Recognizing not only that industry is critical to the economic development of many member states, but that high standards of health and safety are critical to the development of many industries,
Concerned that some member states and employers might not have adequate laws and policies in effect to protect workers from dangerous working conditions, not only in factories and other centers of heavy industry but also - for example - in restaurants (where measures to prevent cross-contamination of foodstuffs, such as the use of different-colored chopping boards and regular handwashing, are of great importance),
Believing that employers in member states with strong health and safety standards should not be entitled to outsource jobs to member states with lax or nonexistent health and safety standards in order to increase profit at the expense of workers well being, and
Supporting the right of workers everywhere to face as small a risk of physical harm and deterioration as possible while they are working,
Hereby enacts as follows.
1. Each member state must:
- publish a first, quantitative manual of guidelines listing those levels of mechanical, temperature, chemical, and ergonomic stresses which a worker in that member state may endure on a daily basis without incurring adverse side effects over time,
- publish a second, quantitative manual of guidelines listing those levels of various industrial chemical substances, with reference to levels in both the factory workplace environment and a worker's blood sample, which a worker in that member state may endure on a daily basis without incurring adverse side effects over time,
- publish a third, qualitative manual of guidelines explaining the steps that their workers can take to reduce their risk of injury in the workplace (both in general and at the particular type of business where they work), regardless of where they work or what their job entails, and the steps that employers in each sector of the economy must take to reduce these risks,
- update the three manuals of guidelines, hereinafter "the Manuals," on an annual basis to incorporate the latest research findings and relevant statistical data, and
- distribute the Manuals to all of their businesses, and
- sanction those businesses who expose their workers to levels of stress and exposure to chemical substances (pursuant to Articles 1a and 1b respectively) beyond those stipulated in the Manuals, or who fail to report injuries sustained by their workers at the workplace to their member states government (to ensure its compliance with Article 2c).
- legal measures enacted by that member state and its political subdivisions to protect the health and safety of workers,
- how frequently and effectively the measures described in Articles 1a, 1b, 1c, and 2a are being enforced by the government, and
- how often per year, on average, workplace injuries occur (which shall be disaggregated according to whether they were caused by mechanical hazards, temperature hazards, chemical hazards, or ergonomic hazards).
3. The HSB shall report all member states and political subdivisions of member states whose governments fail to enforce those measures they have enacted to protect the health and safety of workers, including by failing to enforce compliance with Articles 1, 2 and 4 of this Act, to the WACC.
4. Each member state must disseminate accurate and informative publications to all of their businesses (including state-owned businesses) that describe the legal measures they have enacted to protect the health and safety of workers and explain how businesses can comply with these legal measures.
Co-authored with Tinhampton.
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