Activities of Nikolaj VILLUMSEN related to 2021/2165(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
A new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on a new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020 (including better protection of workers from exposure to harmful substances, stress at work and repetitive motion injuries)
Amendments (29)
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas there were still over 3.300 fatal accidents and 3.1 million non-fatal accidents in the EU-27 in 2018; whereas over 200 000 workers die each year from work-related illnesses; whereas 20 % of jobs in Europe are of poor quality and put workers at increased risk regarding their health; whereas 14 % of workers have been exposed to a high level of psychosocial risks4 ; whereas 23 % of European workers believe that their safety or their health is at risk because of their work; __________________ 4 ‘Sixth European Working Conditions Survey – Overview report (2017 update)’, Eurofound, 2017, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas cancer is the leading cause of work-related deaths, accounting for 52 % of all work-related deaths in the EU; whereas carcinogens contribute to an estimated 100 000 occupational cancer deaths in the workplace every year5 ; whereas 80% of occupational cancers recognised in European countries are asbestos related; whereas skin cancer as an occupational disease is increasing due to various factors such as climate change; __________________ 5‘An international comparison of the cost of work-related accidents and illnesses’, EU-OSHA, 2017.
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the Covid-19 pandemic has rendered evident the need to ensure the safety and protection of workers, and whereas it has highlighted the importance of preventing work-related diseases and investing in public health; whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rapid increase in teleworking; whereas remote working is proven to have a strong impact on the organisation of working time by increasing flexibility and workers’ constant availability9 ; whereas it is expected that the uptake of remote working and teleworking will remain higher than before the COVID- 19 crisis or that it will even increase further10 ; __________________ 9 ‘Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work’, Eurofound and the International Labour Office, 2017, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, and the International Labour Office, Geneva. 10‘Teleworking in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic: enabling conditions for a successful transition’, European Trade Union Institute, 2021, Brussels.
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas scientific knowledge about the exposure to various substances, physical agents or other hazards and its specific effects on human beings and the related occurrence of specific diseases has remarkably grown of the last years, the European list of occupational diseases has not been revised in order to acknowledge this scientific evidence;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the vulnerability of non-standard workers, including workers via digital labour platforms and self- employed workers; whereas platform work in the labour market is highly likely to continue growing; whereas self-employed workers are excluded from the scope of application of the strategic framework for health and safety at work, as they are not covered by the EU legislation on occupational health and safety;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas disturbing reports regarding breaches of cross-border and seasonal workers’ rights in terms of working and living conditions have surfaced during the pandemic; whereas precarious forms of employment like interim work, false self-employment or the work in subcontracting chains regularly exclude workers from occupational safety and health (OSH) services and training;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas climate change has already had and will continue to have detrimental effects on human health, safety at work and on working conditions; whereas workers are increasingly exposed to high temperature, natural UV radiations and other health and safety hazard due to climate change;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I b (new)
Recital I b (new)
Ib. whereas the world of work is the most dynamic subsystem of our societies and technological change is permanently resulting in new generations of existing tools or machinery, new substances and chemical products or new technologies like nano-technologies or artificial intelligence, always accompanied by new risks or hazards at work; whereas digital transitions as well as development of new technologies such as nano technologies, nano components and artificial intelligence will lead to profound and structural transformation of the world of work; whereas these transformations may have detrimental effects on human health, safety at work and on working conditions;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s strategic framework and, in particular, the introduction of the Vision Zero approach to work-related accidents and diseases; regrets however, the level of ambition in the OSH Strategy taking the Vision Zero into consideration and calls on the Commission to put forward proposals accordingly to its ambitions in the field of OSH; calls on the Commission to expand the Vision Zero approach to other injuries and accidents, as well as physical and mental attrition; calls on the Commission and Member States to significantly increase the focus on prevention strategies such as strengthening labour inspectorates, national health and safety services and social partner dialogue for