Occupational safety and health in Europe - state and trends 2023 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EU-OSHA 119 
• adapting the work to the individual but also preference of collective solutions ;  
• adaptation to technical progress;  
• giving adequate instructions; 
• consultation obligations, that is, worker participation; and  
• training requirements for OSH practitioners and professionals in enterprises.  
It directed the scope of the legislation from prescribed worker protection rules to active preventive 
formation of the work environment. 343 The Framework Directive does not refer to speci fic workplace 
risks, instead it lays down general principles to prevent, reduce or eliminate risks. Many pieces of 
previous EU legislation like the Directive on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to 
chemical, physical and biological agents at work from 1980 344 and the Directive on the protection of 
workers from noise from 1986 345 were updated after 1989 to fully comply with the provisions of the 
Framework Directive.  
Based on the principles of the Framework Directive, 24 individual OSH directives 346 lay down specific 
measures to cope with risks and exposures for: workplaces and equipment (work places, workplace 
equipment, explosive atmospheres, warning and safety signs, PPE, display screens), exposure to 
chemical agents (chemical agents at work, carcinogens and mutagens, occupational exposure limits), 
to physical hazards (ionising radiation, electromagnetic fields, artificial optical radiation, noise, 
vibrations) and to biological agents (biological agents at work),  and ergonomic risks  (handling of 
loads). Some of them deal with sector-specific risks (in construction, mineral extraction, fishing and 
healthcare) or specifically with worker groups (young workers, pregnant workers, temporary workers). 
The chronological overview of the directives suggests that a main phase of legislator activity lasted 
approximately 15 years, between 1989 and 2004.347