OH&S is relevant to any technical body that develops standards for a product or service that is used in the work environment, as the product and service could have a potential impact on OH&S. OH&S is therefore applicable to many CEN-CENELEC sectors and industries. The below-mentioned list is therefore indicative and might not be exhaustive.
CEN/TC 70 Manual means of fire fighting equipment
CEN/TC 79 Respiratory protective devices
CEN/TC 85 Eye protective equipment
CEN/TC 114 Safety of machinery
CEN/TC 122 Ergonomics
CEN/TC 126 Acoustic properties of building elements and of buildings
CEN/TC 137 Assessment of workplace exposure to chemical and biological agents
CEN/TC 158 Head protection
CEN/TC 159 Hearing protectors
CEN/TC 160 Protection against falls from height including working belts
CEN/TC 161 Foot and leg protectors
CEN/TC 162 Protective clothing including hand and arm protection and lifejackets
CEN/TC 191 Fixed firefighting systems
CEN/TC 192 Fire and rescue service equipment
CEN/TC 211 Acoustics
CEN/TC 231 Mechanical vibration and shock
CEN/TC 352 Nanotechnologies
Article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (Official Journal C 80 of 10 March 2001) directly focuses on social security and on health and safety aspects at the workplace and sets out the frame for the development of European Directives in this field. Directives developed under article 153 contain minimum requirements, which have to be adopted by the member states. However, these Directives “shall not prevent any Member State from maintaining or introducing more stringent protective measures compatible with this Treaty”.
In the scope of article 153, the improvement of occupational health and safety lies primarily with the Member States. However, standardization is possible and has shown good results e.g. in the following fields:
The European Occupational safety and health network (EUROSHNET) produced the Cracow Memorandum Standardisation for Safe Products in 2008. It reflects the views of European occupational safety and health experts active in standardization, testing, certification and related research. It deals with possible improvements to the preparation and use of standards in support of New Approach directives, which refer to standards as one means of providing a presumption of conformity to the relevant Essential Health and Safety Requirements (EHSRs) of these directives. CEN SAB OH&S has declared itself in full agreement with the principles of this memorandum.
Besides, a number of tools have been developed to assist OH&S professionals and standardizers in their work. Some of these may have been developed from a particular national viewpoint and legal framework but could still be valuable in other situations.
Search function databases
Networks of professionals or sectoral organizations working on accidents and trauma at work
OHS data for Europe
Digitalization and OHS
Joanna FRANKOWSKA
jfrankowska@cencenelec.eu
