Activities of Cindy FRANSSEN related to 2021/2165(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
A new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020 (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on a new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020 (including better protection of workers from exposure to harmful substances, stress at work and repetitive motion injuries)
Amendments (24)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
— having regard to the European Economic and Social Committee opinion SOC/698 “Health & Safety at Work - EU Strategic Framework (2021-2027)”,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 16 a (new)
Citation 16 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 20 October 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on protecting workers from asbestos(2019/2182(INL)),
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 16 September 2021 on fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform workers - new forms of employment linked to digital development (2019/2186(INI)),
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas in 2015, the European Working Conditions’ Survey (EWCS) found that 21 % of jobs in Europe were “high flying jobs“ and 20 % of jobs in Europe are of “poor quality” and put workers at increased risk regarding their health; whereas 14 % of workers have been exposed to a high level of psychosocial risks4 ; ;whereas 23 % of European workers believe that their safety or their health is at risk because of their work; whereas the fieldwork of the EWCS 2020 was put on halt due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic but was relaunched in July 2021 with a view to be published in the end of 2022; __________________ 4 ‘Sixth European Working Conditions Survey – Overview report (2017 update)’, Eurofound, 2017, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas Eurofound concludes that in 2017-2019, many positive economic and social developments took place with consistent economic growth, new employment highs, rising living standards and convergence of Member States towards better living and working conditions1a; whereas the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in nearly one half of all employees in Europe working at least part of their working time from home1b; whereas some studies suggest the perceptions of remote working have substantially improved since the beginning of the pandemic, which in turn is translated into a generalised preference for hybrid work arrangements1c; __________________ 1aEurofound (2021), Living and working in Europe 2020. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, p. 66. 1b Eurofound (2020), Living, working and COVID-19. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg 1c Microsoft Work Trend Index (2021). “The next great disruption is hybrid work - are we ready?”.
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas work-related stress can significantly increase the risk of triggering and exacerbating musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic /chronic inflammatory diseases;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rapid increase in teleworking where remote working served as a buffer during the crisis and preserved jobs that might otherwise have been lost9a; whereas remote working is proven to have a strong impact on the organisation of working time by increasing flexibility and workers’ constant availability9 ; whereas it is expected that the uptake of remote working and teleworking will remain higher than before the COVID-19 crisis or that it will even increase further10 ;whereas under normal conditions most employees would prefer a combination of working from home and working from the office with 32 % wanting to work from home several times a week9b; __________________ 9 ‘Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work’, Eurofound and the International Labour Office, 2017, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, and the International Labour Office, Geneva. 9aEurofound and European Commission Joint Research Centre (2021), What just happened? COVID-19 lockdowns and change in the labour market, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 9bEurofound (2021), Living and working in Europe 2020, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, p. 43. 10‘Teleworking in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic: enabling conditions for a successful transition’, European Trade Union Institute, 2021, Brussels.
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas people who regularly work from home are more than twice as likely to work in excess of the requisite maximum 48 hours per week and are at risk of resting for less than the requisite 11 hours between working days; whereas almost 30 % of teleworkers report working in their free time every day or several times a week11 ; whereas telework also provides workers with the freedom to adapt their working hours and schedule to meet their own personal and family needs11a; __________________ 11‘Telework and ICT-based mobile work: Flexible working in the digital age’, New forms of employment series, Eurofound, 2020, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. 11a‘Telework and ICT-based mobile work: Flexible working in the digital age’, New forms of employment series, Eurofound, 2020, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s strategic framework and, in particular, the introduction of the Vision Zero approach to work-related accidents and diseases, including the forthcoming new social scoreboard indicator on fatal accidents at work and the stocktaking OSH Summit in 2023; calls on the Commission to expand the Vision Zero approach to other injuries and accidents, as well as physical and mental attrition; calls on the Commission to significantly increase the focus on prevention strategies; calls for the ambitious implementation of the 7-year plan, also in the light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market and new ways of work, and believes that strong legislative action is needed on several aspects of EU policy on occupational health and safety in order to complement the variety of soft EU measures envisaged in order to make Vision Zero a reality; calls for a clear focus on social dialogue and workers’ participation in the Vision Zero approach;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Calls for Directive 2004/37/EC of 29 April 2004 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work to be updated on a continual basis and in an ambitious timeframe, ensuring that occupational exposure limits containedreiterates its call on the Commission, as a matter of urgency, and following consultation of the ACSH, to present an action plan to achieve occupational exposure limits for at least 25 additional substances in the dDirective exist for a minimum of 50 priority substances by 2024; calls for the inclusion of reprotoxic substances and hazardous medicinal products in the scope of the directive; 2004/37/EC and to consider, based on that action plan, the latest developments in scientific knowledge and after consulting the ACSH, presenting a legislative proposal by 31 December 2024; stresses in that regard the need for the Commission to increase the capacity necessary for reviewing Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) and adding new ones; reiterates its repeated calls for the inclusion of reprotoxic substances and hazardous medicinal products in the scope of the directive; reiterates its call to revamp the current system to set limit values under the fourth revision of Directive 2004/37/EC and to move towards a new coherent, transparent and risk-based methodology system to be established for setting exposure limits and to better take into account workers' exposure to a combination of substances;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Highlights the need for further action to