"The European Commission will unveil its new health and safety at work strategy for 2007-2012 in the coming months. Europe's trade unions mean to help inform the debate on it. Through their input to a document drawn up in the "Workers Group" of the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work, they spelled out what unions expect from the future Community strategy. The brochure reviews the failings of the strategy pursued from 2002 to 2006 to recommend a new strategy built around practical initiatives and a definite timetable. The publication makes the union case against any "break from introducing new legislation".
The Community agenda must put a central focus on two key risks: musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), the main cause of illness related to a pressurized work organisation, and chemicals, a major cause of work-related health problems, where the regulatory framework is in the midst of a far-reaching overhaul.
The right of all workers to collective representation in health and safety is another focus of trade union demands. The measures needed to address the daunting challenges of EU enlargement also attract the unions' attention.
The second part of the brochure gives a capsule view of the surveys done on the health impact of working conditions in the EU."

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