safety at work, labour inspectorates are responsible for areas comprising social benefits, pay, leave and working hours, social security, labour relations and the management of employment, and vocational training policies.

• 2. 

  ACTIVITIES IN 2004

2.1. Defining common principles for 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 principles

2.1.1. Common principles and methods of assessing the national systems of inspection

Background: In the early 1990s there was felt to be a need to step up the exchange of experience between the labour inspectorates in the various Member States. This was partly as a result of the rapid development of Community legislation on the working environment, which made heavy demands on the labour inspectorates. More regular exchanges of experience were therefore regarded as important, despite the fact that each Member State is solely responsible for the effectiveness and competence of its own labour inspectorate.

As a basis for the exchange, common principles for labour inspection were drawn up. It was clear from the outset that these principles would be subject to revision in the light of experience acquired during their implementation. In addition, a questionnaire was drawn up to facilitate evaluation of the national labour inspectorates against the common principles. The Common Principles for Labour Inspectorates as regards inspection of Health and Safety in the workplace (Doc. 327/97) and the Questionnaire for evaluating policies and practices in occupational health and safety inspection (Doc. 0462/97) were revised in 1997. They were used to evaluate the labour inspectorates in the Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Spain and Luxembourg. Given the changes in the concept of health and safety at work, the notion of wellbeing at work which has come to the fore and the new Community strategy for 2002-2006 to which the SLIC has fully subscribed, the SLIC was obliged to revise the Common Principles for Labour Inspectorates .

Actions in 2004

In light of this new concept of wellbeing and the fundamental changes in the world of work as a result of greater flexibility, the increase in subcontracting and, in general, radical changes to the socio-economic fabric, it had become necessary to revise once again the 1997 Common Principles for Labour Inspectorates.

A SLIC working group began this revision work in 2003. It was continued in 2004, allowing the new Common Principles for Labour Inspectorates to be adopted at the

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Maastricht plenary meeting in November 2004. This will allow national inspection systems to be evaluated on the basis of this new approach in future (as of 2005).

2.1.2 Evaluation of national labour inspectorates in the Member States

Background: The Netherlands’ labour inspectorate was evaluated in 1995 and that of Sweden in 1996. Ireland was the next Member State to be evaluated. Norway, which has observer status, was a member of the evaluation team. Since the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland have specialist labour inspectorates, the SLIC felt it would be appropriate for a generalist labour inspectorate to be involved in the next exercise, and it was agreed that Spain would be the next Member State to be evaluated. The evaluation was carried out during 2000.

In 2001 and 2002, the national labour inspectorates of all candidate countries and accession countries were evaluated in light of their application to join the EU.

The Luxembourg labour inspectorate was also evaluated in 2002, and Denmark and Austria were evaluated in 2003.

In all cases a group of labour inspectors from four or five other Member States carried out the evaluation. The experience gained from these evaluations proved invaluable, both for the Member State evaluated and for the evaluators.

The procedure has proved to be an intensive exercise requiring considerable preparation on the part of those involved. However, it has also proved to be worthwhile for all concerned. The Member State undergoing evaluation receives a report on the extent to which its labour inspection system is in line with the Common Principles. Decisions can then be made on any action to be undertaken in the light of the report. The evaluator Member States gain extensive insight into another inspection system and also improve their knowledge of the inspection systems of the other evaluator Member States.

Actions in 2004:

In 2004 the national inspection systems of the United Kingdom, France and Germany were evaluated by three working groups consisting of representatives of the following Member States’ labour inspectorates:

For the United Kingdom: (SE – Chair) + (DK), (PT), (BE), (AT) and (NO).

For France: (LU – Chair) + (UK), (ES), (EL), (PT) and (SE).

For Germany: (UK – Chair) + (NL), (FR), (IT), (SE) and (NO).

At the plenary meeting in Rome (November 2003), Finland and Portugal applied to be evaluated in 2005. Working groups were set up for the evaluation exercise.

Following the Rome meeting, all Member States which had not yet been evaluated made an official request for the period in which they wished to be evaluated. In principle, this first round of evaluations of the fifteen Member States will therefore be concluded by the end of 2006, when the final evaluations of (BE), (IT) and (EL) have taken place.

At the Dublin plenary meeting it was decided to ask the new Member States to inform the SLIC of the action they had taken in response to the recommendations which had been made in the evaluation report sent to them in 2001/2002 after a team of labour inspectors

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appointed by the SLIC had evaluated their national inspection system on the basis of the Common Principles of inspection drawn up by the SLIC in 1997.

An analysis of the replies will give a clearer picture of the benefit of these exercises, particularly with regard to the improvements and corrections made, and also of the difficulties which persist or indeed the projects or changes in progress. These replies, together with the experience gained from the evaluations of the 15 old Member States, can then help to optimise the quality of the second round of evaluations, to begin in 2007.

2.2. Promoting improved knowledge and mutual understanding of the different national systems and practices of labour inspection, methods and legal frameworks for action

See section 2.3.2 – Cross-border enforcement of Community legislation

2.3. Developing exchanges between national labour inspection services on their experiences in monitoring the enforcement of secondary Community legislation on health and safety at work, so as to ensure its consistent application throughout the Community

2.3.1. Thematic Days

Background: The Thematic Day (see section 1.1) provides an opportunity for in-depth discussion of a common problem and enables participants to compare notes and also to compare their inspection policies and practices in a specific subject area. The subject is agreed on at a plenary meeting and a working group is set up to draw up the programme.

The programme is drawn up on the basis of written national contributions, and national experts are invited to speak during the session. A technical inspection is generally organised, during which delegates can raise practical problems for discussion and propose solutions.

Actions in 2004:

2.3.1.1. Thematic Day in Ireland

The 46th meeting of the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee took place in Dublin (Ireland) on 19-21 May 2004. The Thematic Day for this meeting was devoted to passive smoking in the workplace, a topic of common concern for all national inspectorates responsible for health and safety matters.

Observers from the EFTA countries and the candidate countries as well as from the 25

Member States participated in the discussions. The ILO and the European social partners also had the opportunity to give their points of view in order to widen the debate.

The background to this seminar is the recent adoption and implementation in Ireland of a total ban on smoking in the workplace (March 2004), which also includes the hospitality sectors (hotels, restaurants, pubs and bars). Prisons have been excluded for safety reasons, as have homes for the elderly and some hotel rooms, as these are regarded as private

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premises. After some initial opposition from the industry, this measure was widely accepted and supported by employers and workers in general and also by the public. The media played an important role in raising awareness of the ban.

The main findings concerning ETS (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) were highlighted as follows:

 ETS is carcinogenic; ETS causes a 25–30% increase in lung cancers; ETS causes a significant increase in vascular and heart diseases; ETS causes an 82% increase in strokes; ETS causes low birthweight; ETS causes an increase in asthma among children; ETS causes a general increase in the symptoms of lung disease in adults.

The integrated international approach SOLVE [stress, tobacco, alcohol, violence (WHO and ILO)] was presented in detail, together with the existing Community instrument

(Directive 2004/37 i).

Dr Kotzias from the Joint Research Centre in Ispra gave a basic presentation of current knowledge of the effectiveness of ventilation or, rather, its ineffectiveness. The experiences and practices of national inspectorates were set out and particular attention given to the sectoral approach, more specifically the healthcare sector, the hospitality sector and industry.

In the afternoon, two workshops analysed and summarised the duties and responsibilities of the social partners in preventing and monitoring exposure to ETS in the workplace and the labour inspectorate's role in raising awareness and ensuring compliance with standards for ETS exposure in the workplace.

ETS should definitely be considered as a cancer risk when present in the workplace. It is no longer a question of lifestyle or wellbeing.

The main conclusions were: the employer's responsibility to provide a healthy workplace; the obligation of performing a risk assessment (including ETS exposure); it remains undecided as to whether ETS exposure should fall within the scope of the

Directive on carcinogens. In any case, as the framework Directive covers all risks, ETS must also be assessed.

Therefore, the responsibility of the employer, political willingness, media cooperation, a clear and transparent public health policy and the education of both workers and employers play a decisive role.

Furthermore, monitoring and awareness-raising measures by the labour inspectorate were identified as essential ingredients for success.

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The Thematic Day aroused interest and will undoubtedly have helped the countries which took part to become better acquainted with this important topic and to put the proposed improvements into practice.

2.3.1.2 Thematic Day in the Netherlands

The 47th meeting of the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee took place in Maastricht (Netherlands) on 3-5 November 2004. The Thematic Day for this meeting was devoted to monitoring of the application of Directive 90/269/EEC i on the manual handling of loads.

After a highly educational presentation on the effects of repetitive lifting of heavy loads on musculo-skeletal elements of the lumbar region, various speakers presented the tools used by the national inspectorates to evaluate the physical strains caused by such activities.

In the afternoon, three workshops examined the following topics:

harmonisation of methods for evaluating musculo-skeletal risk;

the effectiveness of the inspectorate’s actions in this area;

the involvement of others working in the field.

Discussions in the workshop led to three specific proposals for submission to the plenary meeting:

– organising a European inspection campaign on musculo-skeletal problems related to carrying loads;

– setting up a working group to study the instruments used by the national inspectorates for evaluating musculo-skeletal risk (relevance, reliability, ease of use, etc.);

– examining the possibility of introducing pilot projects at European level to test these evaluation methods in the risk sectors (e.g. building and public works, hospital sector).

The following day participants had the chance to attend an exhibition of ergonomic equipment for use in several sectors traditionally recognised as being at high risk: hospitals, crèches, warehouses, public works and airport work (loading and unloading of baggage in the baggage hold).

2.3.2 Cross-border enforcement of Community legislation

Background: Since 1998 a working group has been studying and analysing cross-border problems concerning the implementation of Community legislation on health and safety at work. The Working Group on Cross-Border Enforcement was set up to put forward recommendations to the SLIC with the aim of ensuring that the same result can be achieved in addressing hazards which cross borders as would result if

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the hazard had originated within the borders of the enforcing State. The Member States’ labour inspectorates have answered questionnaires on the enforcement systems in order to obtain a direct and clear view of the problem in each country. The working group has produced a final report on the questionnaires, several interim reports and documentation on the legal basis for mutual assistance and recognition of decisions in criminal and administrative matters.

Actions in 2003/2004:

The SLIC agreed, in the plenary meetings under the Spanish and Danish Presidencies (2002), that the working group’s activities should include mutual assistance and collaboration in order to gather evidence across borders. Although mutual recognition in criminal and administrative matters is a further step and depends on agreements at EU level, the Committee agreed to increase the regular exchanges of information between labour inspectorates and to promote the creation of a network of inspectors for crossborder enforcement.

The working group studying this matter has identified a number of areas of interest in relation to the cross-border enforcement of Community legislation:

• large-scale construction sites;

• cross-border validity of health certificates for workers exposed to risks (e.g. lead,

asbestos, divers, drivers, crane operators, ionising radiation);

• equivalent skills for building site coordinators;

• seasonal work in agriculture and horticulture;

• qualifications of senior technicians (nuclear power stations);

• increase in problems following enlargement;

• imports and CE marking of machinery.

The group has also been instructed to look into the possibility of setting up an informal electronic network for exchanging information on various topics.

At the plenary meeting in Maastricht (November 2004) it was decided to extend the working group to 25 members to examine the specific problems related to monitoring implementation and to report systematically to the plenary meeting. It emerged from the discussions that cross-border problems could be solved bilaterally when it came to penalties for serious infringements but that Member States were all faced with the same difficulties with regard to monitoring the application of several highly technical Directives and that these matters should therefore be focused on from now on. The group will be able to use CIRCA for rapid exchange of information. Best practice and qualitycontrol procedures should also be exchanged on this network.

It was also decided in Maastricht that the first task of this extended group would be to examine the possible impact of the Services Directive on the functioning of labour inspectorates if the draft were to be adopted in its current form.

The SLIC had also agreed that the Commission award a study contract for updating the "Manual on legal systems and sanctions" and for presenting recommendations on how to cooperate in the cross-border enforcement of legislation on health and safety at work. Two successive invitations to tender were issued but, unfortunately, a contractor was not selected. The SLIC therefore decided to gather all the relevant information by sending a standardised questionnaire to all Member States in order to obtain the national

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contributions in a harmonised format. In this way the manual on sanctions systems should be available by the end of 2005.

2.3.3 European sessions

Background: In 1992, at the initiative of the SLIC, Member States began to share their experience on the working environment and on inspection methods in a number of chosen sectors. Four Member States participate in a session of this kind. A group comprising representatives from the labour inspectorate, employers’ organisations and trade unions of each Member State then spend around one week investigating the specific risk and the application and enforcement problems encountered in the particular sector of activity selected in the four Member States.

The first European session, in 1992, dealt with the construction industry and the second, in 1994, with agriculture. The third, which was held in 1997, focused on the car manufacturing industry. A European session on the textile sector was held in 1998. Teams consisted of five to six representatives from each Member State and included labour inspectors and employers’ and employees’ representatives.

