KANBrief

For the event that European standards organizations fail to submit harmonized standards in response to existing standardization mandates, or submit standards that are inadequate, the European Commission has created a fallback solution in the form of “common specifications”. KAN has published a position paper on this instrument.

ISO 1999, Acoustics – Estimation of noise-induced hearing loss, last amended in 2013, is currently undergoing revision. Since some of the proposed amendments are not scientifically correct, KAN has commented on the revised draft.

In this interview, Ilka Wölfle talks about the functions of the German Social Insurance European Representation (DSV) and the topics it is currently addressing. The DSV represents the interests of the German pensions, health, long-term care and statutory accident insurance systems at European level.

Standardization is facing an upheaval. Many stakeholders face declining resources. In addition, many long-serving experts are leaving the committees for reasons of age, and replacements must be found. The standards organizations are seeking to support this transition in a number of ways.

All too often, people are not conscious of occupational safety and health until they are faced with it in practice: when they pay their company’s accident insurance premiums, when they receive instruction at the workplace on occupational safety and health or, in the worst-case scenario, when accidents or occupational illnesses occur. For occupational safety and health to be made an integral part of workplace culture, the subject must be raised much earlier.

On 2 May 2024, the European Commission published a public consultation concerning evaluation of the Standardisation Regulation (EU) 1025/2012. In its comment, KAN drew attention to a number of important points from the perspective of the occupational safety and health lobby.

Around 110 experts from the areas of occupational safety and health, standardization, testing and regulation met on 13/14 June 2024 at the 8th EUROSHNET conference in Cracow. The Green Deal, the AI Regulation and the circular economy are just some of the many issues currently high on the agenda in Europe and requiring the occupational safety and health community to adapt with new concepts and ways of working.

Stefan Pemp of the Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Labour and Equal Opportunities of Lower Saxony represented the German regional administrations at KAN from 2013 to 2023. In this interview, he talks about his view of KAN and about current challenges in standardization.

Denmark is a relatively small country, with some 5.9 million inhabitants. Since 1972 it has been part of the European Union (EU), which means that in general, Danish legislation follows that of the EU. Due to particular circumstances in Denmark and to tradition, mainly historical, some national legislation complements the common EU legislation, for instance in the fields of electrical installations, gas appliances and fireworks.

Standardization is among the many areas facing new challenges due to global competition, climate change and the shortage of skilled workers. In this article, Knut Blind, who has analysed various aspects of standardization over many years in his capacity as head of the German and European Standardisation Panel, takes a look at the most important issues.

Since the end of 2020, the Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization (KAN) has maintained an office in Brussels. The KAN European Representation has been headed since August 2023 by Ronja Heydecke.

Standardization has long ceased to be a purely national matter; it should be coordinated on the widest possible international base. Special rules apply to the parallel development of standards at international and European level.

Peer-Oliver Villwock, Head of the Occupational Safety and Health Directorate at the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, was elected the new Chair of KAN in April 2024.

Technology used by firefighters has traditionally been geared primarily to dimensions of the male body. Design guidelines often lack consideration for the female body. Furthermore, the anthropometric data used as a reference for design is often obsolete.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has built up a very strong track record over 28 years. The world of work, however, is constantly changing and it is important that the agency be capable of meeting today’s challenges. We asked William Cockburn, who has been Executive Director of the Agency since 2023, about the current goals and work priorities.

The climate crisis is becoming increasingly apparent, and not only through extreme weather events such as heatwaves and floods. Occupational safety and health must adapt.

Axel Gutsmiedl, Head of environmental management at the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), talks about how the THW is dealing with the challenges of climate change, both technically and organizationally.

From a historical perspective, the success of standards is based on the traditional technical standardization of physical objects. In today’s world, however, to reduce standardization to this sphere is to neglect a considerable proportion of standardization activity. Abstract topics such as organizational processes, services and quality assurance are already dominating the agenda of many (and more recently convened) standards committees.

Requirements, set out in standards, concerning gloves and clothing for protection against pesticides are less stringent than those for chemical-resistant gloves and clothing. INRS, the French occupational safety and health institute, has examined the differences more closely and expressed its concerns regarding the EN ISO 270651 and ISO 188892 standards and the test methods required by them.

KAN has updated and extended the German version of its lecture modules on ergonomics. The slide sets are now optimized for accessibility, and a podcast series has been added to the free resources at https://ergonomie.kan-praxis.de/en.The English version will be updated in the coming months.

With its “Vision Zero”, the International Social Security Association (ISSA) has been promoting healthy and accident-free work for many years, and has formulated guidelines for this purpose in the form of seven “Golden Rules”1 (see box). Standardization has considerable potential to support these rules, but also has its limits in certain areas.

As of 13 December 2024, the Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of 10 May 2023 will replace the existing Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC. As a regulation, it applies directly in all Member States without having to be transposed into national law.

Open double-decker car transporters have been used for many years to transport passenger cars by rail. During loading and unloading operations, workers must perform activities on the upper deck of these railway wagons. However, the barriers on these decks are substantially less than one metre in height. The recently published Fachbereich AKTUELL FBVL-011 aims to minimize the risks to workers and support affected companies in taking effective safety measures to prevent falls from a height.

Dr Michael Stephan has been a member of the DIN management board since 2016, after holding various positions in industry. He has been responsible for the Standardization Division since 2018.

Investment in AI technologies has increased significantly in recent years. Scientific publications1 show the field of occupational safety and health to be among the potential growth markets for AI. In 2022, the French OSH institute INRS launched a prospective study2 that examined possible areas of application for AI in occupational safety and health for the period up until 2035.

In 2014, KAN joined the French OSH institutes EUROGIP and INRS in signing a joint declaration on standardization policy in the field of occupational safety and health. The declaration dealt with issues that were emerging at that time, such as the role of new forms of standardization document, standardization in the area of services and the standardization of management systems. The declaration has now been updated.

ANEC is one of the Annex III organizations under the Standardisation Regulation whose involvement in standardization is particularly supported by the European Commission. In this interview, Director General Stephen Russell talks about the organization, its working methods, and current developments affecting it.

With the Cyber Resilience Act, the European Commission is planning to oblige manufacturers of products "with digital elements" to guarantee cybersecurity throughout their products' life cycle in the future.

Functional safety components protect workers against hazards to their life and health, for example by preventing access to hazardous parts of machinery and systems. Manipulation from outside that could adversely affect safety must also be prevented. This requires thorough observance of generally accepted good practice, and an appropriate response by manufacturers and operators in the event of security exploits.

In probably no other industrial sector are standards as important as in mechanical engineering. The new EU Machinery Regulation presents the standards committees with the major task of reviewing the standards for their conformity with the new statutory basis and, if necessary, taking measures to bring them into line with it.

BioMath GmbH has been tasked by KAN with examining the current state of research into interfaces and data formats for digital human models and motion capture systems.

Germany's state committee for safety and health at work (ASGA) was added to the existing occupational safety and health committees at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) in 2021. What are the ASGA's tasks, and why was it created?

In the autumn of 2022, the European Commission began modernizing EU product liability legislation by publishing drafts for an amended Product Liability Directive and a new AI Liability Directive. The European Council of Ministers and Parliament are now addressing this legislation in greater detail.

The new European Machinery Regulation has been finalized. What are the principal changes and transition periods?

Advances in recent years in materials science and developments in automation and drive technology have made industrial robots more powerful, versatile and cost-effective. To bring the safety requirements into line with these developments, the EN ISO 10218 series of standards has been thoroughly revised. A new approach to risk assessment was taken here.

Primary responsibility for implementing EU legislation lies with the Member States. In specified areas, the European Commission or the Council may pass implementing acts to ensure harmonized implementation.

The body of official German state rules and regulations governing workplace lighting and those of the German Social Accident Insurance Institutions stand beside requirements set out in standards. A KAN expert report1 reveals where overlaps, discrepancies and correlations between the different documents exist.

Exoskeletons can assist workers with certain movements and postures. A number of DIN working groups have now been standardizing the properties, ergonomic requirements and test methods for exoskeletons for around two years.

The growing use of additive manufacturing processes, colloquially known as 3D printing, has increased the need for standards to be developed. At ISO level in particular, standards are currently being developed that impinge upon occupational health and safety.

Growing numbers of companies are using driverless vehicles. The requirements and conditions applicable to their use however often give rise to uncertainty. The Fachbereich AKTUELL FBHM 119 publication provides manufacturers and operators of such vehicles in a range of sectors with assistance in the design and safe use of automated vehicles.

