Analysis of the determinants of workplace occupational safety and health practice in a selection of EU Member States : Executive summary

The aim of this project was to provide insight into how the environment in which an establishment operates affects the way it manages workplace occupational safety and health (OSH). The work forms part of the follow-up to the European Agency for Health at Work (EU-OSHA) European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER). ESENER and its secondary analyses showed that, although the European Framework Directive 89/391/EEC aims to provide workers in all Member States with a common minimum level of protection from work-related risks, the precise way in which these legislative provisions translate into OSH management in the workplace varies significantly from one country to another, as well as by industry sector and organisation size. This highlights the importance of the environment in which OSH management takes place in determining the form and approach taken to such management. A number of contextual factors determine this environment, most importantly, traditions of regulation, industrial relations and social protection, and their current style and character. In addition, other significant contextual factors include OSH support infrastructures (for example, the availability and competence of specialist support services and information); and wider contextual features such as the economic climate, labour force training and qualifications, the structure of the labour market and the organisation of work