HSC responds to DTI consultation on draft EC Services Directive

HSC press release: C029:04 - 9 July 2004

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has responded to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) consultation on the draft EC Directive on Services in the Internal Market.

HSC Chair Bill Callaghan commented: "I welcome the Directive's overall aim to promote proportionate, sensible and non-discriminatory regulation across Europe, but health and safety standards risk being seriously undermined by the plan to remove service providers from other Member States, in Britain temporarily, from GB health and safety legislation - the 'country of origin' approach.

"The country of origin approach threatens health and safety standards and offends the principles of good regulation. Temporary service providers would be subject to their home State's laws and authorities through new liaison procedures which will cause confusion and make a nonsense of criminal enforcement to deal with risks in services."

HSC is very concerned about the impact on victims and bereaved families. If people are seriously injured or killed by a temporary service provider, country of origin would mean huge uncertainties about whether enforcement and prosecution was possible. HSC asks how people aggrieved by an enforcement decision could hold the other Member State's enforcing authority to account.

The full HSC response to the consultation is available on the HSE web site at http://www.hse.gov.uk/consult/condocs/dtiservices.htm

Notes to editors

1. HSC has a statutory role under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSW Act) to develop a strategy for securing health and safety at work. This includes pursuing ambitious targets for reducing the unacceptable toll of work-related injuries, ill health and deaths and promoting open and informed debate about how significant risks can best be managed in an effective way.
2. The European Commission has published proposals to improve the free flow of services around the EU to promote the growth in trade in services. The Directive excludes services already covered by other Directives, such as transport, electronic communications and financial services. The EC is aiming to secure Member States' agreement to the Directive by Spring 2005.
3. DTI has been consulting publicly on the implications of the draft Directive to inform negotiations later this year. The DTI consultation paper is available at http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file23133.pdf
4. The Directive covers any business activity providing a service to consumers or businesses, with important exceptions in public services for example. Country of origin would cover for example: gangmasters in agriculture; design, installation, maintenance, or facilities management contractors in most sectors.
5. The Directive's 'simplification' provisions include requirements for 'Single points of contact' for businesses with questions about regulation.
6. The country of origin approach has been used in the E-commerce Directive 2000/31. This covers services where there is no physical contact with the recipient and, generally, work activities, which would not create risks to others' health and safety. Britain's health and safety requirements are in line with the requirements of the EU Framework Directive on health and safety (89/391/EC), and related health and safety Directives. The Directives requirements vary from broad requirements that employers should assess risks, to more specific requirements in certain areas. They do not generally require safeguards for non-employees, which is a central feature of the HSW Act (section 3).
7. HSE and local authorities (the enforcing authorities) inspect employers to ensure they are fulfilling their duties to prevent harm to workers and non-employees under the HSW Act and related regulations. Inspection, incident investigation and enforcement are all governed by the HSE Enforcement Policy Statement, which requires action to be proportionate, targeted, consistent and transparent. The statement can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hse41.pdf
8. The enforcing authorities are accountable in a variety of ways, through complaint procedures; appeals to independent Employment Tribunals if they issue Improvement and Prohibition Notices; and to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration if someone complains to their MP; and to Ministers.

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