The CEN Sector Forum on Occupational Health and Safety has set up an information system. This will enable it to respond more effectively to standardization topics relevant to occupational safety and health.

Information from numerous standards is compiled in a single document in the new ISO/TR 8546, making selection of the right protective glove easier.

"Fast-track" standardization documents such as DIN SPECs and CWAs are not subject to the full breadth of essential standardization principles, such as participation by all stakeholders in the process. KAN therefore considers such documents fundamentally unsuited to the formulation of provisions governing occupational safety and health.

Basi, the German Federal Association for Occupational Safety and Health, is the organizer of the A+A Congress, which is held at two-yearly intervals. Dr Christian Felten, Managing Director of Basi, spoke to us about organization of the A+A and Basi's other tasks and goals.

An analysis conducted by KAN has shown that the weight data stated in standards for human beings often fail to reflect reality. The affected standards bodies are now called upon to review the relevant values and adjust them if necessary.

The instrument of the delegated act is used to adapt European legislative acts to scientific and technical progress. What does this mean in practice, and what potential influence does it have on standardization?

The Product Safety Commission (AfPS) is a committee based at the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). It owes its existence to Section 27 of the German Product Safety Act (ProdSG)1. Among its functions are identifying applicable standards in the non-harmonized scope and establishing framework conditions for awarding of the GS mark.

The DIN 820 series of standards, Standardization, lays down all the essential rules under which standardization work is conducted in Germany. Following the latest revision, Part 1 now explicitly specifies what content and aspects should not be standardized.

Benjamin Pfalz is a trade union secretary at the department responsible for work organization and health protection within the executive management of IG Metall, the trade union of the German metal industry. He has been Chair of KAN since May 2022.

Around 130 experts from the areas of occupational safety and health, research, standardization and regulation met on 20 October at the 7th EUROSHNET conference in Paris to discuss the challenges presented by artificial intelligence for occupational safety and health.

An important step has been taken with the development of a vibration measurement method for use on pedelecs. Overall, however, the treatment of vibration in standards remains patchy.

The challenges arising during development of systems using artificial intelligence are not only technical in nature. Several economic and social values, which may in some cases conflict with safety requirements, are also a factor. The ETTO principle highlights potential conflicts and shows that these values need to be carefully balanced in order for artificial intelligence to be successfully established and its acceptance by society promoted.

Where AI-enabled systems cannot be assessed by conventional methods owing to their high complexity or capacity to develop autonomously, how can their functional and operational safety be verified? Assurance cases are the tool of choice when new, potentially safety-critical technologies are deployed for which the existing real-world experience is not sufficient.

The development and use of highly automated machinery is growing owing to the efforts of agricultural machinery manufacturers and users in the most diverse of sectors. The German Social insurance for agriculture, forestry and landscaping (SVLFG) plays an active role from an early stage in the shaping of new technologies, with the aim of influencing them in the interests of occupational safety and health. The key objective of prevention in this context is to protect persons against hazards presented by highly automated machines.

The EU Construction Products Regulation (EU CPR) of 9 March 2011 sets out harmonized conditions for the distribution of construction products in the EU. The Regulation is now to be thoroughly revised and adapted better to the current needs of the market. An important step with respect to occupational safety and health is that the draft now also makes provision for product safety requirements. This brings the Regulation into line with the other European legislative instruments governing the Single Market.

Digital models and methods can be useful for the ergonomic design of products and work processes. They include digital human models and the capture, evaluation and presentation of biomechanical data. Numerous solutions are already available on the market. Standardized, mutually compatible data formats and structures are however still lacking.

The German government is seeking to exploit AI „for the benefit of all“. Occupational safety and health is one of the areas impacted by this technology.

A new legal framework is intended to make the Single Market a model of trustworthy and innovative artificial intelligence (AI) and enhance the EU’s competitiveness internationally. KAN has formulated a position paper on the proposed regulation from the perspective of the occupational safety and health lobby.

ISO and IEC are currently working on a technical report that for the first time will lay down principles for development and scrutiny of AI-based functions relevant to safety.

The eagerly awaited EU Standardization Strategy was published on 2 February 2022.

On 16 July 2021, new legislation came into force creating a harmonized legal framework for market surveillance for a large number of products.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), is the umbrella organisation representing 45 million members of around 90 national trade union confederations in 39 countries and 10 European trade union federations. Confederal Secretary Isabelle Schömann talked to us about the special role that the ETUC plays in standardisation.

Power take-off (PTO) drive shafts are removable components for transmitting power between a tractor and another machine. The drive shaft itself is very durable. However, its protective shrouding (guard) can wear out if the device is not used properly. If this guard is not replaced, accidents may occur which may even be fatal. A KAN expert report provides information on the scope for improvements to the standards governing PTO drive shafts.

A new standard for masks is being developed at European level. It is to contain test procedures for protection of the wearer and other persons against airborne pathogens.

To support the digital transformation, the German Institute for Standardization (DIN) and the German Commission for Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies (DKE) have launched the national Initiative Digitale Standards (IDiS).

Mr Radtke, you represent the Ruhr region in the European Parliament, a job you do with great dedication. How do you square the demands of work in your constituency with the meetings in Brussels and Strasbourg, and how has the pandemic affected your work?

Small Business Standards (SBS) is a European non-profit association which represents SMEs’ interests in standardisation at the EU and international levels. SBS Secretary General Maitane Olabarria Uzquiano explains how SBS can support SMEs and the challenges they face.

The EUROSHNET OSH network invites you to the 7th European Conference on standardization, testing and certification in the field of occupational safety and health in Paris on 20 October 2022.

Potential hazards are the key criterion for occupational safety assessments. In additive manufacturing however, the catalogues of criteria for occupational safety and health are still far from adequate. No clear picture of the situation has therefore emerged as yet. Relevant guidelines could help to ensure the protection of workers and make production both safe and efficient.

The Product Safety Act has been revised. The amended version came into force on 16 July 2021. Important updates and clarifications have been made at various points in the act.

Dr Dirk Watermann has been Head of the KAN Secretariat and Director of KAN since 2014. In this interview, he provides an insight into KAN’s current and future areas of activity before he retires at the end of 2021.

EN ISO 11850, Forestry machinery – General safety requirements, describes basic requirements for the field of view on self-propelled forestry machinery, without specifying these requirements in a verifiable measurement procedure. A new standard is intended to close this gap.

European standards help to raise European industry's competitiveness, and serve an important purpose in many areas of European legislation. They may also have far-reaching impacts on society, for example on consumers, the environment and the safety of workers. In accordance with the basic principles of standardization, it is therefore important for all stakeholders to be appropriately involved in standardization processes at national and European level and able to contribute their expertise.

Thousands of height-adjustable treatment tables are in use, for example in hospitals and physiotherapy practices. The height adjustment facility in particular has caused crush injuries, fractures and even fatalities among employees in the past.

The topics of occupational safety and health and product safety are now strongly influenced by European legislation. But what form exactly do the corresponding legislative procedures at EU level take, and how can interest groups contribute to them?

The new EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 is intended to help address risks to workers associated with the digital and green transitions.

The article is a personal view based on conversations with key players and the author’s experience as former head of the HSE Safety Unit (UK market surveillance of work products, product safety policy) and former chairman of a number of EU wide bodies including the ICSMS System, the Machinery ADCO Group (EU market surveillance authorities) and the MACHEX Group (inspection policy concerning the use of work equipment). Philip Papard was also a member of the EU Commission’s editorial team drafting the Machinery Directive Guide.

It is often not appreciated that the water jet even of a simple high-pressure washer with an operating pressure of approx. 100 bar can seriously injure a person. Injuries may be caused by the water jet itself and also by defective hose lines. The water, which is not sterile, may be injected deep into human tissue together with other minute particles, such as blasted off paint or varnish, and spread unchecked through the tissue and away from the point of injection.

The more, the better – or not?

The outline for the China Standards 2035 plan has startled standardization experts around the world. Notwithstanding the fact that the plan is a research project and the Chinese government has not yet reached a decision, it has become clear that the People’s Republic has discovered standardization as an instrument of industrial, geostrategic and power politics. This has far-reaching consequences that also impact upon Europe.

