A multi-level analysis of health and safety policy interventions by social partners to identify effective ways to ensure better protection of employees at work.

In this study we investigate policy interventions by social partners aimed at improving health and safety at work in two sectors and six countries. We especially focus on how social partners in Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and the UK coordinate policy interventions at the national and European sectoral level to manage health and safety risks in the hospital and social services sectors.

The current Covid-19 pandemic highlights the importance of greater national and European level policy coordination to protect and promote healthy, safe and well-adapted work environments (European Commission, 2017). Health and safety at work represents an important European Union policy area since different standards can directly affect EU citizens health outcomes and may create market distortions between states. Article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) gives the European Union the authority to adopt legislation in the field of health and safety at work. The European Framework Directive on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) at Work (Directive 89/391 EEC) guarantees minimum health and safety requirements throughout Europe while member states are allowed to maintain or establish more stringent measures. The OSH Directive obliges employers to take appropriate preventive measures to make work safer and enable employee involvement and consultation in health and safety issues at work. Reviews on the implementation and transposition of the Directive have shown that significant differences exist across member states with regard to the nature, content and coverage of health and safety regulations (COWI, 2015). We use a multi-level analysis to investigate health and safety policy interventions by trade unions and employer organisations (in the following social partners) at both the national and European sectoral level to identify effective ways to provide better protection.

The aim of this study is to explain:
 

• the functioning of safety and health policy interventions by trade unions and employers in two sectors and six countries.
• the functioning of health and safety policy interventions by European sectoral social partner organisations and their national member organisations in two sectors.
• the effectiveness of policy intervention practices at multiple-levels – national sectoral and European sectoral level - to address health and safety risks and to ensure better protection of workers in two sectors. Effective interventions ensure better quality (‘fit for purpose’) and wider coverage (different type of employment status) of health and safety protection.

The objectives of the study will be addressed through the following activities:

• collection of secondary data based on literature review at the EU and national levels (European Working Conditions Survey, sectoral industrial relation systems and OSH representation systems, collective agreements 2020-2022, 
• Interviews with sectoral social partners affiliated to EU sectoral social partner organisations and national level relevant actors (EU-OSHA, DG for Employment and Social Affairs and Inclusion, DG for Health and Food Safety, EU sectoral social partners for the hospital and social services sector, national trade unions and employer organisations, etc.)

 
Project duration: September 2021 — August 2023


Partners:
University of Durham (UK) – leader
University of Warwick (UK)
Hochschule Pforzheim (Germany)
Linnaeus University (Sweden)
Institute of Public Affairs (Poland)


Funding: DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission