It closely scrutinises the drafting, transposition and application of European health and safety at work legislation.

It has set up an Observatory on the application of the European directives to conduct comparative analyses of what changes Community legislation has brought to the different preventive systems of EU countries. In the light of these findings, the Department works out common trade union strategies.
The department provides expertise to support the trade union members on the Luxembourg-based Advisory Committee for Health Protection at Work and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work which has its headquarters in Bilbao.

The department also carries out ongoing research into fields like risk assessment, promoting prevention measures and policies, the gender dimension in workplace health, the participatory design of work equipment, asbestos, stress, and violence in the workplace.

It runs networks of experts in technical standards development (ergonomics, safety of machinery) and dangerous substances (classification, risk assessment and framing occupational exposure limits).
The Health and Safety Department is an associate member of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).

Visit the Health and Safety Department