The general objectives of the European sessions are to:

• identify the most significant topics for consideration as regards safety and health matters;

• identify the most useful 'good examples' for improvement of safety and health;

• outline the impact of Community health and safety legislation on the prevention of accidents and

related occupational diseases and on inspection activities;

• recommend actions and measures to improve health and safety in the industry concerned.

In November 1998, in Vienna, the SLIC agreed to devote the next European session to the prevention of risks related to asbestos, with the participation of France, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A working group was set up to plan and run the session. Preparatory work was begun in the second half of 1999. It was also agreed to set up a working group to develop a training module on asbestos for labour inspectors. Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands participated in this group. The two groups held a joint meeting in Luxembourg on 22 October 1999.

The session started in June 2000 in Sweden, then continued in Spain and in the United Kingdom and ended in France in December 2000. The final report, recommendations and training module on the prevention of asbestos-related risks were published and presented to the SLIC in December 2001. The report will be translated into all of the official languages and the Commission will submit a joint report with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to the Council.

The results of the European session on the prevention of asbestos-related risks showed that a follow-up to the recommendations produced by the working group is necessary, since these risks are still present in various activities within the European Union. The SLIC plenary meeting in Belgium, in December 2001, therefore decided to organise a follow-up conference. The working group for the European session on asbestos was responsible for organising the conference and held various meetings in 2002 in order to prepare for the conference, which was held in Dresden (Germany) in September 2003. Delegates from the Member States, candidate countries and non-EU countries participated in the conference. Subjects dealt with included the removal of asbestos from the workplace and issues related to training and medical

surveillance.

At the end of the conference, a solemn declaration was issued, recommending that a number of actions be taken to combat the risks related to exposure to asbestos dust. These recommendations included one addressed to the SLIC: to organise an awareness and inspection campaign for asbestos removal sites, based on the same concept as the inspection campaigns for construction. At the Rome meeting in November

2003, the SLIC decided to follow the Dresden recommendations.

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Actions in 2004

Following the Conference on Asbestos (2-6 September 2003, Dresden, Germany), the working group resumed its work with a view to organising the 2006 European inspection campaign on asbestos. This is a select, variable-geometry group which in the initial phase drew up the specifications for the invitation to tender to be issued for compilation of a guide to best practice on asbestos for workers, employers and labour inspectors in the industry. This guide is in particular intended for use as a training tool during the future campaign. Representatives of the social partners who sit on the Advisory Committee on Health and Safety have been asked to take part in the work of this Asbestos group set up within the SLIC.

The Asbestos group as a whole consists solely of representatives of the 25 national inspectorates, and its task is to prepare for the 2006 inspection campaign. This group has also been set up and will begin its work in January 2005.

2.3.4 European campaigns

Background: The SLIC and the Labour Inspectorates in all Member States launched a joint campaign on health and safety in agriculture in 1999 and the first half of 2000, with the aim of reducing the number of accidents and the incidence of occupational diseases in agriculture. A working group prepared the campaign in 1998. Although the campaign objectives were shared, the campaign focused on activities in agriculture in each of the Member States, chosen in accordance with that country’s own priorities.

The objectives of the campaign were:

• to promote a culture of health and safety;

• to encourage good management of health and safety.

The following topics were covered:

• children at work and play (e.g. underage workers and dangerous games);

• chemicals;

• training (young people);

• mobile machinery;

• forestry;

• ergonomics;

• mental health;

• risk management.

The campaign was carried out in the various Member States during the year 2000 and the final reports were collected in December 2000 and in the first quarter of 2001. The results and initiatives were published and distributed.

At the SLIC plenary meeting in Belgium in December 2001, the Committee decided to launch a campaign on safety in the construction sector. The campaign was to begin in the spring of 2003 and a working group was set up to organise it. It met several times in 2002 to coordinate the various initiatives to be carried out.

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The campaign would entail inspection visits and publicity measures, with both launched simultaneously in all Member States. The Bilbao Agency would be closely involved in the organisation of the publicity measures.

The campaign would target everyone involved in the construction sites, from the clients and architects to the trade unions, employers and workers.

The campaign would focus on the risk of falls from height, but it would also address other important issues such as health and safety management and risk assessment on construction sites.

The 2003 campaign was carried out in two phases: June and September 2003. The final report for this campaign was published in April 2004. At the Rome meeting in November 2003 it was decided to repeat the same campaign in 2004.

Actions in 2004

The working group on the 2004 inspection campaign in the construction industry met twice in 2004.

Both meetings were devoted to the campaign, one held before the campaign itself in order to prepare for it (March) and the other after the campaign in order to discuss the initial results (December).

The 15 Member States and Norway and Iceland took part in this major campaign on the inspection of building sites. This was the second time that a European inspection campaign had taken place on such a large scale. For the June period alone, it is estimated that 17 000 sites in Europe were inspected. Approximately the same number were inspected in September.

The inspection visits were carried out on the basis of a standard questionnaire; this document was drawn up in advance by the working group and was therefore the same for all countries.

The main points for the inspectors were:

• - 

  the risk of falls from height (major cause of serious occupational accidents); - the existence of a coordination and prevention system on the site and appointment of the site coordinator (Directive 92/57/EEC i); - the existence and conformity of collective and personal protective equipment. Two additional points to note have been added since the 2003 campaign: risks related to building-site transport (roads, condition of vehicles, qualifications of vehicle operators) and those related to falling objects.

As one of the SLIC’s objectives is to ensure harmonisation of the application of European legislation, and therefore compliance with it, it is important to note that a campaign of this kind is in fact a step towards harmonisation. The campaign once again met with great success, and several lessons can be learned from it:

• - 

  greater harmonisation of penalties for serious infringements is necessary;

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• - 

  judicial procedures are too cumbersome and too lengthy;

• - 

  on-the-spot fines and suspension of work are the most effective;

• - 

  the European campaigns should be repeated in future and should focus more on health problems caused by work.

The working group on the 2005 European campaign in the construction industry in the new Member States met twice to prepare for a similar campaign in the new Member States in 2005. These countries had not had the opportunity to take part in the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, which had been organised for the 15 “old” Member States only. Their campaign will of course benefit from all of the experience gained from the two previous campaigns and it will be preceded by a publicity campaign, as was the case in the old Member States in 2003. The inspection protocol will be identical to that used in 2004 in the old Member States.

