47 Amendments of Ilana CICUREL related to 2021/2165(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
— having regard to Article 168 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 8 a (new)
Citation 8 a (new)
— having regard to the opinion of the Expert Panel on effective ways of investing in health of 23 June 2021 entitled “Supporting mental health of health workforce and other essential workers”,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
— having regard to its report of 12 June 2018 on pathways for the reintegration of workers recovering from injury and illness into quality employment (2017/2277(INI)),
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A (new)
Recital -A (new)
-A. whereas a high level of human health protection is to be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A a (new)
Recital -A a (new)
-Aa. whereas “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well- being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” according to the World Health Organisation3a; __________________ 3a https://www.who.int/about/governance/co nstitution
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital -A b (new)
Recital -A b (new)
-Ab. whereas “Mental health is a state of well-being in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” according to the World Health Organisation3b; __________________ 3b https://www.who.int/news-room/fact- sheets/detail/mental-health- strengthening-our-response
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas 20 % of jobs in Europe are of poor quality 3c 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; __________________ 3c Five distinct profiles of job quality Patterns in job quality suggest that the picture is more nuanced than a straightforward polarisation between high and low quality jobs. The analysis groups workers into five job quality profiles: ‘high flying’ jobs (comprising 21% of workers); ‘smooth running’ jobs (25%); ‘active manual’ jobs (21%); ‘under pressure’ jobs (13%); and ‘poor quality’ jobs (20%). The pattern of the job quality scores between the profiles is dissimilar, reinforcing the premise that job quality comprises different dimensions 4 ‘Sixth European Working Conditions Survey – Overview report (2017 update)’, Eurofound, 2017, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan aims to reduce the cancer burden for patients, their families and health systems; whereas cancer is the first cause of work-related death in the Union with 52 % of annual occupational deaths currently attributed to work-related cancers 4a; __________________ 4aCommunication from the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council : Europe's Beating Cancer Plan [URL: https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/default/fil es/non_communicable_diseases/docs/eu_c ancer-plan_en.pdf
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas in the workplace, workers can be exposed to a cocktail of substances, which can increase health risks, cause adverse effects on their reproductive systems and impaired fertility or infertility, and have a negative impact on foetal development and lactation;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas it is important to apply a gender perspective to health and safety at work as workers can be more exposed and more vulnerable to different types of substances or risks depending on their gender;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
Cd. whereas tackling exposures to dangerous substances and other risk factors at the workplace is particularly relevant to address health inequalities, as some categories of workers among the most vulnerable can be overexposed;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C e (new)
Recital C e (new)
Ce. whereas estimates show that for every euro invested in occupational safety and health, the return for the employer is around twice as much;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C f (new)
Recital C f (new)
Cf. whereas workplaces can play an important role in public health, according to their logistical resources, to promote healthy lifestyles, to encourage the practice of sports and physical activities and to promote health in all its aspects more widely among employees;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C g (new)
Recital C g (new)
Cg. whereas Commission Recommendation 2003/670/EC recommends that Member States introduce into their national laws, regulations or administrative provisions concerning scientifically recognised occupational diseases liable for compensation and subject to preventive measures; whereas Member States should guarantee, in their national laws, that every worker has the right to compensation in respect of occupational diseases if he or she is suffering from an ailment which can be proved to be occupational in origin and nature;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C h (new)
Recital C h (new)
Ch. whereas the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which entered into force in the European Union in 2011 states that “States Parties shall take effective and appropriate measures, including through peer support, to enable persons with disabilities to attain and maintain maximum independence, full physical, mental, social and vocational ability, and full inclusion and participation in all aspects of life”, and “recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others, including the right to the opportunity to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted in a labour market and work environment that is open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities”;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C i (new)
Recital C i (new)
Ci. whereas EU citizens are unequal in their ability to return to work during or after an injury or illness with, according to Eurofound 7a , only one in three workers in the EU whose daily activities are severely or somewhat limited by a chronic disease are reporting that their workplace has been adapted to accommodate their health problem; whereas Eurofound also pointed out that workers with low educational attainment and those in low-skilled occupations are not only more likely to have a chronic disease and experience limitations in their daily activities but are also less likely to benefit from workplace accommodation; __________________ 7a https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/news/ne ws-articles/just-one-in-three-workers- with-limiting-chronic-disease-in-adapted- workplace
