Occupational safety and health in Europe - state and trends 2023 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EU-OSHA 121 
New directives or revisions and updates of directives were introduced for several reasons, that is, 
coverage of new technologies like artificial optical radiation (use of laser cutting, etc.), or new evidence, 
that is, after 2017 the Carcinogens and mutagens directive was extended several times, covering now 
many more substances. The revision of the directives on Display  screen equipment  (enormous 
technological developments since its introduction) and the revi sion of the Directive on M inimum 
requirements at workplaces (e.g. to better cover OSH at mobile work places outside the premises of 
the employer) is an objective of the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027348.  
In the light of the changes in working conditions towards physical inactivity and repetitive work and 
the higher psychosocial and emotional demands, the European Commission and the Member States 
and stakeholders initiated several activities. Over the last 10 years, the European Commission made 
efforts to promote the approach that ‘psychosocial risks and stress’ are part of OSH and,  as such, they 
are covered by the OSH Framework Directive. Some countries updated their legislation and explicitly 
included an obligation to include psychosocial risks in risk assessment, while others have developed 
extensive guidance for enterprises and/or labour inspections. Similar activities can be observed 
regarding MSDs. 
The Machinery directive 2006/42/EC is only one example of a — very general — regulation of these two 
aspects at EU level:  
‘Under the intended conditions of use, the discomfort, fatigue and physical and psychological 
stress faced by the operator must be reduced to the minimum possible, taking into account ergonomic 
principles such as: 
• allowing for the variability of the operator’s physical dimensions, strength and stamina, 
• providing enough space for movements of the parts of the operator’s body, 
• avoiding a machine-determined work rate, 
• avoiding monitoring that requires lengthy concentration, 
• adapting the man/machinery interface to the foreseeable characteristics of the operators.’ 349 
EU directives and regulations in other policy areas influence OSH or contribute to better OSH, such 
as the Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certai n aspects of the organisation of working time , and 
Directive 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions  in the EU, the Machinery 
directive 2006/42/EC with some specific health and safety requirements, and also the CE marking of 
products as conforming with safety, health and environmental standards. 
The quantitative and qualitative degree of compliance  and of implementation of the EU  OSH 
directives at workplace level is a constant topic in evaluation studies and expert meetings.  
A comprehensive evaluation of all EU OSH directives and their practical implementation  was 
commissioned by DG E MPL in 2012 and published in 2015 , analysing the relevance of the directives, 
their effectiveness, and the level of the implementation or complianc e, based on literature, studies in 
each Member State, expert interviews and surveys. 350,351 
The authors conclude on the relevance of the EU OSH directives:  
‘The evaluation shows very clearly that the EU OSH acquis is the reference frame for national OSH 
regulatory regimes. While the Member States have chosen various models for their legal implementation 
of the Directives’ requirements, there is no doubt that the Directives ’ requirements form the core of the 
national systems in one way or the other. The significance of the Directives in setting the scene for OSH 
regulation in the EU is therefore very high.’ 
The authors also distinguish between the two major principles of legislative approaches in OSH, that is,