2.3.5 National labour inspectorates’ annual activity report to the SLIC

Background: The Member States draw up an annual report on their activities to be submitted to the SLIC. The SLIC decided on the general structure of the reports, which are to contain useful information from the national inspectorates on, for example, important activities and priorities.

In 2001, and again in 2003, the SLIC adopted the necessary amendments to the report's structure and content in order to make it a useful tool for exchanging information amongst the Member States’ labour inspectorates.

Actions in 2004:

A compilation of the annual reports from the Member States’ labour inspectorates is distributed each year to SLIC members. The last compilation of the 2001 and 2002 annual reports was distributed at the beginning of 2004.

Based on previous experience, it was established that, despite changes previously made to the national inspectorates’ annual activity reports, these reports were still far from satisfactory.

The group responsible for examining indicators on the labour inspectorates’ efficiency and effectiveness was therefore asked to revise it again. An initial draft was submitted to the plenary meeting in Rome in November 2003. While this document was almost complete, it still needed to be improved. Both the descriptive and quantitative content (data) relating to the inspection activities need to be harmonised, in terms of both format and the meaning of the terms used; if this is not done, it is doubtful whether it can meet the intended objectives. It was decided in Rome (November 2003) that the new model for the annual report would be definitively adopted at the plenary meeting in Dublin in May 2004.

As the new model for the annual report had been adopted in Dublin, it was used by the vast majority of inspectorates to submit the data for 2003. By the end of November, 24 annual reports had been received by the SLIC secretariat. An initial analysis of the inspectorates’ reports shows considerable diversity and thus a lack of harmonisation, both

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in terms of the inspectorates’ organisational structures and in terms of their resources and jurisdiction.

This very clear observation arising from the new annual report prompted the SLIC to have the issue examined more closely by the working group on Indicators in order to draw conclusions and find ways of achieving greater harmonisation in future inspections.

2.4. Promoting exchanges of labour inspectors between national administrations and the introduction of training programmes for inspectors

Background: The SLIC has adopted a system allowing labour inspectors to visit inspectorates in other Member States. The visit always has a clear goal, which is written into the commitment with the labour inspector. These visits provide an opportunity for exchanges of experience, which have proved beneficial to both inspectorates involved.

Actions in 2004

A double exchange took place in 2004 between Ireland and Cyprus.

The Cypriot inspector’s study visit to Ireland focused on the following three areas:

• - 

  monitoring the effectiveness of risk management and assessment in the chemical industry, which are the employer’s responsibility;

• - 

  monitoring implementation of the Directive on temporary and mobile construction sites; - the preventive approach developed by the health and safety inspectorate in Ireland for the agricultural sector.

The Irish inspector’s visit to Cyprus focused on the system used in Cyprus for recording accidents at work, as well as inspection practices and the dissemination of best practice.

A Luxembourg inspector spent two weeks in Germany to study the following issues:

• - 

  monitoring of the implementation of the Asbestos Directive (2003/18/EEC of 27 March 2003) and comparison of practices in use in Germany with those in use in Luxembourg;

• - 

  introduction in undertakings of the risk management and assessment system;

• - 

  gathering all relevant information with a view to setting up an information and notification system in Luxembourg for biological agents presenting health risks in the workplace.

An Italian inspector carried out a one-week study visit to France in order to:

• - 

  examine in greater detail the French approach to monitoring the application of Directive 2001/45/EEC i on the requirement to use protective equipment for work at a height;

• - 

  selection criteria for personal protection measures (use of ropes) to replace collective protection measures in low-risk situations, in cases where the duration of work is very short and on sites where the use of collective protection measures is excluded because of the features of the site.

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2.5. Drafting and publication of documents to facilitate the work of the labour inspectors, including the website

2.5.1. Publications: see list of publications in Annex C.

2.5.2 SLIC website on the DG Employment Internet homepage

A working group was set up to develop the SLIC website on the DG Employment homepage and to propose links to the different Member States' activities. The working group also allowed SLIC members to share their experiences on website development. Several labour inspectorates now have a link from their websites to the SLIC website on the DG Employment homepage.

It was agreed at the plenary meeting in Thessaloniki (May 2003) that it was essential to bring this site up to date and to continue to update it regularly. It was updated in 2004 and should be operational at the beginning of 2005.

2.6. 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

2.6.1 Rapid information exchange network for the Machinery Directive

Background: In 1996 it was decided to set up a network for exchanging information on the Machinery Directive in order to ensure greater consistency in its application. The labour inspectorates need to be able to consult each other urgently, for example if a machine is found not to comply with the Directive. The network would consider day-to-day matters requiring speedy solutions. Two documents were drawn up: Document 0382/97, Network for the exchange of information concerning machinery or safety components covered by the Machinery Directive (89/392/EEC as amended), and Document 0330/97, Form for use by labour inspectorates (or other appropriate national authorities) when exchanging information on the supply of machinery or safety components.

Actions in 2004:

The network carried out the work as allocated. It held one two-day meeting in 2004, to which a representative from DG Enterprise had been invited. Members also contacted each other during the year to discuss problems and experiences.

The labour inspectorates and the members of the network assessed the results of the work carried out so far. The network has proved to be an extremely useful and efficient instrument by making it possible to share enforcement approaches in order to ensure uniform application of the Directive across Member States. The Machex Working Group has been cooperating with the ADCO Group (Administrative Cooperation Group for Market Surveillance) with a view to exchanging information on safety and health and market surveillance. The two groups now hold regular joint meetings.

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Following many problems with certain types of respiratory masks used in asbestos removal work, the plenary meeting in Maastricht (November 2004) decided to extend the Machex group’s terms of reference to include personal protective equipment, so that all labour inspectorates could be alerted quickly and efficiently as soon as a problem of this kind was reported in one of the Member States.

The Machex group would also be equipped with the CIRCA system, like the SLIC and DG ENTR, which is responsible for marketing. This would allow information to circulate from one interest group to another via the SLIC secretariat, which would, where necessary, relay the information between groups.

2.6.2 Plans for a network to exchange information on cross-border problems, best practice and quality-control procedures

Background: (see p. 8: Cross-border enforcement of Community legislation).

Actions in 2004:

As of 2003, the “New Strategy” working group has been looking into the possibility of setting up a network for exchanging information between national inspectorates on a series of matters of general interest and on cross-border problems, in particular the application of penalties. This work continued in 2004 and some conclusions have been drawn as a result. See section 2.3.2.