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas over a quarter, according to Eurofound and EU-OSHA, in Europe 25% of workers in Europesay they experience excessive work- related stress; whereas 51 % of EU workers say stress is common in their workplace and nearly 80 % of managers are concerned about work-related stress8 for all or most of their working time and nearly 80 % of managers are concerned about work-related stress, which shows that psychosocial risks are of concern to a majority of companies8 ; whereas a European opinion poll conducted by EU-OSHA shows that about a half of workers consider the problem with work-related stress to be common in their workplace 8a ; whereas there are significant variations between the Member States’ legislation on psychosocial risks; __________________ 8‘Psychosocial risks in Europe: Prevalence and strategies for prevention’, Eurofound and EU-OSHA, 2014, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 8a‘Psychosocial risks and stress at work’, EU-OSHA [URL: https://osha.europa.eu/en/themes/psychos ocial-risks-and-stress
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas mental health and wellbeing of the European population can be positively affected by paying attention to strategies implemented in the workplace; whereas preventing mental health problems and promoting mental health will also contribute to reducing associated health risk behaviours such as alcohol, drug and tobacco use, physical inactivity and poor diet;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas the European Union must learn from the COVID-19 crisis and put in place an effective system for coordinating the response to any kind of future threat to public health, including prevention, preparedness and response planning at work;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D c (new)
Recital D c (new)
Dc. whereas health literacy plays a fundamental role in preparing and mitigating the impact of health threats and contributing to a better understanding on the part of the population of the countermeasures and risk assessment of different threats to health;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas platform workers may be subject to increased health and safety risks which are not limited to physical health but can also affect psycho-social health with unpredictable working hours, intensity of work, competitive environments, information overload and isolation;
Amendment 107 #
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; calls on the Commission to expand the Vision Zero approach to other injuries and accidents, as well as physical and mental attrition; stresses however that the Vision Zero should not lead to under-reporting of work-related accidents and diseases; calls on the Commission to significantly increase the focus on prevention strategies; calls for the ambitious implementation of the 7-year plan, also in the light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and believes that strong cooperation with social partners and legislative action isare 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’employers’ and employees' participation in the Vision Zero approach;
Amendment 115 #
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; stresses in that regard the need for the Commission to increase the capacity for reviewing occupational exposure limits and adding new ones, including through increased staffing in relevant units and authorities; reminds the opportunity of the ongoing negotiations on the fourth revision of Directive 2004/37/EC to include hazardous medicinal products in Annex 1 in order to ensure the best possible general and individual protection measures for workers handling these drugs as well as to include reprotoxic substances in the scope of the directive; reiterates its call for a new coherent, transparent and risk-based system to be established for setting exposure limits and to better take into account workers' exposure to a combination of substances;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Commission to give particular attention to segments of the population that are particularly exposed to hazardous chemicals such as workers in the chemical and agriculture industries, or particularly vulnerable such as pregnant or breastfeeding workers;
Amendment 126 #
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 be ambitious in its endeavours to achieve the total ban of asbestos and with regard to its zero accidents at work vision, and to update the exposure limit for asbestos to 0.001 fibres/cm3 (1 000 fibres/m3); stresses the need for an EU framework directive for national asbestos removal strategies, including public asbestos registersVision Zero approach, reiterates in this regard all the Parliament’s requests formulated in its report on protecting workers from asbestos (2019/2182(INL);
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Points out that radiation from the sun contains invisible ultraviolet (UV) radiation which can lead to skin cancer; supports the strengthening of protection against exposure to UV radiation at EU level, especially in the framework of occupational health and safety legislation for outdoor workers; calls therefore on the Commission to revise Directive 2006/25/EC on the exposure of workers to risks from physical agents and to include solar radiation into the scope;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission to assess the implementation and effectiveness of current measures to protect workers exposed to ionising radiation and review them where necessary, in order to set proportionate measures;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Highlights the need for further action to prevent, detect and better recognise occupational cancers related to nightshift work;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Asks Member States to facilitate recognition of and compensation for proven work-related diseases;
Amendment 145 #
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 forshould be complemented to strengthen 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 and the Member States 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; calls on the Commission to define EU recommendations on minimum standards as regard the number of occupational physicians and psychologists per number of workers;
Amendment 180 #