prevent, detect and better recognise occupational cancers related to night shift work and UV radiation (for outdoor workers); points out that the automation and robotisation of certain activities can significantly reduce the risk of workers being exposed to carcinogens in workplaces; encourages constant analyses and research on new substances under suspicion of being carcinogenic, mutagenic and/or reprotoxic (CMRs), the establishment of OELs for those chemical agents for which they do not yet exist, and periodic revisions whenever it becomes necessary in the light of more recent scientific data and technical developments, in close consultation with social partners; welcomes the workers survey prepared by the EU-OSHA on exposure to cancer risk factors; stresses that more systematic human biomonitoring programmes, in full compliance with data protection measures, both in occupational settings and non-occupational settings can be a one of several relevant sources of information on general chemical exposure effects and health impacts;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to present in 2022 a legislative proposal to further reduce workers’ exposure to asbestos; recalls that asbestos has been banned in the Union since 2005 and that Member States must ensure that asbestos fibres are completely phased-out as soon as possible; calls on the Commission to be ambitious in its endeavours to achieve the total ban of asbestos and with regard to its zero accidents at work vision, and reiterates its call on the Commission to update the exposure limit for asbestos to 0.001 fibres/cm3 (1 000 fibres/m3); stresses the needreiterates its call for an EU framework directive for national asbestos removal strategies, including public national asbestos registers;
Amendment 146 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Believes that Council Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work hasmay not proven effective enough for the world of work in the 21st century and the latest developments on labour markets and the assessment and management of psychosocial risks; recalls its request that the Commission include in the Strategic Framework for Occupational Safety and Health the right to disconnect and, explicitly, that it develop new psychosocial measures as part of the framework; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to step up the ambition of the Strategic Framework for Occupational Safety and Health; calls on the Commission to propose a directive on psychosocial risks and well-being at work aimed at the efficient prevention in the workplace of, inter alia, anxiety, depression, burnout and stress; calls on the Commission to aim for the recognition of anxiety, depression and burnout as occupational diseases, to establish mechanisms for their prevention and the reintegration into the workplace of affected employees, and to shift from individual- level actions to a work organisation approach;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the fact that the Commission is strengthening the gender focus on occupational safety and health; calls on the Commission to propose a legal act based on the framework agreement on harassment and violence at work, and calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the fight against workplace violence, discrimination and harassment applies regardless of the reason for the harassment and that it is not limited to cases based on discriminatory grounds; calls on the Member States’ governments to ratify ILO Convention No 190 to put in place the necessary laws and policy measures to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the Commission’s intention to present by the end of 2021 a legislative initiative to improve the working conditions of platform workers; calls on the Commission to ensure that the proposal guarantees rights for all platform workers forand to address the specificities of platform work to ensure fair and transparent working conditions and a healthy and safe working environment;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to guarantee that all workers, including non- standard workers, workers in platform companies and the self-employed are covered by occupational safety and health (OSH) legislation and policies;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the European Commission to introduce a right to flexible work schedules for people who are treated for MSDs and rheumatic / chronic inflammatory diseases;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Recalls the commitment by the Commission to assess the need for further actions to improve the functioning of the existing EU regulatory framework for health and safety and the need to amend the Biological Agents Directive; calls on the Commission to conduct, without delay, a targeted revision of the Biological Agents Directive, drawing on the lessons learned from the unprecedented pandemic health crisis with a view to better preparedness and response planning on health crises in all workplaces;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to improve research and data collection on the situation of mental health, psychosocial and ergonomic risks across sectors and additional research on the economic costs of health and workplace exclusion and to conduct a detailed assessment of problems with health and safety associated with remote- work and teleworking;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the European Commission and on Member States to contribute to the development of a centralised registry for data collection on the causes and impacts of musculoskeletal disorders and chronic inflammatory diseases;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission, in close consultation with Member States and the social partners, and taking into account existing national and sectorial practices, to propose a legislative framework with a view to establishing minimum requirements for remote work across the Union; stresses that such a framework should clarify working conditions, including the provision, use and liability of equipment, including as regards existing and new digital tools, and that it should ensure that such work is carried out on a voluntary basis and that the rights, workload and performance standards of teleworkers are equivalent to those of comparable workers;
Amendment 250 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to revisemodernise the OSH legislative framework by reviewing Directive 89/654/EEC and Directive 90/270/EEC laying down minimum safety and health requirements for the work place and work with display screen equipment; calls on the Commission and the Member States to step up the research and data collection, to be more ambitious in this regard and to propose a directive on work- related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and rheumatic /chronic inflammatory diseases; welcomes in this regard the Commission intention to support awareness raising on MSDs and joins the call on the Member States to address occupational risks related to circulatory diseases;
Amendment 260 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Repeats its call on the Commission to undertake an urgent study of the situation of the employment and health and safety conditions of cross-border and seasonal workers, including the role of temporary work agencies, recruiting agencies, other intermediaries and subcontractors, with a view to identifying protection gaps and the need to revise the existing legislative framework, as well as pandemic-proofinglso considering the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Stresses the need to recognise and involve social partners in the implementation and enforcement of the OSH legislative framework; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote social dialogue and to ensure the involvement of social partners in the formulation of all EU and national OSH policies and in measures taken at all levels;