2.7. Establishing active cooperation with the labour inspectorates of third countries in order to promote the work done by the Community on health and safety at work and to assist in resolving any cross-border problems

2.7.1 Cooperation with the countries of the European Economic Area (Norway/Iceland/Liechtenstein)

These countries’ representatives regularly attend the SLIC’s plenary meetings as observers and have done so for many years. They work together with the SLIC and show great interest in its work.

These representatives are also very active in the work of several working groups within the SLIC.

2.7.2 Cooperation between the SLIC and the central and eastern European countries

Background: Representatives from the CEECs have participated in the SLIC meetings’ Thematic Days since 1995. This has helped make the CEECs aware of the importance of administrative cooperation in ensuring the proper enforcement of health and safety legislation.

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The CEECs have been fully informed that the Commission has a set of basic criteria for accession, the most important being the incorporation of the Community acquis into national legislation and the proper implementation and application of the required legislation. Cooperation between the SLIC and the CEECs is therefore important in ensuring that legislation is applied in the same manner in the CEECs and the EU, so that the levels of application are the same. Following the SLIC’s example, the CEECs have set up their own committee (CEECs' Secretariat), which meets regularly in order to achieve the same type of cooperation as the EU Member States and with similar objectives. It truly is thanks to the SLIC that levels of protection in the workplace in the CEECs have been aligned with those in the EU, and this has been done through exchanges of experience, cooperation and promotion of EU practices.

At a meeting in 1996, the CEECs proposed the following priority areas for cooperation with the SLIC:

• 1. 

  enforcement and promotion of safety and health in SMEs;

• 2. 

  enforcement methods for the prevention of major hazards and methods for their investigation;

• 3. 

  methods and outlook for systems inspection (inspection of risk management) and how it relates to conventional technical inspection;

• 4. 

  development of criteria to assess the impact and efficiency of various organisational approaches to labour inspection.

The first three of these priority areas fit in well with the priorities proposed by the SLIC itself. Joint activities in these fields will continue to be undertaken and will be organised together with CEEC representatives.

From 1997, all applicant countries must be able to participate in the SLIC meetings. Agreements have been reached in order to obtain funding from DG Enlargement to cover the CEEC representatives’ travel expenses. The latter decide among themselves which countries take part in each activity. Estonia and Slovakia took part in the preparations for the Thematic Day at the meeting in May 1998. It was agreed that Hungary and the Czech Republic would participate in the preparations for the Thematic Days to be held in 1999. Poland, the first CEEC to participate in a European session, took part in the session on the textile industry. Hungary and Slovakia took part in the preparations for the Thematic Day in Lisbon in May 2000. The CEECs have also participated in the SLIC working groups. For example, in 2002 Hungary and the Czech Republic took part in the meetings of the working group on the EU Strategy on Health and Safety at Work. The CEECs have prepared guides in English on their labour inspectorates, similar to those already existing for the Member States.

Actions in 2003 (to recap):

The accession countries’ representatives attended a SLIC plenary meeting, as observers, for the first time in May 2003, in Thessaloniki.

A representative of the Czech Republic was involved in the work of the “New Strategy 2004-2006” group, whose terms of reference include adapting the SLIC work programme to suit the new Community strategy for 2002–2006, taking into account the guidelines set out in the SLIC Resolution (Billund 2002).

Actions in 2004:

The representatives of the ten “new” Member States obviously participated as full members in the SLIC’s plenary meetings held in Dublin (May) and Maastricht (November).

The Romanian and Bulgarian representatives were invited to the Thematic Days, as in the past.

At the plenary meeting in Maastricht (November 2004), the SLIC decided to invite a representative of (RO) and (BG) to attend the SLIC plenary meetings as observers from March 2005 (Mondorf) in order to familiarise themselves with the debates which take place within the SLIC, thus ensuring their progressive integration into the Committee.

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2.7.3 Evaluation of the labour inspectorates in the CEECs

Background: The SLIC agreed to take part in an evaluation of the labour inspectorates in the CEECs. The evaluation would be part of the overall evaluation of the candidate countries to be carried out by the Commission.

A working group was set up to plan and analyse how the assessments would be carried out. The evaluation process would respect the following requirements:

• Common Principles for Member States’ labour inspectorates to be used in the evaluation of the

candidate countries;

• broad analysis of health and safety;

• creation of several evaluation teams, each to evaluate two candidate countries;

• evaluation measures to be the same as those used for the Member States’ labour inspectorates

evaluated.

Actions in 2002 (to recap)

The SLIC evaluation teams completed all candidate country evaluations in December 2002. The entire evaluation exercise was based on the Common Principles for Labour Inspectorates and on ILO Convention No 81. Most of the reports have already been submitted to the SLIC. Although the evaluation exercise was carried out independently for each country and was not intended to be comparative, it was necessary to summarise and harmonise the criteria in the final conclusions. This task was undertaken by a steering evaluation group, which drafted a summary report in 2002, incorporating the general conclusions and recommendations arising from the evaluation exercise.

Actions in 2003 (to recap)

The final reports on the evaluation of the inspection systems in Romania, Slovakia and Malta were forwarded to the Commission. These reports were the last remaining reports to be submitted, so the series of evaluations in the candidate and accession countries, which had begun in 2001, was completed in 2003.

Actions in 2004:

At the plenary meeting in Dublin (May 2004) it was decided to ask the national inspectorates of the “new" countries about the action they had taken in response to the recommendations made to them in their respective evaluation reports in 2001/2002. This would be done with a view to ascertaining the progress made since then and the actions under way, and to identifying the problems which had not yet been solved, so that possible solutions could be discussed.

2.8. Studying the possible impact of other Community policies on labour inspection activities relating to health and safety at work and working conditions

2.8.1 European social policy

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Background: Indicators on quality at work in general and, in particular, on health and safety at work had become a cornerstone of the European Union’s social policy in 2001. For some years the SLIC has been reflecting on the efficiency of labour inspection, and the impact of the above policy on European labour inspectorates is now more visible. In May 2001 the SLIC set up a working group on indicators on the efficiency of labour inspectorates. It also decided to devote a Thematic Day, in Denmark in 2002, to this subject.

Actions in 2003/2004

The working group on Indicators continued its work in 2003 and submitted a draft of the new model for the national inspectorates’ annual report, taking account of the need for indicators. Following several successive improvements, the final version of this document was adopted by the SLIC plenary meeting in Dublin in 2004.