Many standards assume a weight of 75 kg for human beings, for example for the formulation of test methods or requirements to be met by products. However, a study by KAN has revealed a need for standards and EU legislation to be amended in this respect.

A task for the standardization community

Researchers have been tasked by the BGHW with studying the occupational safety and health issues that must be considered during the use of smart glasses.

Under its KANPraxis brand, KAN provides occupational safety and health experts with the best possible support: the brand encompasses ergonomics tuition modules, and tools for searching for standards, applying anthropometric data and designing machinery ergonomically.

Action by companies is particularly conducive to success when consideration is given to human factors. Standards governing ergonomics contain a wealth of guidance for companies. For 50 years, such standards have communicated fundamental principles of ergonomics, presented important concepts in the sphere of human factors, and created a recognized body of rules for the design of work and products.

A good approach to safety and health at work is good for everyone: workers, companies and society as a whole. Such an approach requires a good culture of prevention. Specifically, employers and management personnel must commit to preventing health risks and actively promoting good employee health.

Where the behaviour of systems cannot be predicted, defining requirements for them presents legislators with a challenge

The occupational safety and health community aims for a standardized measurement procedure

The best, or the usual?

Transparent, practical, with greater participation

Since the global lockdown triggered by the corona pandemic in the spring of 2020, community face coverings have become a familiar sight. They are among the hygiene measures taken to contain the virus. Community face coverings are available for purchase, but can also be made by users themselves. They are also termed “mouth and nose coverings” (MNCs), reflecting their function; the term intentionally does not imply a protective action.

Personal protective equipment, community face coverings, an occupational safety and health standard: the coronavirus pandemic has raised many new questions concerning practices at the workplace. What measures and protective equipment can be used to protect employees? KAN has compiled a range of information obtained from numerous sources on the subject of corona and occupational safety and health.

Following several fatal accidents on treatment tables with electrical height adjustment, KAN organized an expert discussion of the design of safe treatment tables at the beginning of 2019. The parties involved discussed their respective positions and launched efforts to reduce the hazard on existing and new treatment tables. The second KAN expert discussion, held in October 2020, showed that significant progress has been made but that much remains to be done.

EN 17169, Tattooing – Safe and hygienic practice, was published in spring 2020. Its content includes guidelines for tattooists, and also hygiene requirements. In its comments on the draft standard, the occupational safety and health lobby had stated that the standard’s focus must lie on the quality of the service and the safety of the customer, and not on the safety of the tattooist.

The argument made for open-plan office concepts is that they are transparent working environments conducive to communication. However, the planning and design of such offices is complex, for a number of reasons. The acoustics in particular pose enormous challenges. Methods for measurement and assessment relevant to the subject can be found in state regulations and standards.

Atmospheric limit values for protecting human health against the adverse effects of hazardous substances at the workplace are generally set with reference to toxicological and occupational health data. However, consideration is often also given to technical feasibility and economic viability. What importance should be attached in prevention to cost-benefit considerations?

ISO TC 260, Human resource management, has developed a technical specification in which metrics for the incidence of occupational accidents are standardized internationally. At its meeting on 12 November 2019, the executive board of EUROGIP, the French occupational safety and health organisation, expressed strong reservations with respect to this project, and drew up a position paper, excerpts of which are reproduced here.

Standardization projects in the field of human resources management are growing in number, particularly at international level. The benefits and drawbacks of such standardization, and how – indeed if – it can be applied to human resources issues, are discussed here by Harald Ackerschott, chairman of DIN's mirror committee on human resources management, Jan-Paul Giertz, head of the section responsible for codetermination and human resources management at the Hans Böckler Foundation, and Carsten Rogge-Strang, CEO of the employers’ federation of the private banking industry (AGV Banken) and member of KAN.

Kai Schweppe became KAN’s new Chair in June 2020. The economic and ergonomic shaping of work has long been a focus of his activities. After completing his engineering degree, he initially worked in company and labour organization within the clothing sector. In 2000, he took up the position of engineer at the Südwestmetall employers’ association. He has headed the association’s department for labour policy since 2011 and has been its Managing Director since 2013.

The need for suitable standards is undisputed in the skilled crafts sector of an economy based on the division of labour. However, notwithstanding the advantages, the skilled crafts sector also considers some developments in standardization to be problematic. In its position paper on the skilled crafts and standardization, published in May 2020, Germany’s National Federation of Skilled Crafts and Trades (ZDH) advocates for standardization to be reoriented to the needs of SMEs.

Part 3 of EN 14175 describes a range of type test procedures for fume cupboards. The required test gas mixture contains sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆). Although non-toxic, this gas is highly harmful to the climate, with a global warming potential some 30,000 times that of CO₂. Since SF₆ is already prohibited in many countries, an alternative is needed. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is being discussed as a possible substitute. This gas is however not without its problems for occupational safety and health.

Electric kick scooters have become a common sight in many cities. Anyone who has tried riding such a vehicle will confirm the difficulty of negotiating uneven surfaces on the scooter’s small wheels, or signalling turns by hand. Electric kick scooters are also often ridden by two riders or on the pavement, despite this being prohibited. Further discussion is therefore needed of the safety of these vehicles in traffic.

The current development from partially to highly and fully automated driving, and ultimately to autonomous driving, is expected to deliver huge improvements in road safety. For this development to be successful, it must be supported by a regulatory framework within which solutions can be found that are safe for drivers and, if at all possible, harmonized throughout Europe or indeed worldwide.

The current spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus underscores the importance of good hygiene for the prevention of infections. In hospitals in particular, cleaning has an important function in reducing the number of microorganisms on surfaces and thus lowering the risk of infection for patients, workers and visitors. The new DIN 13063 standard governing hospital cleaning is intended to set uniform standards for the cleaning process.

Do you have an idea or proposal for a standard? Would you like to amend an existing standard, for example to take account of developments in safety technology? You can! But how does the European standardization process actually work? This article describes the individual steps and shows you the points at which you can influence the procedure, and how.

Personal protective equipment with integrated intelligent functions (smart PPE) holds the promise of enhanced protection. However, for smart PPE to be developed successfully and brought to market, users must be involved in the development process (user-centred design). A user survey conducted throughout Germany on smart PPE for use by the fire services has revealed valuable information.

Potholes, cobblestones, speed bumps: uneven road surfaces like these are familiar to every cyclist. The extent to which vibration and shocks caused by such surfaces reach the rider depends, among other factors, upon the design of the bicycle. KAN is lobbying for this vibration to be covered by standards, since bicycles also serve in many areas as work equipment. Pedelecs account for a rising proportion of these bicycles.

In 1995, Germany's Federal Highway Research Institute noted a significantly elevated accident risk for ambulances. Each year, an average of 3,500 traffic accidents, or one accident for every 2,000 operations, were recorded in the former West Germany. During journeys with sirens and flashing lights, a critical traffic situation arose on average once every 19 seconds. This was deemed sufficient reason to examine the design safety of ambulances and to improve EN 1789.

On conventional high-visibility clothing to EN ISO 20471, retroreflective elements are intended to ensure 360° visibility of wearers in the dark. Such clothing is however largely ineffective when it is not illuminated by an extraneous light source. Luminous high-visibility clothing could be the solution. The Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the DGUV (IFA) has tested the effectiveness of such clothing and is submitting the results to development work on a pre-standard.

2019 was a special year for KAN: it marked 25 years of successful advocacy for the inclusion of OSH concerns in standardization activity. On 4 December, 160 guests from eight countries met at the Berlin premises of the DGUV to celebrate the anniversary. They did not, however, only look back. The talks and discussions focused on how standardization and regulation can respond to the issues of digitalization, artificial intelligence and the increasingly rapid pace of technical development.

Can standardization keep up with the increasingly rapid pace of change of innovations, and still contribute in future to safety and health at work to the same degree as it is currently doing? The track on which this race is being run is very complex. Developments are now taking place that differ from change in the past in being disruptive in nature. Things change within a short space of time, and owing to radically new philosophies, no longer fit neatly into the existing system.

HCI International is among the major conferences in the field of human-computer interaction. “Computer” in this context increasingly covers any form of machine or device possessing a digital interface. Much of what is being discussed somewhat vaguely with the buzzwords Industry 4.0 and artificial intelligence (AI) comes into focus at this conference: smart glasses at work, exoskeletons and networked machines, AI and occupational safety and health, cybersecurity and data security.

