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Council Directive 92/57/EEC of 24 June 1992 on the implementation of minimum safety and health requirements at temporary or mobile constructions sites (eighth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)

EU Directive 1992/57 · Adopted 24 June 1992 · Extends to United Kingdom

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise this item, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

Council Directive 92/57/EEC

of 24 June 1992

on the implementation of minimum safety and health requirements at temporary or mobile constructions sites (eighth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 118a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commissionf1, submitted after consulting the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work,

In cooperation with the European Parliamentf2,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committeef3,

Whereas Article 118 a of the Treaty provides that the Council shall adopt, by means of directives, minimum requirements for encouraging improvements, especially in the working environment, to ensure a better level of protection of the safety and health of workers;

Whereas, under the terms of that Article, those directives are to avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings;

Whereas the communication from the Commission on its programme concerning safety, hygiene and health at workf4 provides for the adoption of a Directive designed to guarantee the safety and health of workers at temporary or mobile construction sites;

Whereas, in its resolution of 21 December 1987 on safety, hygiene and health at workf5, the Council took note of the Commission's intention of submitting to the Council in the near future minimum requirements concerning temporary or mobile construction sites;

Whereas temporary or mobile construction sites constitute an area of activity that exposes workers to particularly high levels of risk;

Whereas unsatisfactory architectural and/or organizational options or poor planning of the works at the project preparation stage have played a role in more than half of the occupational accidents occurring on construction sites in the Community;

Whereas in each Member State the authorities responsible for safety and health at work must be informed, before the beginning of the works, of the execution of works the scale of which exceeds a certain threshold;

Whereas, when a project is being carried out, a large number of occupational accidents may be caused by inadequate coordination, particularly where various undertakings work simultaneously or in succession at the same temporary or mobile construction site;

Whereas it is therefore necessary to improve coordination between the various parties concerned at the project preparation stage and also when the work is being carried out;

Whereas compliance with the minimum requirements designed to guarantee a better standard of safety and health at temporary or mobile construction sites is essential to ensure the safety and health of workers;

Whereas, moreover, self-employed persons and employers, where they are personally engaged in work activity, may, through their activities on a temporary or mobile construction site, jeopardize the safety and health of workers;

Whereas it is therefore necessary to extend to self-employed persons and to employers where they are personally engaged in work activity on the site certain relevant provisions of Council Directive 89/655/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work (second individual Directive)f6, and of Council Directive 89/656/EEC of 30 November 1989 on the minimum health and safety requirements for the use by workers of personal protective equipment at the workplace (third individual Directive)f7;

Whereas this Directive is an individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at workf8; whereas, therefore, the provisions of the said Directive are fully applicable to temporary or mobile construction sites, without prejudice to more stringent and/or specific provisions contained in this Directive;

Whereas this Directive constitutes a practical step towards the achievement of the social dimension of the internal market with special reference to the subject matter of Council Directive 89/106/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to construction productsf9 and the subject matter covered by Council Directive 89/440/EEC of 18 July 1989 amending Direaive 71/305/EEC concerning coordination of procedures for the award of public work contractsf10;

Whereas, pursuant to Council Decision 74/325/EECf11, the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work is consulted by the Commission with a view to drawing up proposals in this field,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

OJ No C 213, 28.8.1990, p. 2 and OJ No C 112, 27.4.1991, p. 4.

f2

OJ No C 78, 18.3.1990, p. 172 and OJ No C 150, 15.6.1992.

f3

OJ No C 120, 6.5.1991, p. 24.

f4

OJ No C 28, 3.2.1988, p. 3.

f5

OJ No C 28, 3.2.1988, p. 1.

f6

OJ No L 393, 30.12.1989, p. 13.

f7

OJ No L 393, 30.12.1989, p. 18.

f8

OJ No L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1.

f9

OJ No L 40, 11.2.1989, p. 12.

f10

OJ No L 210, 21.7.1989, p. 1. Amended by Commission Decision 90/380/EEC (OJ No L 187, 19.7.1990, p. 55).

f11

OJ No L 185, 9.7.1974, p. 15. Last amended by the 1985 Act of Accession.