2.8.2 New Community strategy on health and safety 2002-2006

Background: The Commission communication of 11 March 2002 sets out a new Community strategy on health and safety (2002-2006), which is one of the points included in the European Social Agenda. The Senior Labour Inspectors Committee, in cooperation with representatives from the national labour inspectorates of the candidate countries, has set up a working group to study the impact of the new health and safety at work policy on labour inspection. The working group has analysed the role of the Committee in relation to the main strategic goals set out in the above document. The Committee, assembled for the SLIC's 43rd plenary meeting in Billund, Denmark, on 5 November, recognised that health and safety at work was one of the most tightly-regulated and important areas of EU social policy; it adopted a Resolution on the strategy and submitted it to the Commission.

Actions in 2003/2004

In 2003 the working group on the new strategy revised the SLIC's work programme for 2004-2006 to take account of the new Community strategy for 2002-2006 and of the Billund Resolution (2002).

This revised work programme was adopted at the plenary meeting in Dublin (May 2004); it is also intended to adapt this work programme following each plenary meeting in accordance with the progress made.

Exploratory talks were held in both Dublin and Maastricht regarding collaboration between the SLIC and the Risk Observatory recently set up within the Bilbao Agency. As there were still questions concerning the effect that such collaboration would have on inspectors’ daily activities, it was decided to have the matter examined in the group dealing with cross-border enforcement of legislation.

3 MEETINGS AND WORKING GROUPS

In 2004 the SLIC held two plenary meetings chaired by a Commission representative: 19- 21 May in Dublin (Ireland) and 3-5 November 2004 in Maastricht (Netherlands).

Annex A contains a list of national representatives of the labour inspectorates in the SLIC.

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Annex B contains a list of publications for each year.

Annex C contains a table of the working groups, the tasks carried out and meetings held in 2004.

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ANNEX A

Members of the Senior Labour Inspectors Committee in 2004

GERMANY Mr Andreas Horst

Mr Bernhard Brückner

AUSTRIA Ms Eva-Elisabeth Szymanski

Ms Gertrud Breindl

BELGIUM Mr Marc Heselmans

Mr Karel Van Damme

CYPRUS Mr Leandros Nicolaides

Mr Anastasios Yiannaki

DENMARK Mr Jens Jensen

Mr Jesper Olsen

SPAIN Mr Raimundo Aragón Bombín

Mr Fernando Nolla

ESTONIA Mr Priit Siitan

Ms Katrin Lepisk

FINLAND Mr Mikko Hurmalainen

Mr Jaakko Itäkannas

FRANCE Ms Odile Lautard

Ms Maud Valat-Taddei

GREECE Mr Alexandros Karageorgiou

Mr Rigos Iakovos

HUNGARY Mr András Békés

Ms Kornélia Molnár

IRELAND Mr Michael Henry

Mr Pat Goulding

ITALY Mr Mariano Martone

Mr Mario Notaro

LATVIA Mr Jānis Bērzinš

Ms Tatjana Zabarovska

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LITHUANIA Mr Mindaugas Pluktas

Ms Dalia Legiené

LUXEMBOURG Mr Paul Weber

Mr Robert Huberty

MALTA Mr Mark Gauci

Mr Silvio Farrugia

NETHERLANDS Mr Paul Huijzendveld

Mr Peter Weeda

POLAND Ms Anna Hintz

Ms Katarzyna Kitajewska

PORTUGAL Mr Nuno Ataíde das Neves

Mr José-Manuel Santos

CZECH REPUBLIC Mr Jaromir Elbel

Ms Daniela Kubičová

UNITED KINGDOM Ms Sandra Caldwell

Mr Justin McCracken

SLOVAKIA Mr Gabriel Hrabovsky

Ms Ludmila Mikleticova

SLOVENIA Mr Borut Brezovar

Mr Boriz Ruzic

SWEDEN Mr Bernt Nilsson

Mr Bertil Remaeus

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Annex B

Publications

Published before 2001

Labour Inspection in the European Community - Health and Safety - Legal systems and sanctions - ISBN 92-826-9959-5 (available in nine languages).

Glossarium - Health and Safety - Legal systems and sanctions – ISBN 92-826-8521-7 (multilingual).

The EC and Health and Safety at Work - Training Module for Labour Inspectors (available in nine languages).

European session on construction (available in DE, EN, FR, NL and PT).

European session on agriculture (available in DK, EN, ES and PT).

Labour Inspection (health and safety) in the European Union - 15 Member States. Ringbinder (available in nine languages).

European session on the motor industry (available in EN, IT, FR, SV, DE, NL and ES).

Common Principles for Labour Inspectorates and Questionnaire. Senior Labour Inspectors Committee, 1997 (available in nine languages).

1996 Annual Reports from National Labour Inspectorates (available in EN, FR and DE).

Practices, priorities and methods of inspection; evolution and challenges. Responses to a questionnaire (available in EN, FR and DE).

Training of labour inspectors. Proceedings of a conference held in May 1998 in London (available in EN, FR and DE).

1997 Annual Reports from National Labour Inspectorates (available in EN, FR and DE).

Risk determination and assessment and Labour Inspectorates' approach. Responses to a questionnaire on Labour Inspectorates' approach (available in EN, FR and DE).

Risk determination and assessment and Labour Inspectorates' approach. Report on the Thematic Day in November 1998 in Vienna (available in EN, FR and DE).

Occupational Safety and Health Management. Requirements for safety and health management systems and their application in industrial practices. Appendix of the Reports on Occupational safety and health management and Responses to a questionnaire of the Labour Inspectorates.

Compendium of Annual Reports of the Labour Inspectorates in 1999 (available in EN, FR and DE).

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Cooperation between labour inspectors and occupational health care providers. Report on the Thematic Day in December 1999 in Rovaniemi, Finland (available in EN, FR and DE).

Published in 2001

"Employability and working conditions". Report on the Thematic Day held in France in November 2000 (available in DE, FR and EN).

1999 Annual Reports of the Labour Inspectorates – I, II – (available in DE, FR and EN).

European Campaign on Agriculture (available in DE, FR and EN).

European session on prevention of the risks related to asbestos: June-December.

"The role the competent authorities in stress at work and other psychosocial problems". Report on the Thematic Day held in Sweden in May 2001 (available in DE, EN and FR).

Cross-border enforcement of health and safety at work legislation. Legal basis.

Cross-border enforcement of health and safety legislation. Questionnaire and working group.

Published in 2002

"Violence at work". Report on the Thematic Day held in Belgium in December 2001 (available in DE, FR and EN).

"Working conditions in telework". Report on the Thematic Day held in Spain in May 2002 (available in DE, FR and EN).

Compilations of 2001 and 2002 Annual Reports of the Labour Inspectorates (available in DE, FR and EN).