Automated decision-making is becoming increasingly accepted. Machine learning now allows management to make decisions about workers at a more granular level than ever before, based on comprehensive information preselected by algorithms. Given the cutting edge nature of the technologies used, it is important to look at the occupational safety and health issues arising as well as benefits posed for workers today.

The impact of AI is likely to be great, since it permits a revolution in the workplace. In the long term, AI may indeed take on much of the effort that is currently performed by people, including professional work that requires special training and up to now has been beyond the ability of machines. In the short to medium term, though, AI tools will need to be taught to do the work that they will assume in the future.

As digitalization progresses, the processing of growing volumes of data presents manufacturing companies with major challenges. Machine learning, a sub-domain of artificial intelligence, can be used to generate valuable knowledge from data. When applied in industry, this process – termed “industrial data science” – may translate into a major competitive advantage in the future.

As in other scenarios, worker safety must be assured in the transformable machines and production facilities of Industry 4.0. Owing to the high level of networked integration, consideration must be given not only to functional safety, but also to a greater degree to security against external attack, and to the mutual influences of the two. It must also be considered to what extent existing risk assessment methods will be suitable for the transformable machines of the future.

Transporting patients is a physically challenging task for personnel in the ambulance services, particularly when obstacles such as staircases must be overcome. According to the German Ordinance on health and safety requirements for the manual handling of loads at work excessive stress, particularly upon the lumbar spine, caused by lifting of heavy loads should be avoided. The question remains however how this can be achieved in practice. A study by the IFA makes important suggestions in this respect.

Around 23% of employees in Germany are required to lift and carry heavy loads, 14% to adopt unfavourable body postures whilst working1. Exoskeletons, assistive systems worn on the body, are intended to make these tasks easier. Originally developed for military applications or medical rehabilitation, they are now also finding their way into the world of work. How do exoskeletons work? What opportunities and risks do they present?

Faster, higher, stronger: the development of exoskeletons for military purposes began under the Olympic motto. Exoskeletons are now also set to revolutionize day-to-day industrial production, and to relieve the burden upon employees by means of supporting structures. But what are the legitimate reasons for their actual use? And how can new technology of this kind be introduced intelligently on the production line? What opportunities does it present for companies and their personnel – and what risks?

The use of exoskeletons and other equipment in companies to support physical work has been growing for some time now. This equipment is intended to ease strenuous tasks and to support the wearer. The companies using exoskeletons hope that they will permit solutions by which musculoskeletal diseases can be avoided. This raises the question however to what extent exoskeletons are accepted by the workers themselves. A study conducted by the INRS has examined this aspect.

The EUROSHNET conference is the venue at which experts, decision-makers in the fields of standardization, testing and certification, and people from the most diverse institutions, companies and countries in Europe can network. Around 120 OSH experts from 16 countries took advantage of the opportunity for intensive dialogue at the 6th EUROSHNET conference, which was held in Dresden from 12 to 14 June.

Professor Dr Joachim Breuer was Director General of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) from 2002 to 2019. Besides other functions, he is now President of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) and the Club de Genève – Global Social Future in Switzerland. At the 2019 EUROSHNET Conference in Dresden, he ventured a look at the future world of work in the age of 4.0 and globalization.

Nanomaterials do not exhibit any particular new form of toxicity. The release of nano dusts may however lead to hazards at the workplace. A grouping approach supports the specification of effective protective measures. Particular attention must be paid to materials that release respirable, biopersistent fibrous particles in the course of their life cycle.

This question was posed by KAN in conjunction with the DGUV at the Dresden Prevention Forum on 6 March 2019. In a discussion chaired by Dr Norbert Lehmann (ZDF), experts from industry and the research and occupational safety and health communities debated whether and how OSH-related research, standardization and regulation are able to keep pace with the strongly accelerated progress of technical development at office workplaces.

In our digitalized world, developments are taking place at an ever increasing pace. This includes developments in VDU and office workstations. Co-working spaces, open spaces, agile working, Office 4.0: these are just some of the buzzwords used to describe the office of the future and the work performed there. But what about the occupational safety and health regulations in this area? Are they still fit for purpose, or have they long been rendered obsolete by the pace of development?

Smart personal protective equipment (PPE) offers a wide range of novel applications and increased levels of protection. The same is true of smart personal protective systems (PPSs) and PPE ensembles . The development of smart technologies is on the rise; however, companies are still struggling to market the products in series production quantities. A joint initiative by research institutions and manufacturers’ federations aims to increase the efficiency of development and conformity assessment of smart PPE and PPSs.

Sunshine is something very pleasant and is also very important for the human body. It can however also be dangerous, sunburn being the most obvious sign. Even without visible reddening of the skin, however, we add to our personal UV accounts each time we sunbathe, and our skin does not lose sight of the balance. Excessive exposure causes skin cancer, currently the most common form of cancer. Protection against solar radiation is therefore very important, especially at work.

Wood pellets have become firmly established on the European market as a heating fuel. Until just a few years ago, it was not widely appreciated that dangerous concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) may arise in pellet stores. KAN saw a need for action in this area, and since 2014 has either launched or provided expert support for a package of measures intended to increase occupational safety.

The reasoning behind the development of a series of standards specifically addressing mental workload is partly that this workload is associated with consequences of strain (such as monotony) and means of measurement (such as interviews, observation, etc.) that differ from those for physical work requirements. The three parts of EN ISO 10075 provide orientation regarding key terms and principles for the design of work and for requirements concerning measurement methods.

The "New Approach" adopted in the 1980s has characterized the European Single Market ever since. Much of European legislation covered by it sets out only essential requirements. This legislation leaves it to the standards organizations – private-sector bodies acting, until recently, largely under their own responsibility – to support these essential requirements with harmonized standards that could be updated more frequently, but are not binding. In recent years however, the EU has departed from this basic principle.

Standards are of crucial importance for machine safety and make a key contribution to preventive activity. They can be used to design work equipment to be safe and ergonomic. Owing to their significance in this respect, the Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization (KAN) has conducted an analysis to determine whether harmonized standards governing machine safety are still up to date.

Every year, over 700,000 children in Germany start school. When choosing a satchel, these 5 to 6-year-olds are motivated primarily by its colour and graphics. Parents should however ensure that the satchel is easily visible and complies with the DIN standard. This substantially enhances the safety of their children on the journey to and from school.

The sixth European conference on standardization, testing and certification to be held from 12 to 14 June 2019, will be hosted by KAN and the DGUV in conjunction with their partners in EUROSHNET, the European network for occupational safety and health experts. Join us and other delegates from all over Europe to discuss the future of standardization, testing and certification in a digitalized world of work, under the heading "Be smart, stay safe together – Innovative products and workplaces".

Treatment tables with electric height adjustment are in widespread use in physiotherapy practices and hospitals. Two workers were recently trapped beneath such tables, suffering fatal injuries. In January 2019, KAN convened a meeting of experts representing stakeholders for discussion of their respective positions and the complex situation. A number of projects were initiated with the aim of reducing the risk presented by new and legacy treatment tables.

For some years, the Südwestmetall employers' association has organized study trips to Japan for interested parties. The aim of these trips is to open participants' horizons and to present the innovative corporate systems of leading Japanese companies. A member of staff from the KAN Secretariat joined such a trip, and now reports back with answers to questions such as: How does Japanese work culture differ from that in Germany? What importance is attached to occupational safety and health in Japan?

In other countries, Japan generally has the reputation of being a pioneer in robotization. Not only does Japanese industry possess the greatest number of installed robots worldwide, robots are now also finding their way into many areas of everyday life. However, some of Japan's most successful companies have a more nuanced attitude to robots, notably the flagship company of Japanese industry, the Toyota Motor Corporation.

DIN conducts activities in partnership with numerous standards organizations throughout the world. Close networking at European and international level is an important means of focussing experience and expertise and defending interests more effectively on global markets.

Peer-Oliver Villwock (POV), head of the Occupational Safety and Health Directorate at the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), and Dr Thomas Zielke (TZ), Head of the Technology transfer via standardisation and patents division at the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), explain with reference to examples what new challenges are currently facing occupational safety and health and standardization in a rapidly changing world.

Personal protective equipment is often essential when needles are to be handled. As yet however, suitable test methods do not exist for the testing and assessment of products such as protective gloves for the handling of needles. A new material test method adds a realistic parameter to existing puncture tests, and was recently standardized in a DIN SPEC (PAS).

