Occupational safety and health in Europe - state and trends 2023 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EU-OSHA 154 
 
 
343 Gagliardi et al., 2012: Occupational safety and health in Europe: lessons from the past, challenges and 
opportunities for the future  
344 Directive 80/1107/EEC, Council Directive of 27 November 1980 on the protection of workers from risks related 
to exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents at work, here 
345 Directive 86/188/EEC, Council Directive of 12 May 1986 in the protection of workers from the risks related to 
exposure to noise at work, here 
346 An overview on these directives can be found here  
347 See for reasons from a trade union point of view: Vogel, 2015: The machinery of occupational safety and 
health policy in the European Union. History, institutions, actors, here 
348 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE 
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS: EU strategic 
framework on health and safety at work 2021-2027: Occupational safety and health in a changing world of work, 
{SWD(2021) 148 final} - {SWD(2021) 149 final, Brussels, 28.6.2021, here 
349 European Commission, 2019: Guide to application of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, Edition 2.2 (p. 174).  
350 Regarding other sources: The authors of the DG EMPL Evaluation did not consider the National 
Implementation Reports (due every five years by each Member State on each directive) as relevant for their 
study: ‘In this context, one relevant conclusion is that the attempt to map the findings of the National 
Implementation Reports has yielded no result. The reporting requirements of the National Implementation Reports 
have proven to be formulated too broadly to facilitate quantifications of the replies across MSs or to allow for 
comparability.’   
For this Status Report, SLIC evaluations of the labour inspection systems in Member States were not taken into 
account, because most of them are confidential. 
351 DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, 2015: Evaluation of the Practical Implementation of the EU 
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Directives in EU Member States (p. 89). 
352 Ibid., p. 105. See also p. 89: ‘The Directives represent a mix of a goal-oriented approach – strongly expressed 
in the Framework Directive, but also mirrored in the individual Directives – and a prescriptive approach – which is, 
for instance, seen in the very detailed and specific requirements included in the annexes of some Directives. 
353 Ibid., p. 67. 
354 Ibid., p. 94. 
355 Graveling, 2018: Transposition, implementation and enforcement of EU OSH legislation - Thematic Discussion 
Paper  
356 EU-OSHA, 2021: Summary - Improving compliance with occupational safety and health regulations: an 
overarching review (p. 4).  
357 The authors explain the difference between ‘substantive and rule compliance as follows: ‘... “substantive 
compliance”, which requires compliance with the collective goals underpinning the regulatory scheme (better OSH 
practice); and “rule compliance”, which envisages compliance with the content of legal standards only’ (p. 11). 
358 EU-OSHA, 2021: Improving compliance with occupational safety and health regulations: an overarching review 
(p. 43).  
359 Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), here, section on Trafficking and labour exploitation  
360 Special Eurobarometer 498: Undeclared Work in the European Union  
361 European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion et al., 2018: An 
evaluation of the scale of undeclared work in the European Union and its structural determinants : estimates using 
the labour input method, here 
362 ELA: European Platform tackling undeclared work 
363 The OSH Barometer contains a special section on enforcement capacities, here  
364 SLIC, 2015: Common Principles for Labour Inspection in Relation to Health and Safety In the Workplace