Published in 2003

Compilations of 2001 and 2002 Annual Reports of the Labour Inspectorates (parts 2 and 3) (available in DE, FR and EN).

"The efficiency of labour inspection" – report on the Thematic Day held in Denmark in November 2002 (available in DE, FR and EN).

"Self-employed workers and problems related to health and safety at work" – report on the Thematic Day held in Greece in May 2003 (available in DE, FR and EN).

Published in 2004

Final report on the 2004 European construction campaign (April 2004) (DE) (FR) (EN).

"Environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace" (ETS)

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Report on the Thematic Day in Ireland in May 2004 (available in DE, FR and EN).

"Monitoring of the application of Directive 90/269/EEC i on the minimum health and safety requirements for the manual handling of loads"

Report on the Thematic Day in the Netherlands in November 2004 (available in DE, FR and EN).

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Annex C

Follow-up of Work programme of the Committee of Senior labour Inspectors 2004-2006 – YEAR 2004

Article 2 of the decision of the Commission of July 12, 1995 setting up a Committee of Senior Labour Inspectors.

The Committee shall give its opinion to the Commission, either at the Commission's request or on its own initiative, on all problems relating to the enforcement by the Member States of Community law on health and safety at work

2004 Activities

ACTIVITIES WGs AIMS/OBJECTIVES RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS NOTES

SLIC Plenary – Dublin, Ireland Held on 19 – 21 May

2004

SLIC – Thematic Day – Dublin, Disseminating information to enable the Publication of the proceedings of the th Held on 20 May 2004

Ireland : different countries to compare inspection Thematic day in (DE)(FR)(EN). Published and distributed "Environmental Tobacco Smoke policies and practices on a specific topic. August 2004 (ETS) at the workplace"

SLIC Plenary – Maastricht Held on 3 rd – 5 th Nov.

Netherlands 2004

SLIC – Thematic Day – Maastricht Disseminating information to enable the Publication of the proceedings of the Held on 4 th Nov. 2004

Netherlands" Supervising Manual different countries to compare inspection Thematic day in (DE) (FR) (EN). Published and distributed Handling of Loads" Dir. (90/269) policies and practices on a specific topic The proposal has been made to SLIC in November 2004.

to have an European inspection campaign on "Manual handling of loads" in 2007

• - 

  1 -

WP I - Common Principles of Labour Inspection (§ 1 – of Art. 3 COM Decision 12.7.95 setting up of SLIC

"Defining 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 principles

ACTIVITIES WGs AIMS/OBJECTIVES RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS NOTES

(1) Common Principles

Common Principles UK (Chair) Revision of the Common Principles The WG conclusions were discussed at WG met on 27 January, DK, DE, GR, and subsequently of the questionnaire and the Plenary in Dublin( May 2004.) 15 April 2004 and 10

IT, ES, other evaluation tools* on the basis of Comments and remarks were made – September. To report on No, Ice. experience gained with previous evaluations amendments to be made .The final the New Common document has been presented at the Principles at the Plenary * (Protocol for future evaluation visits) Plenary in Maastricht where the new in Maastricht (November common principles have been adopted. 2004).

(2) Evaluation MS

Assessment of the system of labour SW (Chair), Evaluation of the national system of Evaluation report expected for the 1 st The working group was

inspection of UK DK, PT, No, Semester 2005. set in the Plenary of

B, AT labour inspection of UK in relation to t he common principles for Labour Thessaloniki. The

Inspectorates as regards inspection of Health preparatory meeting took nd

and Safety at workplace place on 2 March 2004. The evaluation took place

on 26-30 April 2004.

Assessment of the system of labour LU (Chair), Evaluation of the national system of Evaluation report expected for the 1 st The WG was set in Rome

inspection of FR UK, ES, EL, semester 2005. Nov. 2003

PT, SE labour inspection of FR in relation to t he common principles for Labour Preparatory meeting:

Inspectorates as regards inspection of Health 29.6.04

and Safety at workplace Evaluation 20-24.9.04 Editorial meeting held on

14/12/04.

-2-

Assessment of the system of labour UK (Chair), Evaluation of the national system of Evaluation report expected for the 1 st The WG was set in

inspection of DE NL, FR, IT, semester 2005. Thessaloniki (EL) May

NO, SE labour inspection of DE in relation to t he common principles for Labour 2003

Inspectorates as regards inspection of Health Preparatory meeting

and Safety at workplace 8.7.2004 Evaluation 27.9-1.10.04

Follow up on recommendations of Secretariat . Summarise experience gained ,in Compilation of national Decision taken at the

NMS evaluations (2001-2002) and WG

"indicators" order to improve the evaluation contributions is still ongoing.

plenary in Dublin (May

Follow-up of 1 st round of (DK) chair + exercise in view of the

2004).

evaluations all 25 MS. second round of evaluations starting in of the "old" member states. 2007.

-3-

WP II - Common Inspection Objectives (§ 2 – of Art. 3 COM Decision 12.7.95 setting up of SLIC "Promoting improved knowledge and mutual understanding of the different national systems and practices of labour inspection, the methods and legal frameworks for action"

ACTIVITIES WGs AIMS/OBJECTIVES RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS NOTES

(1) Campaign on heath and safety in construction

Construction Campaign 2003 (OMS) NL (Chair) Promoting a good health and safety Final report to the SLIC Plenary in A meeting was held on +15 OMS + management in the construction sector. Dublin on the overall conclusions and 17/03/2004 to prepare the

Construction campaign 2004 (OMS) NO+ICE. Analysing problems related to co-ordination, evaluation of the Campaign 2003. 2004 campaign

H&S management and liability in the construction sites. Arising awareness in risks The plenary in Rome (Nov. 2003) First period of campaign consisting of falls from height. decided to repeat the campaign in took place in June 2004. 2004. Second period took place in September/October Some recommendations are made to 2004. the SLIC Plenary in Dublin (May A final meeting was held 2004). on 9/12/2004 to prepare The final report is to be presented at the report of the 2004 the SLIC plenary in Mondorf (March campaign. 2005)

Construction Campaign 2005 (NMS) NL (Chair), Promoting a good health and safety WG met on 14.7.04 and DE, IE, EL, management in the construction sector. 7.10.04

UK,+ all NMS Analysing problems related to co-ordination, H&S management and liability in the

construction sites. Arising awareness in risks consisting of falls from height.

(2) Asbestos Campaign – 2006

Asbestos Guide DE (Chair), To publish a Handbook on Best practises for WG met on 28 October (Groupe Mixte SLIC/ACHS) FR, UK, IE, inspectors, employers and employees 2004

PO, DK, SI,

-4-

ILO, FR Asbestos inspection campaign DE (Chair), To organise the inspection campaign itself. WG to meet in January

All 25 MS 2005.

