Non - binding guide to good practice with a view to implementation of Directive 2002/ 44/ EC on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibrations) / European Commission

To create more jobs has always been an objective of the European Union. This objective was formally adopted by the Council at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 and it is one of the key elements to enhance the quality of work. Adoption of legislative measures is part of the commitment to include health and safety of workers at work in the global approach to well-being at work. In this framework, the European Commission combines a variety of instruments to consolidate a real culture of risk prevention. This guide of good practice is one of those instruments. Directive 2002/ 44/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibration) seeks to introduce, at Community level minimum protection requirements for workers when they are exposed, in the course of their work, to risks arising from vibration. Directive 2002/ 44/ EC gives 'exposure limit values' and 'exposure action values'. It also specifies employers' obligations with regard to determining and assessing risks, sets out the measures to be taken to reduce or avoid exposure and details how to provide information and training for workers. Any employer who intends to carry out work involving risks arising from exposure to vibration must implement a series of protection measures before and during the work.