Government department lead

HSE.

Background and next steps

The Directive came into force on 30 April 2004. Originally Member States had until 30 April 2008 to implement the Directive.  But it has now been amended by a new Directive (2008/46/EC ), which has reset the implementation date to 30 April 2012.

This delay will allow the EC enough time to:

• Commission a full impact assessment of the Directive.

The EC has let a tender for a contractor, the FICETTI consortium, to carry out an evaluation of 5 separate policy options for the Directive, 2 of which have been split into sub-options:

• No new legislative action. The European Union does not take any new initiative in this field. Directive 2004/40/EC and national regulatory provisions on the subject are considered to be appropriate and remain in force.
• New binding legislative action. The European Union takes due account of the latest international recommendations and introduces new exposure limit values based on these recommendations.
• New binding legislative action. The European Union takes due account of the latest international recommendations and introduces new exposure limit values based on these recommendations. However, conditional exemptions are foreseen for specific cases. These exemptions would either be:
  • On the basis of a good safety assessment explaining how and why safety is demonstrated without the need to meet the exposure limit values; OR
  • On the basis that the operation of some sectors is nor compatible with the Directive’s requirements
• New, non binding, legislative action. The European Union takes due account of the latest international recommendations and introduces new recommendations for occupational exposure to electromagnetic fields. This guidance will either be:
  • production of good practice guides, launch of regular information campaigns, setting up of appropriate training programmes, establishment of voluntary agreements at European; OR
  • voluntary European or sectoral level agreements between social partners.
• No new legislative action. The European Union considers it inappropriate to take any legislative initiative in this field. Directive 2004/40/EC is repealed and national regulatory provisions on the subject are considered to be appropriate and remain in force

This policy impact assessment is currently underway. So far FICETTI have:

• Organised a workshop attended by a wide cross section of stakeholders to discuss the policy options.  Full details of this workshop along with the presentations are available online;
• Surveyed European stakeholders via a web based questionnaire on the policy options followed by further interviews.
• Prepared some example case studies to see how particular industrial processes would be affected by the Directive.

The plan is that a final report will be submitted to the Commission in September 2009.  The Commission will then use the report to help draft a proposal which will be considered by the Advisory Committee on Safety & Health (ACSH) in Spring 2010.  What happens after this depends on the substance of the Commission’s proposal.

• Carry out social dialogue.

Social dialogue is the consultation between European Institutions and social partners (employers and trade unions) as well as the dialogue between the social partners themselves.  The aim of social dialogue is to try and ensure that European policies are developed in line with workplace realities.  The process of social dialogue involves the Commission contacting recognised European social partners and asking for their views on a series of proposals. The first consultation of social partners is due to start in May 2009 with the second consultation taking place in September 2009.

There is more detail about the Social Dialogue process on the HSE and Europa websites.

If you are an interested UK stakeholder then find out if your industry sector has a social partner organisation and get in touch with them.

• Consider new scientific advice.

The International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) are reviewing the current EMF exposure limits which are embedded in the current Directive.  Their findings and possible new limits are due to be published in 2009 and 2010. 

These three initiatives could all change the structure and substance of the Directive.  If this is an issue that affects your work and you have an opinion about what the Directive (or even if there should be a Directive) should look like then this is your opportunity to have your say.

HSE’s involvement

HSE have been participating in the current Europe impact assessment process.  We want to work with key European and UK based stakeholders on developing a clear way forward for the Directive.  We intend to make a positive contribution throughout the next steps for the Dircetive.

Links

• International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP)
• Social Dialogue in Europe
• Social Dialogue HSE information
• Sectoral Social Dialogue
• Research report RR570 - Assessment of electromagnetic fields around magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment