Scope

Evaluation of 24 EU Occupational safety and Health Directives (i.e. the Framework Directive 89/391/EEC and 23 related Directives)

Evaluation findings

The detailed ex-post evaluation of 24 EU Occupational safety and Health Directives (i.e. the Framework Directive 89/391/EEC and 23 related Directives) carried out by the Commission, confirms that the legislative framework meets its ambition to adequately protect workers.

It concluded that the overall structure of the EU occupational safety and health acquis, consisting of a goal-oriented Framework Directive complemented by specific Directives, is generally effective and fit-for-purpose. However, it pointed to specific provisions of related Directives that have become outdated or obsolete, and highlighted the need to find effective ways to address new risks. The way in which Member States have transposed the EU occupational safety and health Directives varies considerably across Member States. Compliance costs therefore vary and cannot be easily dissociated from more detailed national requirements.

Estimated savings and benefits

The REFIT evaluation could not precisely quantify costs or benefits related to EU occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation due to data and methodological limitations.

On the benefit side, accidents at work and work-related ill-health are a major cost to EU Member States. Action against poor Health and Safety can consequently provide benefits through avoiding costs that would otherwise result from cases of accidents at work and work-related ill-health.

Several studies have been reviewed as a basis for assessing the profitability for enterprises of different OSH activities. The International Social Security Association assessed the return on prevention index for investments in occupational health and safety to be 2.2. In line with the findings of the study on Socioeconomic costs of accidents at work and work-related ill-health the profitability index for all types of interventions analysed was ranging between 1.29 and 2.89. The benefit to costs ratio was assessed to be 1.21-2.18. Benefit to cost ratios over 1 were also observed in most of the case studies analysed in a study undertaken by EU-OSHA, targeting SMEs.

Information was not systematically gathered in all Member States in a comparable way during the evaluation period and in prior years. This renders difficult to properly forecast the benefits, in particular in the case of Directives aiming at the prevention from forms of ill-health with long latent periods. An additional difficulty is to identify the correct appraisal value for the health outcomes.

On the costs side, all Directives contain obligations which can potentially generate either administrative costs or substantive compliance costs. But costs of the EU OSH legislation cannot easily be dissociated from more detailed national requirements and in addition there is a strong business as usual factor in costs incurred for OSH, as reasons to address health and safety go beyond the legal obligations.

Compliance costs stemming from the Directives appear to primarily fall on the enterprises (employers) and on the governments to a lower degree (compared to enterprises).

Estimated savings and benefits

A quantification of costs or benefits was not carried out.

Commission Directive 2017/164 (Fourth list of Indicative Occupational Exposure Limit Values) introduces a new list of indicative occupational exposure limit values (IOELVs) at EU level that Member States will be required to transpose into national legislations. IOELVs constitute European objectives to assist employers in determining and assessing risks, thereby facilitating their tasks. EU-wide limit values for chemicals promote upwards levels of protection throughout the EU, contributing to an improved level playing field for businesses and help companies operating across borders thus saving costs.

Commission Directives 2019/1832 (Personal Protective Equipment), 2019/1833 (Biological Agents) and 2019/1834 (Medical treatment on Board Vessels) simplify and reduce administrative burden for businesses and enforcement agencies while maintaining or improving workers’ protection. They remove obsolete provisions, add clarifications, update and restructure the annexes of the basic Directives, and better align the provisions with more recent EU legislation for more coherence. Businesses, especially small ones, will benefit from clearer and simpler rules to follow. Clearer and more up-to-date rules will be easier to apply and will facilitate the enforcement of the rules by the EU Member States.