preventive action; calls for the ambitious implementation and monitoring of the 7- year plan, also in the light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and; calls on the Commission to regularly update its strategic framework in line with climate change, evolution of labour markets and new technological developments; believes that strong legislative action is needed on several aspects of EU policy on occupational health and safety in order to complement the variety of soft measures envisaged in order to make Vision Zero a reality; calls for a clear focus on workers’ participation in the Vision Zero approachand the strengthening of social partners consultation in the Vision Zero approach; underlines that the Strategic Framework should continue to develop and improve current national strategies in cooperation with social partners and calls on the Member States to ensure that their strategies are specific in implementing effective measures;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for Directive 2004/37/EC of 29 April 2004 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work to be updated on a continual basis and in an ambitious timeframe, ensuring that occupational exposure limits contained in the directive exist for a minimum of 50 priority substances by 2024; calls for the inclusion of reprotoxic substances and hazardous medicinal products in the scope of the directive; on the Commission as a matter of priority to put forward an action plan to achieve occupational exposure limits for at least 25 new substances or group of substances to be include in the directive; reiterates its call on the Commission to update the limit values on harmful substances in accordance with up to date scientific data such as benzene and crystalline silica dust as the Parliament has called for in its position for the revision of Directive 2004/37/EC; calls for the inclusion of reprotoxic substances and hazardous medicinal products in the scope of the directive; calls on the Commission, after appropriate consultation with social partners and relevant stakeholders, to prepare a definition of Hazardous Medical Products (HMP)and establish the list of substances covered by the Directive 2004/37/EC, and prepare EU guidelines and standards of practice for the preparation, administration and disposal of HMP in the Member States; calls on the Commission to assess establishing a risk-based methodology in the Directive 2004/37/EC; calls on the Member States to ensure the right to stop work when facing imminent danger and exceptional hazardous working conditions for all workers, in accordance with national practices;
Amendment 122 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to present in 2022 a legislative proposal to further reduce workers’ exposure to asbestos; calls on the Commission to step up its ambitions and present a proposal for a European Strategy for the Removal of All Asbestos (ESRAA) in line with the Parliament’s report with recommendations to the Commission on protecting workers from asbestos (2019/2182(INL)); calls on the Commission to be ambitious in its endeavours to achieve the total ban ofremoval of all asbestos and with regard to its zero accidents at work vision, andwork- related deaths vision, and to revise the Directive 2009/148/EC with regards to training and certification of workers exposed to asbestos, and, as a matter of priority, to update the exposure limit for asbestos which should be set ato 0.,001 fibres/cm3 (1 000 fibres/m3); stresses the needcalls on the Commission with ESRAA to put forward a legislative proposal for an EU framework directive for national asbestos removal strategies, including public asbestos registers; calls on the Commission to update Directive 2010/31/EU with a view to introducing a requirement for the mandatory screening and subsequent removal of asbestos and other dangerous substances before renovation works can start and before the selling or renting out of buildings thereby prohibiting the sealing and encapsulation of asbestos, in order to protect the health of construction workers in the green transition;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on the Commission, after consulting the social partners as provided for in Article 154, on the basis of Article 153(2)(b) TFEU, to present a proposal for a directive setting out minimum requirements for the recognition of occupational diseases in the Member States; calls on the Commission to update the list of occupational diseases and to include all asbestos related diseases and work-related musculoskeletal disorders, skin cancers, as well as psychosocial work-related diseases such as depression, burnout and stress; stresses that this proposal should entail a list of occupational diseases liable for compensation in the Member States as well as the establishment of a national function to assist victims of occupational diseases;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Believes that Council Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work has not proven effective enough for the assessment and management of psychosocial risks; recalls its request that the Commission include in the Strategic Framework for Occupational Safety and Health the right to disconnect and, explicitly, that it develop new psychosocial measures as part of the framework; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to step up the ambition of the Strategic Framework for Occupational Safety and Health; calls on the Commission to propose a directive on psychosocial risks and well-being at work aimed at the efficient prevention in the workplace of, inter alia, anxiety, depression, burnout and stress; calls on the Commission to aim for the recognition of anxiety, depression and burnout as