Some years ago, a receptor type was discovered in the human eye that is particularly sensitive to radiation in the blue range of the visible light spectrum. Through this receptor – besides other non-visual channels – light influences the human biological clock, the circadian rhythm, sleep, important body functions and well-being.

A project conducted jointly by the European social partners in the construction sector and CECE, the European construction machinery manufacturers’ association, reveals new modes of communication and cooperation. Direct dialogue between manufacturers and consumers can inspire simple solutions even for quite complex issues, such as better ergonomics for work equipment or safety aspects, and can also support the process of European standardization.

The accessing of construction machinery – in order to access the driver’s station, for refuelling or topping-up of other fluids, or for the performance of maintenance work – is a scenario in which occupational accidents frequently occur. In order to acquire a better understanding of the reasons for the accidents, the French National Federation of Public Works conducted ergonomic studies in a number of companies. These yielded a number of observations and strategies for solutions, aimed at both the operating personnel and the machinery manufacturers.

ISO 45001 was published on 12 March 2018 by the International Standards Organization (ISO). In some quarters, the response to the standard’s appearance has been “a star is born”; other affected parties in industry and occupational safety and health have taken a more nuanced view. Opinions on the document now published differ widely. A common translation for Germany, Austria and Switzerland was published in June 2018.

On 19 December 2017, the European Commission presented a proposal for an EU market surveillance regulation. Should this regulation be adopted, it will have a decisive influence upon the enforcement of market surveillance. The German regional governments are however of the opinion that certain aspects of the regulation require substantial improvement. The regulation imposes a high bureaucratic overhead upon the authorities, and the selection of the intended instruments also requires improvement.

Light influences the human biological clock and a range of physiological processes. In January 2018, a workshop on such non-visual effects of light was organized for the second time by KAN. Numerous stakeholders are involved in the subject; they differ to some extent in their objectives, however. The KAN workshop promotes the exchange of information between all parties involved, and contributes to a strategy being found for future research, standardization and regulation.

Emissions of wood or silica dust from new hand-held electric tools are measured with reference to standardized test methods. These methods have certain limits however, resulting in constraints upon their repeatibility. INRS, the French occupational safety and health institute1, proposes a different test method that would enable different machines to be classified for the same work process according to the level of the dust emissions.

Serious injuries frequently occur during the processing of firewood, owing to persons reaching into the sawing or splitting zone. In order to reduce the incidence and severity of accidents, the standards for wood splitting machines and circular saws used for this purpose have been revised. The revision work was based upon discussions held between experts and moderated by KAN, and accident investigations conducted by the Social insurance for agriculture, forestry and landscaping (SVLFG).

Slinging equipment for logging applications, such as chains, ropes, pulleys or hooks, is used during cable skidding. It serves to connect the tree-trunk to the winch cable. It is important that slinging equipment selected for logging applications is suitable for the purpose and is sufficiently strong to withstand reliably the forces encountered. A standard dedicated to this subject has now been published.

With publication of Regulation (EU) 2016/425 on personal protective equipment (PPE) in the Official Journal of the EU, the revision over many years of the PPE legislation has been brought to its conclusion. The regulation is to be applied as of 21 April 2018, at which point the existing 89/686/EEC PPE Directive will be repealed. Manufacturers, test bodies and other affected parties should use the transition period to adjust to the new regulation.

DIN and DKE are recognized standards organizations throughout the world. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs sets out the political and legal framework for their activity. Standardization has however become a controversial topic, and is often considered out of step with the times. This view however fails to recognize the huge contribution made by standardization to economic, industrial and innovation policy. Standards eliminate barriers to trade and pave the way for new products to enter the market.

The Secretariat of the Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization sees itself as a service provider for health and safety professionals working in standardization. In 2014, KAN created a new brand: KAN Praxis. The services provided by KAN (in German and English) that support you in your work are grouped under this brand. These services are described in brief below.

The Internal Market Package adopted in 2008 contains not only Regulation 765/2008/EC on accreditation and market surveillance, but also Decision 768/2008/EC. This decision sets out the agreed provisions governing how directives are to be formulated in the future in order for the Single Market to be regulated more uniformly and effectively. In the course of implementation of the New Legislative Framework3, the European Commission presented proposals for the alignment of ten directives.

The European and international standards organizations CEN, CENELEC, ISO and IEC provide a wealth of information on their websites. Join us for a brief virtual tour of the world of standardization.

On 11 and 12 September 2008, 160 experts from 22 countries met in Cracow at the 3rd European Conference on standardization, testing and certification to discuss the subject of “Safer products for competitive workplaces“. Like the two preceding events, in Dresden (2001) and Paris (2005), this conference was organized by EUROSHNET.

CEN standardization and CE certification have proved exceptionally useful and have substantially raised the safety level of products distributed in the EU. Scope nevertheless exists for progress in order for the system to be improved further and the safety level of products bearing the CE mark to be maintained.

The 40 EUROSHNET experts who met in Cracow on 10 September 2008 to pool their experience were in accord: the system is well-engineered, and with over 100 OSH institutions and some 300 hits per day, constitutes an excellent basis for the uncomplicated exchange of information and effective collaboration in the sphere of occupational safety and health. The experts were however of the opinion that EUROSHNET must be used more systematically, and the support of more experts enlisted.

Dr Joachim Lambert has been Head of the Secretariat of the Commission for OH&S and Standardization (KAN) since January 2000. He was particularly committed to strengthening Europe-wide co-operation between OSH groups within standardization. Prior to his retirement on 30 November 2008, he shared in an interview some of the impressions he had gained over the past years.

A DIN standards committee may not take any decision which is inconsistent with the block vote of a party with an essential interest in standardization. In order for such a veto to function, the stakeholder group to which an individual expert on a committee belongs must be clear. To bring the corresponding classifications up to date, the DIN standards committees are currently focusing on identifying the stakeholder groups represented within them and assigning their experts to their respective groups.

World Standards Day was marked on 21 October 2008 by a European conference in Paris under the heading “Standardisation and SMEs“. The event, which was broadcast live on the Internet, was devoted to the political strategies and specific measures by which the development and application of standards could be made easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

KAN took the revision of the Machinery Directive as an opportunity to hold a European conference in Munich on 27/28 May, in conjunction with the DGUV. Delegates from the European Commission, the market surveillance authorities and associations representing the European social partners presented papers outlining their expectations of implementation of the revised directive. Legal experts also spoke on liability issues arising during the drafting and application of standards.

One component of the European conference held by KAN and the DGUV on the new Machinery Directive was a workshop on the subject of controls and protective devices. The workshop provided an opportunity for close pooling of information and exchange of opinion, and generated considerable interest among conference delegates. In lively discussions, they identifi ed areas of activity for standardization, and discussed approaches to the various issues.

“Ergonomic requirements must cease to be regarded as optional extras.“ At the workshop on ergonomic requirements, representatives of the European Commission, CEN, the social partners, researchers and specialists from the sphere of standardization were in agreement that ergonomic issues must be regarded by engineers as a natural part of the machine design process.

Telescopic loaders are used on construction sites, in agriculture and in industry for the lifting and transporting of loads. Drivers of such machines see room for improvement in a range of technical details. In their view, telescopic loaders should be made more stable, offer better visibility, and be designed more ergonomically. These observations should also be considered during standards development work.

Channel baling presses are employed in recycling plants. They compress recyclable materials such as paper, board or fi lm into bales. European occupational safety and health experts have formulated a proposal for a standard which is to make working on these machines safer. Support is now being sought in order for the standardization project to be launched at European level.

The agricultural engineering standards group (NLA) of the Mechanical Engineering standards committee (NAM) at DIN is responsible for standardization in the area of tractors and agricultural machinery. Amongst its main activities are the definition of interfaces between tractors, equipment and management systems of agricultural enterprises, and technical requirements and test procedures in the areas of occupational safety, road safety and environmental protection.

With the enactment of the German Accident Insurance Code some 120 years ago, the safety of agricultural machinery became a key function for the German statutory accident insurance institutions in their mandate to prevent occupational accidents. The safety of agricultural machinery continues to be an area of activity for the agricultural accident insurance institutions. Today, this activity is conducted in the context of international standardization work.

On 25 February 2008, the European Parliament adopted the “Internal Market Package“ at its first reading. The package contains an EU regulation on accreditation and market surveillance and a further regulation on mutual recognition between the Member States of non-harmonized products. In addition, a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council sets out how the Single Market is to be regulated more consistently in the future.

