EU risk assessment campaign: 30 European organisations and companies take action

“All of these workers’ and employers’ federations, NGOs and enterprises from different industry sectors are renowned organisations and they invest a lot of time and money”, Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA said. “We are very proud that they help us to reach the workplaces and get our main messages across: First, risk assessment is the key to preventing accidents and ill health at work – for any type of organisation, whether large or small. And secondly: Risk assessment is not necessarily complicated or bureaucratic. Even micro-firms and SMEs are able to carry out their own risk assessment. To help them, we are promoting a simple five-step approach.”

Takala also highlighted that improvements must be achieved. “Although risk assessment is a legal obligation throughout Europe, there are still companies that do not assess their risks regularly, especially in SMEs, and we would like to see this change.”

By signing up as official partners, the 30 organisations commit themselves to organise seminars, workshops and press conferences on risk assessment and to disseminate the campaign messages and material. Other activities include the production of workplace safety and health videos, photo competitions or training sessions with clients, partners and contractors.

In return for their substantial involvement in the campaign, every official campaign partner receives a Partner Certificate and EU-OSHA rewards them with extensive promotion via its website and newsletter to more than 40,000 subscribers and to the media.

13 new campaign partners:

See all partners

Quotes:

Alain Perroy, Director General of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic)

”Healthy workplaces are a key objective of Responsible Care, our long standing initiative to continuously improve our performance in all areas of health, safety and environment. This campaign provides very useful tools to promote health and safety at work.”

Andrea Marconi, President of the European Builders Confederation (EBC)

“Effective risk assessment is the foundation on which any and all measures that keep workers safe are built. It is also a process that involves every person in the company and requires very good communication.”

Antonio Montero, President of the European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA)

“The Healthy Workplaces campaign on risk assessment assists us to deliver on the ECTA commitment to ensure improvement in reduction of the HSE impacts of the transport of chemicals. In our ECTA Responsible Care Programme we encourage all transport companies involved in chemical transports to make good risk assessments and follow-up the reduction of the risks. We wish to implement a safety standard for our personnel (drivers) according to the guideline we have publicized with Cefic: BBS guideline on safe loading and unloading of road vehicles.”

Domenico Pesenti, President of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW)

“Risk assessment is of the highest priority and mainly depends on the full participation of workers’ representatives.”

Sam Hägglund, General Secretary of the European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW)

“Risk assessment is important for improving the health and safety environment because it belongs to the preventive tool box.”

Giancarlo Bianchi, Chair of the European Network of Safety and Health Professional Organisations (ENSHPO)

“ENSHPO firmly believes that successful risk assessment can be achieved through involvement and contributions from all parties within the workplace with special focus on the workers.”

Eduardo Chagas, General Secretary of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF)

“It’s a matter of life and death for transport workers to be able to assess the risks in their working environment. This campaign has our full support.”

Robert Long, Secretary General of the European Textile Service Association (E.T.S.A.)

“Textile rental firms stress the importance of a risk assessment approach to protective clothing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in ensuring a healthy and safe workplace. Selection of appropriate protective clothing is of course important. But don’t forget suitable care and maintenance!”

Christian Kjaer, CEO of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA)

“Over the last five years, more than 60,000 new jobs have been created in the EU wind energy industry – an average of 33 every day, seven days a week. Therefore, the European Wind Energy Association wants to join efforts in promoting healthy and safe places for current and future workers.”

José Donoso Alonso, President of ‘Asociación Empresarial Eólica’ (AEE)

“The existence of a health and safety culture in the labour environment is important to avoid accidents and injuries in the working facilities. This is especially important in the wind energy sector, which is one of the most dynamic industrial branches in the European Union with the greatest potential of growth in the near future. The Spanish Wind Energy Association has created a specific working group to develop guides and to facilitate the exchange of information, with the enthusiastic support of the Spanish companies, very concerned by this issue.”

Dirk Cordeel, President of the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC)

“Risk assessment should be one of the main priorities of any responsible contractor.”

Ulrich Paetzold, Director General of the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC)

“The promotion of healthier workplaces, in particular amongst SMEs, is part of our priorities also in our Social Dialogue with EFBWW.”

