With a colloquium entitled ”European Single Market – Involvement of OH&S Parties in Standardization” on 16 March 2004, KAN celebrated its tenth anniversary, and used the opportunity to take stock of progress. The principles according to which KAN is organized have met with considerable recognition in these ten years, and it was agreed unanimously that the two sides of German industry had thus been able to expand their influence upon standards development considerably.

In the first lecture given at the KAN Colloquium on 16 March 2004, Evangelos Vardakas examined the role of the state and of employers’ and employees’ representatives in standardization activity, and ongoing development of the New Approach.

With the merging of markets, the significance of regional standards is on the decline. In the light of this development, the panel debate at the KAN Colloquium on 16 March 2004 discussed whether the existing structures in the enlarged Europe are suitable for ensuring the participation of occupational health and safety experts in standardization.

KAN has taken its tenth anniversary as an opportunity to review the foci of its activities. As a result, regular updating of safety-related standards and the increasing significance of international standardization will be accorded greater attention in future.

On 30 June 2003, the transitional period expired for transposition of Directive 94/9/EC concerning equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. KAN Report 33 examines ”Standardization pursuant to Directive 94/9/EC (ATEX 95)”.

The EN 14175 series of European standards governing fume cupboards is currently in preparation. These standards will support skilled users in the selection and operation of fume cupboards by describing methods for inspecting the quality of such equipment.

Following Slovenia’s declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia in June 1991, the country’s relations with the EU have developed at a good pace: a Co-operation Agreement was in force by September 1993, and EU membership negotiations began in March 1998. Despite its population of only 2 million, Slovenia has since made considerable efforts to implement the OSH-related parts of the acquis communautaire.

Over 130 experts from OH&S institutions in Finland, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom are now registered in EUROSHNET (the EURopean Occupational Safety and Health NETwork).

A fatal accident caused by a rotating door at Cologne-Bonn Airport on 4 March 2004 resulted in a project to set up a working group, at the initiative of the Structural Objects expert committee of the Federation of Institutions for Statutory Accident Insurance and Prevention (HVBG) and the Regional Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (LAfA) of North Rhine-Westphalia, for the purpose of examining deficits in the existing body of standards.

Directive 2002/44/EC governing the protection of workers against vibration allows employers to choose between estimation or measurement of the exposure to vibration. Estimates are based upon the emission values for the machine concerned as stated by its manufacturer.