to respond to the European Commission's Communication, which in turn is the third installment of the EU OSH strategy;
to underline the need to expand the scope of the current strategy when it comes to mental health issues at work;
to reflect on the role of local and regional authorities in the implementation of the current strategic framework;
to argue that Vision Zero should also aim in eradicating work-related accidents and releases.
An editorial from Mr Caci, titled "A safer working environment" was published at the Parliament Magazine (European Parliament).
On 10 March 2021 the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a report on "on a new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020" (rapporteur Marianne Vind, DE-S&D) . The report is in line with many points from your opinion, notably on the notion of extending Vision Zero to include accidents at work.
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- welcomes the European Commission's EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021 2027;
- endorses the strategic framework's three cross-cutting objectives set by the European Commission for the next five years, namely anticipating and managing change in the post-pandemic world of work during the digital, green and demographic transitions, improving the prevention of workplace accidents and illnesses, and increasing preparedness for potential future health crises;
- recommends, furthermore, that the Commission lose no time in designing and implementing, in cooperation with the social partners, an EU-wide initiative on mental health at work to assess the emerging issues in this area;
- recommends that employers incorporate occupational risk prevention into their business through internal management models, appointing designated workers and in-house prevention services, and that training in prevention be promoted among workers;
- emphasises that the EU Strategic Framework 2021-2027 – with its Vision Zero approach – will require local and regional authorities to address the problems in this area and implement the objectives of the framework directly on the ground;
- considers that by overseeing the implementation of OSH legislation and the process of delivering the OSH objectives, the regions and cities can play a key role in achieving the ambitious goals of the strategy;
- welcomes Vision Zero and its target of zero work-related deaths by 2030; would argue, however, that Vision Zero should also cover workplace accidents and illnesses;
expects Member States to comply with the ILO recommendation of one labour inspector per 10 000 workers; further stresses the need to strengthen the sanctioning system and the collection and dissemination of data; calls for the Artificial Intelligence Act to include OSH.