Business services and service sectors such as transport, energy, telecommunications, tourism and leisure account for some 70% of total employment in the EU. The European Commission has recently identified an increasing need for greater standardization of services, in order to support the full functioning of the Internal Market. In response to a mandate from the European Commission, CEN identified eleven priority fields for further action.

The Official Journal of the EU lists two standards for personal protective equipment (PPE) pursuant to the directive 89/686/ EEC which describe test procedures for ear muffs with sound level-dependent attenuation. Deletion of the reference to one of these from the Official Journal by means of a formal objection is desirable.

The NoRA standards search facility has been extended with the addition of new functionality. Not only can users search, free of charge, for standards of relevance to occupational safety and health, they can now also search selectively for generic standards. In addition, they can ascertain under which European Directive a standard found by the search was mandated, and what standards are cited in it.

Electrical appliances often become very hot. Certain parts of products, such as hotplates or the underside of electric irons, must become hot in order for the appliance to fulfil its function. Other parts are not intentionally hot, and present a burn risk to users if they can be touched accidentally. A new CENELEC guide provides information on evaluating this risk.

As of March 2008, EUROSHNET, the European network for OSH experts, features three new fora. In the public area, users can discuss efficient arrangements for testing/certification and the role of scientifically sound knowledge in standardization. In the restricted area, a forum for drafting the Cracow Memorandum has been created in preparation for the conference on the subject of "Safer products for competitive workplaces".

One of the aims of the Machinery Directive is to reduce noise emissions from machines. In order for the essential requirements formulated for this purpose to be implemented, the European Commission has, since November 1998, sponsored the work of independent "CEN/CENELEC Noise Consultants". The Consultants' task is that of reviewing the quality of the provisions governing noise in European standards developed pursuant to the Machinery Directive.

The CE mark is not a safety mark which businesses can rely upon when selecting products. Conversely, the GS mark signifies that health and safety are assured by a neutral body. In the view of the German statutory accident insurance institutions, the European Commission's intention to abolish the GS mark without replacement by an equivalent mark constitutes a major retrograde step for prevention.

The European Commission's answer to this question appears to be a clear “yes”. In the course of revision of the New Approach, the Commission therefore intends to force the Member States to remove all national marks from their legislation. The theme of the proposal is the strengthening of CE marking. The general objective is clear, however: the measure is an attack on the German GS mark, and therefore damaging to consumer safety.

In the view of the Confederation of German Industries (BDI), a need for action exists regarding CE marking. The BDI described this need in September 2007 in a position paper concerning CE marking and the discussion of a EU safety mark.

Studies conducted by market surveillance authorities and businesses have found that considerable uncertainty still exists concerning the CE marking of machinery and plant. In collaboration with industry and universities, the Environment Ministry of the region of Baden-Württemberg is to lead the CE-coach initiative, the aim of which is a substantial improvement in knowledge of CE marking in accordance with the directives.

Interview with Dr. Peter Kiehl, DIN Management Board

Dr. Peter Kiehl worked at DIN from 1975 to 2007, and from 2000 was a member of its management board, with responsibility for the area of standardization. From 1994 onwards, he represented the interests of DIN at KAN. The following interview provides a look back over his interesting work in the sometimes conflicted areas of standardization and occupational safety and health. Dr. Kiehl retired on 31 October 2007.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in Bilbao called; representatives of eleven OSH networks answered that call. At the A+A 2007 in Düsseldorf, OSH experts from throughout the world took advantage of the opportunity to pool their experience and to intensify co-operation.

The European conference "Innovation and Market Access through Standards" was held in Berlin on 27 March 2007 under the German Presidency of the Council of the EU. Over 350 delegates from 19 countries attended the event, which was organized by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) in conjunction with DIN. KAN was represented with a stand at the exhibition.

Research is essential to occupational health and safety: for the development of new protective equipment, for example; for extending knowledge of new risks; and for making practical solutions available, for example through standards. Whereas in the EU's sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (2002-2006), OH&S research was supported by only a small number of invitations to tender, the subject has become topical in the last two years.

The Construction Products Directive, adopted in 1989, is unique among the New Approach directives, owing to differences in certain key aspects of fundamental procedural principles. The revision of the directive now launched by the European Commission should be exploited from an OH&S perspective as an opportunity for creation of a legal basis for the safety of construction products.

Alain Mayer is an acknowledged expert on European standardization work in the area of personal protective equipment (PPE). Formerly a member of BTS 3, he has been Rapporteur of the CEN-BT for PPE since 1997. For 18 years, he led the test and certification department of INRS for PPE and machinery, and is therefore fully conversant with all aspects of the application of standards and European statutory regulations. Alain Mayer will retire at the end of 2007.

Within European standardization, Consultants are instrumental in ensuring that the specifications set out in harmonized European standards satisfy the requirements of the Single Market directives. The system of Consultants was evaluated in a study in 2006 with regard to its efficiency and to the satisfaction of the parties involved in standardization.

The EUROSHNET OH&S network is a platform for the exchange of information between experts, and currently offers 12 fora with 180 subjects within a restricted area. The existing system has been extended by the creation of a public area which, as of May 2007, contains four new fora for topical OH&S issues in addition to the existing forum for OH&S management systems.

The need for research in the area of vibration is currently being discussed in EUROSHNET, the European network of OH&S experts. The discussion was prompted in part by problems in recent years in the development of standards supporting the EU Vibration Directive (2002/44/EC). These problems were caused by a lack of scientific principles required in the standards. A meeting of the EUROSHNET forum yielded the basis for a solution.

SMEs are important to the European economy: they account for 99% of enterprises, 70% of jobs and 50% of value added. However, owing to constraints in terms of human resources and finance, the participation of SMEs in standardization is low. The European Commission has therefore commissioned a study aimed at identifying adequate policies across Europe and describing best practices for supporting the participation of SMEs in standardization.

Interview with Mr Hans-Werner Müller, President of the European Office of Crafts, Trades and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises for Standardisation (NORMAPME) and Secretary General of the European Union of Crafts, Trades and SMEs (UEAPME). Mr Müller’s term as UEAPME Secretary General will come to an end in summer 2007.

Familiarity with the individual stages of standards development is advantageous if OH&S concerns are to be submitted in a timely manner and through the proper channels to the standardization process. KAN Report 34 contains important information in this respect with regard to ISO standardization. KAN Report 35 now describes the creation of CEN standards and the OH&S lobby's scope for influencing the standardization process.

KAN commissions studies and reports as one means of analyzing OH&S-related issues in standards. Three studies and projects which were launched recently will be presented in this article.

In Portugal, responsibility for occupational health and safety, the labour inspectorate, and standardization lies with different bodies. The Instituto para a Segurança, Higiene e Saúde no Trabalho (ISHST) is responsible for OH&S issues at national level. Through the Portuguese standards institute IPQ, it is also actively involved in the development of standards and technical specifications.

Within the efforts underway at international and European level to liberalize trade in services, standards governing them are considered an important element. Observance of an essential principle must however be ensured: requirements concerning protection of the health and safety of employees – in other words, the providers of the services – must be laid down outside standards.

The new Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC was finally adopted on 25th April 2006, and was published in the Official Journal of the EU (L157) in June. Member States must implement the Directive by 29th June 2008, and it will be applicable from 29th December 2009. Until that date, the current Machinery Directive 98/37/EC will continue to apply.

Despite the contained scale of changes in the new Machinery Directive from the current version, 98/37/EC, the review and amendment of over 600 harmonized standards which are cited in the Official Journal of the EU and give rise to the presumption of conformity present a particular challenge which should not be underestimated for the Safety of Machinery Sector at the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and for the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC).

In mid-2005, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) published a study conducted by BIT into the use of standards for implementation of the requirements of the Machinery Directive amongst medium-sized machinery manufacturers. The study revealed limited familiarity with the structure and relevance of standards on the part of manufacturers, and that standards were consequently unable to fulfil their intended purpose satisfactorily.

Two KAN workshops were held on 1 December 2005 and 7 March 2006 on the instruments available to OH&S representatives for influencing the ISO standards development process. At these workshops, some 60 OH&S experts discussed the consequences for occupational health and safety of the growing internationalization of standardization. The results of the workshop are now to be translated into concrete measures in conjunction with the affected groups.