Contents

  1. 1Subject
  2. 2Definitions
  3. 3Appointment of coordinators — Safety and health plan — Prior notice
  4. 4Project preparation stage: general principles
  5. 5Project preparation stage: duties of coordinators
  6. 6Project execution stage: duties of coordinators
  7. 7Responsibilities of clients, project supervisors and employers
  8. 8Implementation of Article 6 of Directive 89/391/EEC
  9. 9Obligations of employers
  10. 10Obligations of other groups of persons
  11. 11Information for workers
  12. 12Consultation and participation of workers
  13. 13Amendments to Annex IV
  14. 13aExercise of the delegation
  15. 13bUrgency procedure
  16. 14Final Provisions
  17. 15Article 15
  18. Annex I: NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF BUILDING AND CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 2 (a) OF THE DIRECTIVE
  19. 1Division 1
  20. 2Division 2
  21. 3Division 3
  22. 4Division 4
  23. 5Division 5
  24. 6Division 6
  25. 7Division 7
  26. 8Division 8
  27. 9Division 9
  28. 10Division 10
  29. 11Division 11
  30. 12Division 12
  31. 13Division 13
  32. Annex II: NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF WORK INVOLVING PARTICULAR RISKS TO THE SAFETY AND HEALTH OF WORKERS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 3 (2), SECOND PARAGRAPH OF THE DIRECTIVE
  33. 1Division 1
  34. 2Division 2
  35. 3Division 3
  36. 4Division 4
  37. 5Division 5
  38. 6Division 6
  39. 7Division 7
  40. 8Division 8
  41. 9Division 9
  42. 10Division 10
  43. Annex IIICONTENT OF THE PRIOR NOTICE REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 3 (3), FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THE DIRECTIVE
  44. Annex IV: MINIMUM SAFETY AND HEALTH REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSTRUCTION SITES
  45. Preliminary remarks
  46. GENERAL MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ON-SITE WORKPLACES
  47. Stability and solidity
  48. 1.1Division 1.1
  49. 1.2Division 1.2
  50. Energy distribution installations
  51. 2.1Division 2.1
  52. 2.2Division 2.2
  53. Emergency routes and exits
  54. 3.1Division 3.1
  55. 3.2Division 3.2
  56. 3.3Division 3.3
  57. 3.4Division 3.4
  58. 3.5Division 3.5
  59. 3.6Division 3.6
  60. Fire detection and fire fighting
  61. 4.1Division 4.1
  62. 4.2Division 4.2
  63. 4.3Division 4.3
  64. 5Ventilation
  65. Exposure to particular risks
  66. 6.1Division 6.1
  67. 6.2Division 6.2
  68. 6.3Division 6.3
  69. 7Temperature
  70. Natural and artificial lighting of workstations, rooms and traffic routes on the site
  71. 8.1Division 8.1
  72. 8.2Division 8.2
  73. 8.3Division 8.3
  74. Doors and gates
  75. 9.1Division 9.1
  76. 9.2Division 9.2
  77. 9.3Division 9.3
  78. 9.4Division 9.4
  79. 9.5Division 9.5
  80. Traffic routes — danger areas
  81. 10.1Division 10.1
  82. 10.2Division 10.2
  83. 10.3Division 10.3
  84. 10.4Division 10.4
  85. Loading bays and ramps
  86. 11.1Division 11.1
  87. 11.2Division 11.2
  88. 11.3Division 11.3
  89. 12Freedom of movement at the workstation
  90. First aid
  91. 13.1Division 13.1
  92. 13.2Division 13.2
  93. 13.3Division 13.3
  94. 13.4Division 13.4
  95. Sanitary equipment
  96. Changing rooms and lockers.
  97. 14.1.1Appropriate changing rooms must be provided for workers if they have to wear special work clothes and if, for reasons of health or propriety, they cannot be expected to change in another area.