Julie Staun, President of the Federation of Occupational Health Nurses within the European Union (FOHNEU)

“The occupational health nurse has access to the workforce and management. Because of their independent role occupational health nurses can gather information, seek common ground between the parties and initiate evidence based interventions to reduce risks at the workplace.”

Lisa Szewczul, Vice President, Environment Health & Safety, at Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation

“Job hazard analysis is a key process of the Hamilton Sundstrand environmental, health & safety culture. By joining the Healthy Workplaces European campaign Hamilton Sundstrand aims to sustain its commitment in reducing the risk in every process, operation and service and align its risk assessment tools with the European recommendations for its European operations.”

Jean-Pierre Van Lier, President of the International Safety and Health Construction Co-ordinators Organization (ISHCCO)

“ISHCCO links together the national coordinators’ associations related to the well known EU directive DE92/57. Our aim is to defend the interests of our professional members and we contribute to the development of the coordination concept itself on temporary or mobile works with determination. Targeting the progress of the Society in this field, ISHCCO shall participate and support the European campaign for the risks evaluation.”

Jože Colarič, President of the Management Board and Chief Executive of Krka, d. d., Novo mesto

“At Krka we are aware that the assessment of the risks of injuries and health damages is one of the essential conditions for successful business operation of the company. For this reason we carry out periodic risk assessment for all workplaces and technological processes, eliminate these risks and reduce the most critical ones. We were pleased to join the Healthy Workplaces campaign because it means an important contribution to raising employers’ awareness and, consequently, to more successful risk assessment by the companies.”

Background:

The Healthy Workplaces campaign on Risk Assessment runs over two years (2008/2009) and is backed by the EU Presidencies, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European social partners. With the help of its network of national focal points in the 27 EU member states and accession countries, EU-OSHA organises hundreds of events and activities throughout the campaign.

Main campaign objectives:

• raise awareness of the legal responsibility and the importance and practical need to assess risks in the workplace

• demystify the process and show, especially to SMEs, that risk assessment is not necessarily complicated, bureaucratic, or a task only for experts

• promote a five-step approach to risk assessment

• promote the involvement of everyone in the workplace

• promote good practices which are transferable and help make the process easier

Further reading:

See the Partners section on the campaign website

Campaign summary

TV journalists (free-of-charge footage material + edited report on risk assessment)

Access our Risk assessment Entry Point

*Every year 5,720 people die in the European Union as a consequence of work-related accidents, according to EUROSTAT figures (1). Besides that, the International Labour Organisation estimates (2) that an additional 159,500 workers in the EU die every year from occupational diseases. Taking ILO's figures into consideration, it is estimated that every three-and-a-half minutes somebody in the EU dies from work-related causes and that every four-and-a-half seconds an EU worker is involved in an accident that forces them to stay at home for at least three working days (3).

(1) EUROSTAT 2005: Figure in recorded economic sectors covering 87% of the workforce in the 27 EU Member States.

(3) ILO estimates 2008: 167,000 work-related deaths/year

Official campaign partners:

Air Liquide Welding

Baxter International

BUSINESSEUROPE

CEOC International

Confédération Européenne des Syndicats Indépendants (CESI)

Eli Lilly and Company Limited

European Builders Confederation (E.B.C.)

European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC)

European Chemical Transport Association (ECTA)

European Confederation of Police (EUROCOP)

European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC)

European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW)

European Federation of National Maintenance Societies (EFNMS)

European Industrial Minerals Association (IMA-Europe)

European Men’s Health Forum (EMHF)

European Network of Safety and Health Professional Organisations (ENSHPO)

European Process Safety Centre (EPSC)

European Safety Federation (ESF)

European Technology Platform on Industrial Safety (ETPIS)

European Textile Services Association (E.T.S.A.)

European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)

European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF)

European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), in cooperation with Asociación

Empresarial Eólica (AEE)

Federation of Occupational Health Nurses within the European Union (FOHNEU)

GE Energy

Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation

Ideal Standard International

International Safety and Health Construction Coordinators Organization (ISHCCO)

Johnson & Johnson

KRKA, d. d., Novo mesto