Health and Safety at Work: European and Comparative Perspective

The safety obligation in any employment relationship, enshrined in numerous laws and regulations, must necessarily absorb advances in medicine and technology. The law of health and safety at work is perhaps best understood as an ongoing process engaged in the making of a dynamic and effective regulatory framework able to cope with an ever-changing work environment. This book, an in-depth survey of the current state of health and safety law in Europe represents the work of labour lawyers involved into the Pontignano International Seminars and into the European Working Group on Labour Law (EWL). The seventeen contributing labour lawyers provide national reports from ten EU Member States, along with a chapter on EU law relating to health and safety and a concluding comparative analysis. Among the topics examined are the following:

• the concepts of ‘health’, ‘danger’, and ‘risk’;
• employers’ obligations to inform, evaluate, and monitor;
• rights and duties of workers’ representatives with regard to health and safety at work;
• the obligation to carry out a systematic work environment management;
• reintegration efforts required from the employer and employee;
• instruments available to help the employer in the proper fulfilment of safety obligations;
• the interaction between health and safety regulation and the social security system;
• labour inspection;
• civil, administrative and criminal liability of the employer;
• specific legislation regarding pregnant women;
• protection of other vulnerable groups;
• moral harassment or ‘mobbing’;
• sexual harassment;
• work-related stress;
• the concept of pénibilité au travail;
• effect of a company’s hierarchical structure on liability; and
• domestic workers and home-workers.

For practitioners dealing with cases involving health and safety issues at work, this book will be welcomed as a thorough and up-to-date guide on available approaches. Of especial value is the detailed coverage of the scope of the safety obligation, the consequences of its violation, workers’ representation, and the link between occupational health and safety and the fight against harassment at work.