Pursuant to Article 153 of the Treaty, the European Parliament and the Council may adopt, by means of directives, minimum requirements for encouraging improvements, in particular in the working environment, to ensure a better level of protection of the health and safety of workers. Such directives should avoid holding back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings and their potential to create jobs. Good health and safety standards should not be considered as constraints, since they are fundamental rights and are to be applied without exception to all sectors of the labour market and all types of undertakings regardless of their size.
(2)
Article 31(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provides that every worker has the right to working conditions which respect his or her health, safety and dignity.
(3)
Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) established a new system for the classification and labelling of substances and mixtures within the Union, based on the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) at international level, within the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
(4)
Council Directives 92/58/EEC (4), 92/85/EEC (5), 94/33/EC (6) and 98/24/EC (7), and Directive 2004/37/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) contain references to the previous classification and labelling system. Those Directives should therefore be amended in order to align them to the new system laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008.
(5)
The amendments are necessary to ensure the continued effectiveness of those Directives. The aim of this Directive is not to change the scope of those Directives. This Directive intends to maintain and not reduce the level of protection of workers that is provided by those Directives. However, in view of on-going technological progress, those Directives should be subject to periodic review in accordance with Article 17a of Council Directive 89/391/EEC (9) in order to ensure the coherency of legislation and an appropriate level of health and safety protection when hazardous chemical substances and mixtures are present in the working environment. Particular attention should be paid to employees within professions where there is frequent contact with hazardous substances and mixtures.
(6)
The amendments to Directive 92/85/EEC do not address the issue of hazardous substances and mixtures which can adversely affect fertility of pregnant workers or workers who have recently given birth or who are breastfeeding, since the aim of this Directive is only to update references and terminology set out in that Directive. However, taking account of the evolving scientific evidence regarding this issue together with the increased sophistication of classification of these effects, the Commission should consider the most appropriate means for addressing such effects.
(7)
The amendments to Directives 92/85/EEC and 94/33/EC should align the approach taken in those Directives to the wording adopted under Directive 98/24/EC in so far as the words ‘substances labelled’, in Section A point 3(a) of Annex I to Directive 92/85/EEC and ‘substances and preparations classified’ in Section I point 3(a) of the Annex to Directive 94/33/EC are replaced by the wording ‘substances and mixtures which meet the criteria for classification’. This Directive does not impose obligations on employers as regards classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures covered by Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008. Regardless of whether or not the substances or mixtures are placed on the market, the employer needs to carry out an assessment of risk of all hazardous chemical agents in accordance with Directive 98/24/EC.
(8)
Section I point 2 and Section II point 1 of the Annex to Directive 94/33/EC contain references to repealed Council Directives 90/679/EEC (10) and 90/394/EEC (11). Those references should therefore be replaced by references to the relevant provisions of Directive 2000/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (12) and Directive 2004/37/EC.
(9)
In accordance with Article 154 of the Treaty, the Commission consulted the social partners on the possible direction of Union action in this field and the social partners indicated that explanatory guidance in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises is useful.
(10)
Following this consultation, the Commission considered that Union action was desirable and consulted the social partners on the content of the envisaged proposal, in accordance with Article 154 of the Treaty.
(11)
Following this second phase of consultation, the social partners did not wish to initiate the process which could lead to the conclusion of an agreement as set out in Article 155 of the Treaty,