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 policies; reiterates, in this regard, its recommendations formulated in the report on fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform workers – new forms of employment linked to digital development (2019/2186(INI)); stresses that all platform workers should be entitled to receive compensation in case of work accidents and occupational diseases, and be provided with social protection, including sickness and invalidity insurance coverage;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Calls on the Member States to actively support reintegration, non- discrimination and the adaptation of working conditions of people with disabilities, with chronic diseases, or recovering from a disease; stresses the need to define and implement tailored and individualised strategies to facilitate the worker's recovery and rehabilitation process; notes the need to ensure the worker's autonomy in the workplace by providing reasonable accommodation at all stage of work; stresses that special attention should also be given to caregivers; calls on the Member States to encourage employers to introduce early assessments of the person's remaining capacities and rehabilitation programmes, as well as psychological, social and vocational counselling; and to promote employment and career advancement opportunities within the company;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1
Subheading 1
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 f (new)
Paragraph 8 f (new)
8f. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to launch an in-depth assessment of the effects of the pandemic and the efficiency of the EU and national OSH frameworks to develop emergency procedures and guidance for the rapid deployment, implementation and monitoring of measures in potential future health crises, in close cooperation with public-health actors;
Amendment 209 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 f (new)
Paragraph 8 f (new)
8f. Considers that enhancing the communication of verified information should be at the core of any health preparedness plan in order to strengthen adherence to prevention measures, to fight against disinformation, and therefore to mitigate the impact of health threats, including at work;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 f (new)
Paragraph 8 f (new)
8f. Supports the call on the Member States to draw up preparedness plans for future crises in their national OSH strategies, including implementation of EU guidelines and tools; stresses the need for effective EU coordination mechanisms of these plans;
Amendment 211 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 f (new)
Paragraph 8 f (new)
8f. Calls on the Member States to draft their national OSH preparedness plans in consultation with national social partners and to give particular attention to cross-border regions, including neighbouring border regions, to enhance the cooperation;
Amendment 212 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 g (new)
Paragraph 8 g (new)
8g. Considers that protection and promotion of mental health should be an integral part of OSH preparedness plans for future health crises, stresses that specific attention should be paid to the mental health of health care workers and of other essential workers; welcomes, in this regard, the contribution of the expert panel on effective ways of investing in health (EXPH) in its opinion on supporting mental health of health workforce and other essential workers ; calls on the Commission and Member State to ensure adequate follow-up and implementation of these recommendations;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 h (new)
Paragraph 8 h (new)
8h. Considers that in cross-border regions, joint cross-border trainings and sharing of best practices for healthcare staff and public health staff should be promoted;
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 i (new)
Paragraph 8 i (new)
8i. Considers that the declaration of a Union Public Health emergency situation provided by Regulation 2020/0322 on serious cross-border threats to health should trigger the implementation and EU coordination of the measures provided in the national OSH preparedness plans;
Amendment 218 #
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 and increasing resilience in all workplaces;
Amendment 224 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to improve research and data collection and to conduct a detailed assessment of problems with, as well as opportunities and challenges, related to health and safety associated with teleworking;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to propose a legislative framework 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, work- life balance, workload and performance standards of teleworkers are equivalent to those of comparable workers;
Amendment 249 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Calls on the Commission to propose a directive on minimum standards and conditions to ensure that workers are able to exercise effectively their right to disconnect and to regulate the use of existing and new digital tools for work purposes; in line with its resolution of 21 January 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on the right to disconnect (2019/2181(INL));
Amendment 261 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Repeats its call on the Commission to undertake an urgent study of the situation of the employment and health and safety conditions of cross-border 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 in order to close the identified gaps as well as ensuring pandemic-proofing;
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Stresses that all workers should be adequately protected no matter the size of the enterprises and that support should be provided in particular to micro enterprises and SMEs to help them in the correct applications of OSH rules; highlights the role of the European Agency for Health and Safety at Work to provide micro enterprises and SMEs with the right tools and standards of practices to assess the risks for their workforce and implement adequate prevention measures; considers that the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work should be strengthened in order to better promote healthy and safe workplaces across the Union and further develop initiatives to improve workplace prevention in all sectors of activity;