-5-

(3) Thematic Days

Thematic Day in Ireland: IE (chair), IT, SLIC conference on the subject to share Setting up of the Agenda and detection The WG met on 22

"Environmental Tobacco Smoke FR, DE experiences and approaches of speakers and outline paper for the January 2004.

(ETS) at the workplace" Seminar. Seminar was held on 20 May 2004.

Thematic Day in the Netherlands NL (Chair), SLIC Conference on the subject to share Setting up of the Agenda and detection WG met on 9 March and supervising "Manual Handling of SE, NO, UK, experiences and approaches of speakers and outline paper for the 7 June 2004 Loads - Dir. (90/269)" SL Seminar. Seminar took place on 4

November 2004.

Thematic Day in Luxembourg LU (Chair), SLIC Conference on the subject to share Setting up of the Agenda and detection WG met on 1 July and 26 "Common Grounds – Common Goals BE, NO and experiences and approaches of speakers and outline paper for the October 2004

for the Management of EU Labour ILO Seminar. Seminar to be held on 4 th

Inspections" March 2005.

(4) National Annual Reports 2002/2003

WG Indicators SE (Chair) To analyse the 25 national annual reports WG to meet on 25/01/05 FR, DE, "2003"in order to reach more harmonisation.

DK,IT, UK,NO

2002 Dissemination of data to inform other MS of Distributed at Plenary inspection activities Ireland (May 2004)

Synthesis on 2003 Annual report Have an overview on inspection capacities, Synthesis on reports activities and competencies at EU level. drawn up by SLIC

Secretariat – reported to SLIC Maastricht (NL) – November 2004

2003 Dissemination of data to inform other MS of 24/25 received mid December. Distributed at Plenary inspection activities Netherlands(November 2004)

-6-

WP III - Cooperation between Labour Inspectorates (§ 3 –§ 4 and § 6 of Art. 3 COM Decision 12.7.95 setting up of SLIC

"Developing exchanges between national labour inspection services of their experiences in monitoring the enforcement of secondary Community law on health and safety at work, so as to ensure its consistent enforcement throughout the Community"

ACTIVITIES WGs AIMS/OBJECTIVES RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS NOTES

WG Machex SE (Chair) + Information for the labour inspectorates in At the SLIC plenary in Maastricht it 29-30 January 2004

OMS(2004) order to ensure greater consistency in the has been decided to widen the scope of Next meeting 2005: with + application of the Machinery Directive. Machex mandate to PPE's since there 25 MS NMS (2005) Various problems concerning specific have been major concerns with machines are examined in meetings in order respiratory masks. to find solutions or ways of solving them transnationally. .As from 2005 the mandate of the WG is widened to PPE's for the same reasons ..

Cross border enforcement DK (Chair), Exchange of information on cross border Conclusions: The WG will examine the IT , UK, AU, enforcement of health and safety. 1) Cross border problems concerning feasibility of the network NL, SP, LU infringements are usually to be solved in respect to due personal bilaterally. protection of data and

2)Common "Enforcement" difficulties confidentiality rights. The

are to be discussed in SLIC meetings WG met on 8 th September

and experiences shared. 2004. The decision has been taken in Maastricht to enlarge the WG with 25 The WG has reported to members and to have 2 meetings a SLIC plenary Maastricht year. (NL) November 2004

Exchange L.I. inspectors Promote knowledge of Inspectors through 4 exchanges in 2004 Mission reports awaited study visits abroad

Exchange of Asbestos Management secretariat Exchanges of information between MS The secretariat prepared a summary of Distributed in Dublin

Systems all the national contributions received (May 2004)

-7-

WG IV – Information (§ 5 – of Art. 3 COM Decision 12.7.95 setting up of SLIC )

ACTIVITIES WGs AIMS/OBJECTIVES RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS NOTES

Exchange views (ILO / Dublin / To collaborate efficiently with other Representatives of those international

Bilbao / Eurostat) international bodies sharing competencies on bodies are systematically invited to the

OSH matters. participate in the Plenary meetings in connection with specific topics on the agenda.

CIRCA Network to efficiently circulate working - SLIC Plenary Interest Group - Launched April 2004 documents for the SLIC meetings. - MACHEX Interest Group - Launched June 2004 -ENFORCEMENT Interest Group -To be launched early 2005

Information on activities on the SLIC Disseminating information about SLIC and Information available on the SLIC Updating the SLIC

Website on the DG EMPL D4 its activities website Website started early

Internet Homepage 2004 (ongoing process by mid December 2004)

Updating Manual of Inspections Disseminating updated information - Collecting national contributions To be published in 2005 concerning the National inspection systems - Translations are ongoing

in order to improve mutual knowledge and - (EN-FR-DE) assist LI in cross border problems

Manual on Sanctions and Juridical Disseminating updated data concerning - frame for contributions to be To be published end of systems National sanctions and Juridical systems to circulated by early 2005 2005 or early 2006

improve mutual knowledge and assist LI in - Contributions awaited for mid 2005 cross border problems

-8-

WP V – Cooperation with other Partners / third Countries (§ 7 – of Art. 3 COM Decision 12.7.95 setting up of SLIC)

ACTIVITIES WGs AIMS/OBJECTIVES RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS NOTES

Risk Observatory WG Collaboration between SLIC and Risk WG to held his first meeting on 3 Representatives of Bilbao "Enforcement" Observatory on emerging risks of concern February 2005. Agency invited to

(DK) chair detected on the field Maastricht Plenary (Nov. +all 25 MS. 2004)

Cooperation with Advisory SLIC secretariat reports twice a year on SLIC 4 ACSH representatives participate in Meeting 28 October 2004 Committee activities at the ACSH plenary meetings. WG "Asbestos" on "Best Practice

.Cooperation with Social partners at EU level handbook" on topics of interest for both SLIC and ACSH

-9-

WP VI – Cooperation with European Commission (§ 8 – of Art. 3 COM Decision 12.7.95 setting up of SLIC)

ACTIVITIES WGs AIMS/OBJECTIVES RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS NOTES

Bureau - To prepare the Agenda and proposals to the - Meeting on 22 nd April

next Plenary meeting and to steer the Work 2004 (Dublin Plenary) Programme for the coming periods

• - 

  Meeting on 30 th

• - 

  Allow close collaboration between COM September 2004 and SLIC (Maastricht Plenary)

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