European standardization policy

Contact: Corado Mattiuzzo (mattiuzzo@kan.de)

In Europe, standardization policy is the responsibility of the European Commission, the EU member states and the European standards organizations CEN, CENELEC and ETSI along with their national members. The cooperation between these parties is based on the "General guidelines for the cooperation between CEN, CENELEC and ETSI and the European Commission and the European Free Trade Association". In the Senior Officials Group for Standardization and Conformity Assessment (SOGS), the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry (DG ENTR) consults with representatives of the member states on key standardization issues, often resulting in communications being issued by the Commission and the Council.

For further information on the subject, see:

The role of standardization in relation to safety and health of workers at work – the German Consensus Statement

Contact: Angela Janowitz (janowitz@kan.de)

The"German Consensus Statement on Standardization in the Field of Directives based on Article 118a of the EC Treaty" was drawn up to reiterate the fact that the European legal system does not provide for complete harmonization of this area of social policy. At the European level, both standardization experts and the EU Treaty and institutions continue to support the view that standards can only ever be applied to a very limited extent in the field of social policy.Nonetheless, national, European and international standards repeatedly include requirements concerning safety and health of workers at work. This must be prevented or, if prevention is not possible, efforts must be made to create a clear distinction between product requirements and workplace requirements. At the same time, however, the growth of standardization activity at an international level presents the OSH community with the task of further developing its strategy for standardization and the occupational safety and health of workers at work. As a first step, KAN described in KANBrief 2/09 the current limits of and scope for standardization in this field.

For further information on the subject, see:

International harmonization

Contact: Corado Mattiuzzo (mattiuzzo@kan.de)

Increasingly, technical standards are being drawn up at the international level. This development is being bolstered by international trade agreements, with the result that both European and German standards are increasingly based on the outcomes of international standardization activities. This is also true of standards related to occupational health and safety. It is therefore becoming ever more important that the OH&S sphere exerts an effective influence, as early as possible, on ISO's standardization work.  

For further information on the subject, see:  

Presumption of conformity

Contact: Corado Mattiuzzo (mattiuzzo@kan.de)

Section 4.3, “Presumption of conformity”, of the Guide to the implementation of directives based on the New Approach and the Global Approach[1] states the following:

“Conformity with a national standard that transposes a harmonised standard, whose reference has been published, confers a presumption of conformity with the essential requirements of the applicable New Approach directive that is covered by such a standard.”

Nonetheless, rather than relying purely on the normative content, users of standards should also always examine all of the available information concerning how exhaustive the standards are. Even the fact that a standard’s reference has been published in the Official Journal does not guarantee that the standard covers all the necessary aspects. To be completely on the safe side and to minimize the possibility of unpleasant surprises, users of standards should also carry out a risk assessment, especially if such an assessment is required by law anyway for the product in question.

For further information on the subject, see:

--------------------------------
[1] This “Blue Guide” (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/single-market-goods/documents/blue-guide/index_en.htm), as it is known, has to be revised due to the adoption of the New Legislative Framework. However, the only impact the revision will have in this context is that the requirement for publication at the national level is likely to be dropped.

Konformitätsvermutung

Ansprechpartner: Corado Mattiuzzo (mattiuzzo@kan.de)

In Kapitel 4.3 „Konformitätsvermutung“ des Leitfadens für die Umsetzung der nach dem neuen Konzept und dem Gesamtkonzept verfassten Richtlinien[1] steht:

„Bei Konformität mit einer nationalen Norm, soweit es sich um die Umsetzung einer harmonisierten Norm handelt, deren Fundstelle veröffentlicht wurde, ist davon auszugehen, dass die wesentlichen Anforderungen der anwendbaren Richtlinie des neuen Konzepts, auf die sich eine solche Norm bezieht, erfüllt sind.“

Anwender von Normen sollten sich jedoch nicht alleine auf den normativen Inhalt verlassen, sondern zusätzlich immer alle verfügbaren Informationen hinsichtlich der Vollständigkeit von Normen prüfen. Selbst die Veröffentlichung der Fundstelle einer Norm im Amtsblatt ist noch keine Gewähr für Vollständigkeit einer Norm. Um wirklich auf der sicheren Seite zu sein und damit unliebsame Überraschungen möglichst zu vermeiden, sollten Normanwender, insbesondere wenn dies von den gesetzlichen Vorschriften für das betreffende Produkt gefordert wird, zusätzlich eine Risikobeurteilung durchführen.

Weitere Informationen:

--------------------------------
[1]„Blue Guide“ (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/single-market-goods/documents/blue-guide/index_en.htm), muss zwar wegen des Neuen Rechtsrahmens überarbeitet werden, dies spielt hierfür aber nur insofern eine Rolle, als die nationale Bekanntmachung voraussichtlich nicht mehr notwendig sein wird.

New standardization products

Contact: Katharina von Rymon Lipinski (vonrymonlipinski@kan.de)

Besides traditional standards, new standardization products are increasingly emerging which can be grouped under the heading of "specifications". These documents include CEN Workshop Agreements (CWAs) and Publicly Available Specifications (PAS). Although they are drafted under the auspices of standards organizations, they differ from traditional standards in that they do not reflect a consensus between all stakeholders. Originally, these specifications were intended for fast-moving sectors such as that of information technology, since they can be produced within a short space of time.

Increasingly, specifications are also being used to address health and safety topics. As a result, they become a subject of attention for occupational safety and health. KAN, the Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization, rejects the use of CWAs and PAS for regulation of these aspects, since such specifications present various problems in their production and use. In order for the German OSH lobby to carry its position through, at European and international as well as national level, KAN is preparing a position paper on the subject.

For further information on the subject, see:

Latest News

KANBrief

KANBrief 1/13 is now available online
Service standards are in the ascendency
[Download KANBrief 1/13]

European Draft Standards at Public Enquiry Stage (OSH), Source: NoRA    [show list]