Written and unwritten rules exist in standardization activity the observance of which is frequently crucial to participants' effective involvement. These principles have been summarized in KAN Report 34, "Possible influence of the OHS sector on ISO standardization". Selected examples will be described below.

The formal policy of both the European standards organizations and the European Commission is for European standards to be based where possible upon international standards, and for the latter preferably to be adopted verbatim. The development process for ISO standards is similar to that for EN standards, with certain exceptions.

In order to increase the efficiency of standardization at European and international level, CEN and CENELEC have reached agreements with their respective international partners ISO and IEC, setting out the rules governing co-operation. Closer examination reveals that despite having much in common, the two agreements (the "Vienna" and "Dresden" Agreements) also exhibit certain differences.

The enlargement of the European Union is now a reality; globalization continues, and the international standards organizations are gaining in importance. European OH&S institutions must therefore ensure that they possess the resources which they need in order to increase their effectiveness.

In one of the series of papers presented at the conference, representatives from OH&S institutions in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, and from the European Commission had the opportunity to describe their initial experiences with the enlarged Europe, and their expectations for the future.

Against a backdrop of rising costs and dwindling resources, closer co-operation is essential in the various fields such as standardization, testing, certification, and also research. The network structures already in place provide an outstanding basis for such co-operation. David Buchanan (HSL, United Kingdom) made this observation in his introduction to the first block of papers at the conference.

The conference was held in Paris on 20/21 October 2005 under the heading ”An Enlarged Europe in a Globalized World”, and was the successor to the 1st European Conference held in 2001 in Dresden. 127 delegates from 15 European countries attended the event. The conference was organized by the INRS (France) together with the CIOP-PIB (Poland), EUROGIP (France), the HVBG (Germany), the HSL (United Kingdom), the INSHT (Spain), and KAN.

55 EUROSHNET members from numerous eastern and western European countries met in Paris on 19 October 2005 in order to add a personal dimension to the contacts which they had already forged on EUROSHNET. A further purpose of the event was the sharing of experience in the use of this communications instrument, which was created for the European occupational health and safety community.

Should reasoned objections presented by OH&S experts concerning requirements in product standards be ignored, the formal objection is the final instrument available to ensure that, in the interests of user health and safety, the essential requirements of European Single Market directives are transposed. The example of „mobile cranes” demonstrates that the formal objection is a difficult, not to say lengthy process.

The EN 420 standard governing protective gloves has been available since 2003. As yet, however, it has not been added by the European Commission to the catalogue of harmonized standards pursuant to the PPE Directive, since the detection limit which it specifies for the chromate content of leather gloves is too high. Test methods for assured detection of lower concentrations must therefore be validated at the earliest opportunity.

On 5 April 2005, the official language versions of the new Machinery Directive were adopted under the Luxembourg EU Presidency. Adoption was the culmination of a total of 39 sessions held by the Council’s ”Technical Harmonisation (Machinery)” working party in 2001-2004. Over four years of Council deliberations were thus brought to a successful conclusion.

Emergency safety showers in laboratories are an essential facility for the event of accidents involving fire or contamination with acids, alkalis and solvents. In expert circles in Germany, doubts are however being raised that the requirements of the European draft standard prEN 15154-1 governing efficient emergency safety showers are suitable for practical implementation and will enhance safety within laboratories.

Should a European standard fail adequately to support the requirements of European Directives, the EU Member States may contest the presumption of conformity to which the standard gives rise by raising a formal objection. This procedure must be distinguished from the safeguard clause, which applies in the case of an unsafe product. The latter leads in turn to a formal objection only where the defect in the product is attributable to deficiencies in the standard.

The required safety level for the placing on the market of products in Germany is defined by the GPSG and a large number of standards. Similar regulations apply throughout the EU. Observance of these standards gives rise to a presumption of conformity with regard to the legality of distribution. In the event of damage or injury, no such presumption may be claimed during liability litigation; however, standards still play a key role in such cases.

Standardization: a key element for economic growth, social progress, and environmental protection; and consequently also for knowledge transfer and the opening of markets. In November 2004, following World Standards Day, the BDI presented its position paper, “9 Theses on the Significance of Standards for German Industry in the 21st Century“, which takes up the national standardization strategy of DIN. This article presents some of the concepts formulated within the position paper.

Switzerland has adopted innovative approaches in recent years for the enhancement of health and safety protection. The associated process of implementation is still in progress, and is the factor shaping current occupational health and safety activity. EU provisions governing the placing on the market of equipment and devices have also been transposed in Switzerland.

In 2003/2004, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work made financial resources available for the promotion of workplace safety in small and medium-sized enterprises. The objective of a project concerning the safe use of forklift trucks was to gather practical experience gained on the ground in order for it to be given greater consideration in standardization.

In the spring of 1989, seven technical committees began drafting PPE standards in support of Directive 89/686/EEC. The progress made to date has broadly been positive: in October 2004, 298 standards had already been adopted (without amendments or revisions), 57 drafts had reached the voting stage, and 15 standards were still being drafted. Were no further standards to be launched, the work would in theory be completed by 2008!

Notified bodies are testing and certification bodies notified to the European Commission by the EU Member States for assessment of conformity according to one or more European directives. The notified bodies are therefore in the first instance providers of services to manufacturers, for assessment of the latter’s products for compliance with the requirements of the directives concerned

Electrostatic materials in the particle filters of respiratory protective devices have the advantage of presenting low respiratory resistance and therefore being pleasant to wear. Their drawback however is that the filter efficiency may drop, both in use and, under certain conditions, during storage.

On 1 May 2004, the German Equipment and Product Safety Act (GPSG) entered into force. One function of this act is to transpose the EC Directive on General Product Safety. Through the new act, the AtAV, the Committee for Technical Work Equipment and Consumer Products, is encharged with the task of identifying, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour (BMWA), national technical specifications which give rise to a presumption of conformity under the GPSG at national level.

On 1 May 2004, a further ten countries joined the European Union. This brought the total number of Member States to 25. The time has now come to open EUROSHNET, the European network for occupational health and safety experts involved in standardization, testing, certification, and/or related research, to OH&S institutions in all EU and EFTA Member States.

In the Netherlands, as in many other European countries, the social partners and the government deliberate on OH&S issues in the context of legislation and standardization. The Netherlands’ Standardization Institute (NEN), based in Delft, is the body responsible for the co-ordination of OH&S-related standardization.

Since 1 October 2004, CENELEC standards include an Annex ZZ, as was already the case with CEN standards (Annex ZA). These annexes reference the content of the standard to the directives concerned. Opinions differ regarding the arrangements for the annex. This subject will be discussed in the Special articles in the present issue.

The public may occasionally gain the impression that European standards governing the safety of machinery fail to meet the terms of the European Commission’s mandate to the European standards organizations. This perception can be countered by the fact that by April 2004, 475 standards under the Machinery Directive had been listed in the Official Journal of the EU, whereas only approximately 20 standards had been the subject of objections since the first listing in 1992.

NORMAPME, the European Office of Crafts, Trades and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, was founded in 1996 at the instigation of UEAPME and a further four industry associations. NORMAPME represents the particular interests of SMEs in the European standardization process, and supports them in the application of European standards. NORMAPME represents 77 associations of SMEs in 31 European countries, whose membership in turn encompasses 20 million businesses and 50% of all employees in Europe.

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.

Since its inception in 1994, KAN has become an established part of OH&S-related standardization. Its knowledge is respected, its advice sought, and its comments carry weight. Owing to KAN’s mandate and composition, Germany has in it a powerful institution whose reputation extends well beyond the country’s borders.

With the founding in 1994 of KAN, the Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization, the KAN Secretariat was also created. The Secretariat comprises the departments of ”Safety Technology” and ”Occupational Health and Ergonomics”, together with offices for employers’ and employees’ representatives.

The Commission for Occupational Health and Safety and Standardization (KAN) , focuses the interests of German occupational health and safety experts in standardization. It exploits a range of instruments in the process, in order to co-ordinate positions between German national and regional authorities, employers, employees, and the BGs – the institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention – and to present these positions in standardization activity.