occupational diseases, to establish mechanisms for their prevention and the reintegration into the workplace of affected employees, and to shift from individual- level actions to a work organisation approach and in line with the principles of hierarchy of prevention included in the Directive 89/391/EEC;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the fact that the Commission is strengthening the gender focus on occupational safety and health; calls on the Commission and Member States to mainstream the gender perspective and the importance of taking account of gender differences throughout all legislative and non-legislative instruments on occupational health and safety, also with their respective implementation in the Member States; calls on the Commission to propose a legal act based on the framework agreement on harassment and violence at work, and to ensure that the fight against workplace violence and harassment applies regardless of the reason and the cause for the harassment and that it is not limited to cases based on discriminatory grounds; calls on the Member States’ governments to ratify ILO Convention No 190 to put in place the necessary laws and policy measures to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WRecalls that atypical and platform workers may be subject to increased health and safety risks for both on- location and online platform work; stresses that these risks are not limited to physical health but can also affect psychosocial health with unpredictable working hours, intensity of work, competitive environments (rating systems, work incentive through bonuses), information overload and isolation as emergent risk factors; welcomes the Commission’s intention to present by the end of 2021 a legislative initiative to improve the working conditions of platform workers; calls on the Commission to ensure that the proposal guarantees rights for all platform workers for a healthy and safe working environment;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission to guarantee that all workers, including non- standard workers, workers in platform companies and the self-employed are covered by occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation and policis well as fix-term contract, interim, forced part- time, bogus self-employed, agency and mobile workers are covered by occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation and policies; stresses the critical role of collective bargaining to ensure high occupational health and safety standards; stresses that European and international human rights instruments guarantee all workers the right to join a trade union, engage in collective bargaining, take collective action and enjoy protection under collective agreements, regardless of their employment status; insists that it is equally important to pay attention to the situation of workers with disabilities and chronic diseases;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission to include health and safety in all EU strategies and policies on the green and digital transitions, including on artificial intelligence (AI)transition; stresses that increase exposure to high temperature at the workplace will exacerbate the risks of heat strokes, dehydration, fatigue, lack of concentration and complications of chronic diseases; recalls that intensification of extreme weather events such as storms, floods or wildfire will lead to more physical injuries; stresses that work-related diseases linked to biological agents are also affected by climate change, such as the influence of increasing temperatures on geographical distribution of the vectors (ticks, mosquitoes) of biological agents, thereby facilitating the spread of diseases that are new to a region; insists that climate change is also increasing the risk of skin cancer, dust exposure and psychosocial risks; insists that inadequate organisation of work may also aggravate the situation; stresses the role of social partners in anticipating emerging occupational risks due to climate change;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the Commission to include health and safety in all EU strategies and policies on the digital transition and especially in its upcoming artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives; recalls that the impact of artificial intelligence on workers and in the workplace might create new occupational safety and health risks; highlights that AI has facilitated the emergence of new forms of monitoring and management of workers based on the collection of large amounts of real-time data that will lead to legal, regulatory and ethical questions, as well as concerns for OSH; stresses the role of social partners in anticipating emerging occupational risks due to the development of disruptive technologies;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls the commitment by the Commission to assess the need for further actions to improve the functioning of the existing EU regulatory framework for health and safety and the need to amend the Biological Agents Directive; calls on the Commission to conduct, without delay, a targeted revision of the Biological Agents Directive, drawing on the lessons learned from the unprecedented crisis with a view to better preparedness and response planning in all workplaces; stresses that the revision should ensure that the directive is able to foresee pandemics, establish mandatory national emergency plans in the outbreak of a pandemic and provide the obligation on the employer to provide written instructions, translated in different languages if necessary, on OSH risks, sanitary measures and work organisation to all workers in the case of such an outbreak; calls on the Commission to strengthen cooperation between EU authorities such as European Labour Authority (ELA) and the Member States to protect and ensure mobile and posted workers’ rights in the case of future pandemics;
