Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

1.10 
The infl uence of the European 
Union (EU) on health and safety
As Britain is part of the European Union, much of the 
health and safety law originates in Europe. Proposals 
from the European Commission may be agreed by mem-
ber states. The member states are then responsible for 
making them part of their domestic law.
In Britain itself and in much of Europe, health and 
safety law is based on the principle of risk assessment 
described above. The main role of the EU in health and 
safety is to harmonize workplace and legal standards 
and remove barriers to trade across member states. A 
directive from the EU is legally binding on each member 
state and must be incorporated into the national law of 
each member state. Directives set out specifi c minimum 
aims which must be covered within the national law. Some 
states incorporate Directives more speedily than others.
Directives are proposed by the European Commis-
sion, comprising 25 commissioners, who are citizens of 
each of the member states. The proposed Directives are 
sent to the European Parliament which is directly elected 
from the member states. The European Parliament may 
accept, amend or reject the proposed Directives. The 
proposed Directives are then passed to the Council of 
Ministers who may accept the proposals on a qualifi ed 
Figure 1.4
Diagrammatic view of ‘reasonably practicable’.
Quantum of
risk severity
and likelihood
of event
Sacrifice in
time, money
and trouble

---

Health and safety foundations
9
majority vote, unless the European Parliament has 
rejected them, in which case, they can only be accepted 
on a unanimous vote of the Council. The Council of 
Ministers consists of one senior Government minister 
from each of the member states.
The powers of the EU in health and safety law are 
derived from the Treaty of Rome 1957 and the Single 
European Act 1986. For health and safety, the Single 
European Act added two additional Articles – 100A and 
118A. The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam renumbered them 
as 95A and 138A respectively. Article 95A is concerned 
with health and safety standards of equipment and plant 
and its Directives are implemented in the UK by the 
Department of Trade and Industry.
Article 138A is concerned with minimum 
standards of health and safety in employment and its 
Directives are implemented by the Health and Safety 
Commission/Executive.
The objective of the Single European Act 1986 is to 
produce a ‘level playing fi eld’ for all member states so 
that goods and services can move freely around the EU 
without any one state having an unfair advantage over 
another. The harmonization of health and safety require-
ments across the EU is one example of the ‘level playing 
fi eld’.
The fi rst introduction of an EU Directive into UK 
Health and Safety law occurred on 1 January 1993 when 
a Framework Directive on Health and Safety manage-
ment and fi ve daughter directives were introduced using 
powers contained in the Health and Safety at Work Act 
1974 (Figures 1.5 and 1.6). These directives, known as 
the European Six Pack, covered the following areas:
➤
Management of Health and Safety at Work
➤
Workplace
➤
Provision and Use of Work Equipment 
➤
Manual 
Handling 
➤
Personal Protective Equipment 
➤
Display Screen Equipment.
Since 1993, several other EU Directives have been intro-
duced into UK law. Summaries of the more common UK 
regulations are given in Chapter 17.