Adopted in 1993, the German Consensus Statement (GDS) constitutes a fundamental point of reference for the work of KAN, which was founded in 1994. It details for Germany the EU framework conditions which shape the relationship between standardization and the health and safety of workers at work, and which were reaffirmed in 2003 in the Treaty of Nice. This means that for occupational health and safety, complete harmonization is not planned for the foreseeable future, and the GDS remains fully in force.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an increasingly important subject for companies worldwide. Numerous examples exist of how companies present those of their activities which are not directly of an economic nature, particularly in the social and environmental sphere. The ILO is now presented with the task of providing a framework for the multitude of different initiatives.

The KAN Special Event held at A+A 2003 and chaired by Marina Schröder (KAN Vice-Chair) revealed clearly the challenges facing new and existing Member States by EU enlargement to the south and east. In order for the interests of occupational health and safety to be represented effectively in the EU body of regulations, the individual positions in the respective countries must be consolidated within a European discussion process to form a consensus which can be carried by the greatest possible number of parties.

During plant visits, occupational health and safety experts frequently observe position switches on safety doors which have been bypassed, resulting in machinery being operated in an improper condition. Bypassing of this kind has repeatedly led to serious accidents, some of which sadly have been fatal. Generally, the party which bypassed the function is considered responsible. In the view of many OH&S experts, however, this definition of responsibility does not go far enough.

Evangelos Vardakas has been a Director at the “Enterprise” Directorate-General of the EU Commission since 1991. His area of responsibility encompasses standardization, conformity assessment and the New Approach. Mr Vardakas will leave the Commission at the end of 2003

The European standards organizations CEN and CENELEC currently have 22 ordinary members. They include the national standards organizations of the EU and EFTA states, which have been members for many years, and some recently joined standards organizations from Central and Eastern European countries which will accede to the EU in the next few years. The most recent members are the Czech Republic, Malta, Hungary and Slovakia. Another 11 national standards organizations with affiliate status also belong to CEN and CENELEC.

When the European Union expands in May 2004, the number of EU citizens will rise from 380 to 450 million. Industry is already gearing up for the possibilities that will be offered by the larger single market by setting up branches, companies, joint ventures, etc. For the trade unions, the most important thing is to harmonize the working and living conditions of the workers in this huge economic area.

In 2001, the Czech Republic was the first candidate country for EU membership to sign a PECA protocol. The Czech CSNI was in turn the first standards organization of a candidate country to become a full member of both CEN (1996) and CENELEC (1997) and assumed the same duties as other members from then on.

Until the EC Machinery Directive came into force, safety requirements for cutting machines in the clothing industry were set forth in binding accident-prevention regulations. A standard for this field has been drafted on the initiative of Germany’s institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention (“BGs”) and with KAN’s support. The work on the draft standard has already led to safety improvements in product design even before the standard is completed.

Hand-held, power-operated machines such as pavement breakers or drills can be either electric or non-electric. As a result, different institutes are involved in the standardization of such products: IEC and CENELEC are responsible for hand-held electric tools and ISO and CEN for nonelectric tools. This has meant that separate standards have been developed more or less independently of one another for machines of the same type but with different power sources.

On 7 May 2003, the EU Commission presented a communication on “Enhancing the Implementation of the New Approach Directives” to the Council and the European Parliament. The recommendations made in the communiqué are intended to help make the internal market even more efficient and increase European industry’s competitiveness with the aid of cost-effective measures. The EU Commission is also seeking to initiate a discussion regarding the formal structure of the directives.

It's not just products that have to meet essential requirements for the EU market. Europe-wide minimum criteria also apply to the bodies which test and certify those products. The “Global Approach to Certification and Testing” serves as the basis for mutual recognition of conformity assessments, without which the concept of free movement of goods cannot work.

Accreditation – a necessary but usually unpopular subject in the eyes of most testing and certification bodies. Why necessary? Only “authorised bodies” are allowed to award the voluntary GS mark as proof of tested safety and only “designated” or “notified bodies” are allowed to test and certify within the scope of EC directives.

Technical specifications, workshop agreements, publicly available specifications – the rapid development of modern technologies such as IT demands flexible products with short development cycles from the field of standardization too. Since the time it takes to draw up traditional standards with their extensive consensusbuilding procedures can only be shortened by a fraction, “quick” standardization products are becoming increasingly important.

When we hear about accidents involving medical devices, we tend to think that it’s the patient who’s been injured. In occupational health and safety, however, the focus is on the user’s health and safety when it comes to designing medical devices. A key aspect in this field is ergonomic product design. A set of guidelines developed on KAN’s initiative examines aspects which, from an ergonomic point of view, should be observed in addition to the common, obvious hazards (e.g. electrical hazards).

Germany’s federal states run their own testing bodies, referred to as equipmentinspection centres, to support their market- surveillance authorities. Standards play a pivotal role in market surveillance and, in particular, product-safety testing. KAN, in which all of Germany’s OH&S circles are represented, can help to ensure that the equipment-inspection centres’ findings are efficiently incorporated into standardization work.

Safety-related standardization in the nonharmonized domain remains significant under administrative law only within a narrow band between a large number of product-specific EC directives and the General Product Safety Directive. Within this band, the general requirements of the German Equipment Safety Act (GSG) apply in Germany. Owing to the particularly broad scope of, for example, European directives governing electrical appliances, machinery, or PPE, this segment was destined to be progressively consigned to history.

At present, the standards organizations are discussing the European Commission’s recommendation for mandatory inclusion of a table of correspondence in harmonized European standards. The individual sections of a standard would be listed in such a table with the corresponding essential requirements of EC directives.

Ten new member states are expected to be welcomed into the European Union on 1 May 2004. Romania and Bulgaria are to follow in 2007. Prior to accession, the national legislation of these countries must be brought into line with current Community law. The PECA agreements reached between the candidate countries and the European Communities are a suitable instrument for sector-by-sector alignment within the area of the free movement of goods.

As in the EU countries, the area of OSH in Poland is governed by both legislation and standards. Legislation in this area has a very long tradition in Poland, the first regulations dating back to the 1920s. At present, the right to safe and healthy working conditions is enshrined in the constitution. Many detailed requirements have been specified in a large number of acts and decrees.

The subject of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is increasingly being debated at EU level, and lately also within ISO, the International Organization for Standardization. The subject relates to the socio-political and ecological contributions made by companies. From the perspective of OH&S, KAN rejects standardization of this area.

A major trend in the world economy is the growth of the service sector, which according to the WTO already accounts for 60% of the gross world product. The international trade in services continues to lag this development, accounting for only 20% of total trade. In order to establish key conditions for international trade in services, the WTO therefore adopted the “General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)” in 1995. Special importance is attached in this agreement to global service standards.

As a consequence of European integration and increasing globalization of markets, the provision of services across international borders can be expected to increase. With the WTO-GATS Agreement, the World Trade Organization is pursuing the objective of facilitating free trade in services. Reference is made at several points in the agreement to “technical standards” and “international standards”. A KAN study is now to clarify the limits to which occupational health and safety aspects may be dealt with in service-sector standards.

At the beginning of 2003, the website of the network of European OH&S experts active in standardization, testing, certification or applied research, will become available. In addition to a public area providing information on EUROSHNET (European Occupational Safety and Health Network), the website includes a password-protected area in which subjects relevant to occupational health and safety may be discussed. The purpose of the communications platform is to facilitate contact and the exchange of information between OH&S experts.

A chief function of KAN’s activities is to co-ordinate opinion among groups responsible for occupational health and safety, and to introduce this opinion as a unanimous position in DIN standardization work at national, European and international level. Resolution 4/1996 of the DIN Presidial Board, which has been in force since 1996, is of major significance for KAN as a means to protect the interests of occupational health and safety. The resolution states that should, in exceptional cases, voting be required within a committee, a decision may not be taken which is contrary to the unanimous vote of a party with an essential interest in standardization. The resolution further requires the DIN Management Board to report regularly to the Presidial Board on its experience with practical implementation of this resolution.

A major trend in the world economy is the growth of the service sector, which according to the WTO already accounts for 60% of the gross world product. The international trade in services continues to lag this development, accounting for only 20% of total trade. In order to establish key conditions for international trade in services, the WTO therefore adopted the “General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)” in 1995. Special importance is attached in this agreement to global service standards.

As a consequence of European integration and increasing globalization of markets, the provision of services across international borders can be expected to increase. With the WTO-GATS Agreement, the World Trade Organization is pursuing the objective of facilitating free trade in services. Reference is made at several points in the agreement to “technical standards” and “international standards”. A KAN study is now to clarify the limits to which occupational health and safety aspects may be dealt with in service-sector standards.