Amendment 237 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to propose a legislative framework in consultation with European social partners and whilst respecting national labour market models with a view to establishing minimum requirements for remote work across the Union; stresses that such a framework should clarify working conditions, including the provision, use and liability of equipment, including as regards existing and new digital tools, and that it should ensure that such work is carried out on a voluntary basis and that the rights, workload and performance standards of teleworkers are equivalent to those of comparable workers;
Amendment 257 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Repeats its call on the Commission to undertake an urgent study ofaction to improve the situation of the employment, working and health and safety conditions of mobile and migrant workers, such as cross-border, posted and seasonal workers, including the role of temporary work agencies, recruiting agencies, other intermediaries and subcontractors, with a view to identifying protection gaps and the need to revise the existing legislative framework as well as pandemic-proofingin the light of the principle of equal treatment and the particular health and safety challenges faced by mobile and migrant workers such as access to adequate equipment and facilities, quality and healthy housing , safe transport and decent meals, and the need to revise the existing legislative framework as well as pandemic-proofing; calls on the Member States to improve enforcement when it comes to worker accommodation, which is arranged by the employer, to ensure for the accommodation to be safe and decent; calls on the Commission to investigate how digital tools can help strengthen the cross-border enforcement of occupational safety and health standards for all mobile workers, including self-employed and mobile third country nationals;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Underlines the need to ensure the mainstreaming of OSH into public procurement and calls in this regard upon the Member States to table national policies to safeguard this; calls on the Commission to share best practices of how to mainstream OSH into public procurement rules and how to nationally include OSH clauses in line with the public procurement directive;
Amendment 264 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Member States to implement the ILO recommendation of one labour inspector per 10 000 workers and provide sufficient funding for national competent authorities in the field of occupational health and safety; calls on the Commission to conduct a survetudy on how national labour inspectorates conduct the inspections and on their scope and content in order to map their ability to enforce existing rules on OSH ensuring a level playing field for sufficient protection; calls on the Commission and the Member States to streamline occupational health and safety standards in all policies, as well as to improve preventive measures and the enforcement of existing occupational health and safety rules; underlines the role of social partners and national health and safety services in this regards;
Amendment 270 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on the Commission to establish an early alert mechanism to detect needed adjustments and revisions of existing OSH Directives dealing with matters covering the areas of permanent change such as new scientific data on hazardous products, climate change, evolution of labour markets and new technological developments; underlines the need to involve especially sectorial social partners into this mechanism since they are first confronted with changing elements;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Calls on the Commission to initiate an assessment of the work of the health and services and the lessons learned in the area of external health and services since the introduction of Article 7(3) in the framework directive; urges the Commission to draw up recommendations for strengthening national external health services aiming at improving risk prevention at the workplace;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15c. Stresses the role of ELA in protecting mobile workers’ occupational health and safety rights and their enforcement; calls on the national authorities of the Member States concerned and, where appropriate, the Commission and other competent Union bodies, to closely collaborate with the ELA to implement and enforce them; calls on the EU-OSHA and ELA to work together to support the Commission and the Member States in improving the occupational health and safety of especially mobile and migrant workers;
Amendment 277 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses the need to recognise and involve social partners and workplace health and safety representatives in the implementation and enforcement of the OSH legislative framework; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the involvement of social partners in the formulation of all EU and national policies and in measures taken at all levels; calls on the Commission to start research on concepts and practises of better participation of workers and their representatives in trade unions and Works Councils in all phases of risk assessment and OSH policies as well as to ensure that workplace health and safety representatives are democratically elected by co-workers and not appointed by the employer; Calls on the Commission to assess funding possibilities to strengthen workers participation in OSH at the workplace;