  98. 14.1.2Changing rooms must be sufficiently large and have facilities to enable each worker, where necessary, to dry his working clothes as well as his own clothing and personal effects and to lock them away.
  99. 14.1.3Division 14.1.3
  100. 14.1.4Division 14.1.4
  101. Showers and washbasins
  102. 14.2.1Suitable showers in sufficient numbers must be provided for workers if required by the nature of the work or for health reasons.
  103. 14.2.2The shower rooms must be sufficiently large to permit each worker to wash without hindrance in conditions of an appropriate standard of hygiene.
  104. 14.2.3Where showers are not required under the first paragraph of 14.2.1, a sufficient number of suitable washbasins with running water (hot water if necessary) must be provided in the vicinity of the workstations and the changing rooms.
  105. 14.2.4Division 14.2.4
  106. 14.3Lavatories and washbasins
  107. Rest rooms and/or accommodation areas
  108. 15.1Division 15.1
  109. 15.2Division 15.2
  110. 15.3Division 15.3
  111. 15.4Division 15.4
  112. 15.5Division 15.5
  113. 16Pregnant women and nursing mothers
  114. 17Handicapped workers
  115. Miscellaneous provisions
  116. 18.1Division 18.1
  117. 18.2Division 18.2
  118. 18.3Division 18.3
  119. SPECIFIC MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ON-SITE WORKSTATIONS
  120. Preliminary remark
  121. On-site indoor workstations
  122. 1Stability and solidity
  123. 2Emergency doors
  124. 3Ventilation
  125. Temperature
  126. 4.1Division 4.1
  127. 4.2Division 4.2
  128. 5Natural and artificial lighting
  129. Floors, walls, ceilings and roofs of rooms
  130. 6.1Division 6.1
  131. 6.2Division 6.2
  132. 6.3Division 6.3
  133. Windows and skylights
  134. 7.1Division 7.1
  135. 7.2Division 7.2
  136. Doors and Gates
  137. 8.1Division 8.1
  138. 8.2Division 8.2
  139. 8.3Division 8.3
  140. 8.4Division 8.4
  141. 9Traffic routes
  142. 10Specific measures for escalators and travelators
  143. 11Room dimensions and air space in rooms
  144. On-site outdoor workstations
  145. Stability and solidity
  146. 1.1Division 1.1
  147. 1.2Checking
  148. Energy distribution installations
  149. 2.1Division 2.1
  150. 2.2Division 2.2
  151. 2.3Division 2.3
  152. 3Atmospheric influences
  153. 4Falling objects
  154. Falls from a height
  155. 5.1Division 5.1
  156. 5.2Division 5.2
  157. Scaffolding and leaders
  158. 6.1Division 6.1
  159. 6.2Division 6.2
  160. 6.3Division 6.3
  161. 6.4Division 6.4
  162. 6.5Division 6.5
  163. Lifting equpiment
  164. 7.1Division 7.1
  165. 7.2Division 7.2
  166. 7.3Division 7.3
  167. Excavating and materials-handling vehicles and machinery
  168. 8.1Division 8.1
  169. 8.2Division 8.2
  170. 8.3Division 8.3
  171. 8.4Division 8.4
  172. Installations, machinery, equipment
  173. 9.1Division 9.1
  174. 9.2Division 9.2
  175. Excavations, wells, underground works, tunnels and earthworks
  176. 10.1Division 10.1
  177. 10.2Division 10.2
  178. 10.3Division 10.3
  179. 10.4Division 10.4
  180. 11Demolition work
  181. Metal or concrete frameworks, shutterings and heavy prefabricated components
  182. 12.1Division 12.1
  183. 12.2Division 12.2
  184. 12.3Division 12.3
  185. Cofferdams and caissons
  186. 13.1Division 13.1
  187. 13.2Division 13.2
  188. 13.3Division 13.3
  189. Work on roofs
  190. 14.1Division 14.1
  191. 14.2Division 14.2