{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-2009-104/introduction",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-2009-104/introduction.json",
  "legislation": "eudr/2009/104",
  "legislation_title": "Directive 2009/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work (second individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) (codified version) (Text with EEA relevance)",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-2009-104",
  "path": "introduction",
  "kind": "introduction",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Introductory text",
  "text": "Directive 2009/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council\nof 16 September 2009\nconcerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work (second individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC)\n(codified version)\n(Text with EEA relevance)\nTHE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,\nHaving regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 137(2) thereof,\nHaving regard to the proposal from the Commission,\nHaving regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee,\nHaving consulted the Committee of the Regions,\nActing in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty,\nWhereas:\n(1)\nCouncil 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 within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) has been substantially amended several times. In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified.\n(2)\nThis 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 work. Therefore, the provisions of Directive 89/391/EEC are fully applicable to the scope of the use of work equipment by workers at work, without prejudice to more stringent or specific provisions contained in this Directive.\n(3)\nArticle 137(2) of the Treaty provides that the Council may adopt, by means of directives, minimum requirements for encouraging improvements, in particular, of the working environment so as to protect workers’ health and safety.\n(4)\nPursuant to the said Article, such directives must avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings.\n(5)\nThe provisions adopted pursuant to Article 137(2) of the Treaty do not preclude any Member State from maintaining or introducing more stringent measures for the protection of working conditions provided they are compatible with the Treaty.\n(6)\nCompliance with the minimum requirements designed to guarantee a better standard of safety and health in the use of work equipment is essential in order to ensure the safety and health of workers.\n(7)\nThe improvement of occupational safety, hygiene and health is an objective which should not be subordinated to purely economic considerations.\n(8)\nWork at a height may expose workers to particularly severe risks to their health and safety, notably to the risks of falls from a height and other serious occupational accidents, which account for a large proportion of all accidents, especially of fatal accidents.\n(9)\nThis Directive constitutes a practical aspect of the realisation of the social dimension of the internal market.\n(10)\nPursuant to Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations and of rules on Information Society services, Member States are required to notify the Commission of any draft technical regulations relating to machines, equipment and installations.\n(11)\nThis Directive is the most appropriate means of achieving the desired objectives and does not go beyond what is necessary for that purpose.\n(12)\nThis Directive should be without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex III, Part B,\nHAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "OJ C 100, 30.4.2009, p. 144."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f2",
      "text": "Opinion of the European Parliament of 8 July 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 13 July 2009."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f3",
      "text": "OJ L 393, 30.12.1989, p. 13."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f4",
      "text": "See Annex III, Part A."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f5",
      "text": "OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f6",
      "text": "OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/2009/104/introduction",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T15:22:07.386185+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}