THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 137(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1), submitted after consultation with the Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(2),

Having consulted the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(3), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 8 April 2002,

Whereas:

(1) Under the Treaty the Council may, by means of directives, adopt minimum requirements for encouraging improvements, especially in the working environment, to guarantee a better level of protection of the health and safety of workers. Such 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.

(2) The communication from the Commission concerning its action programme relating to the implementation of the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers provides for the introduction of minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks caused by physical agents. In September 1990 the European Parliament adopted a resolution concerning this action programme(4), inviting the Commission in particular to draw up a specific directive on the risks caused by noise and vibration and by any other physical agent at the workplace.

(3) As a first step, it is considered necessary to introduce measures protecting workers from the risks arising from vibrations owing to their effects on the health and safety of workers, in particular muscular/bone structure, neurological and vascular disorders. These measures are intended not only to ensure the health and safety of each worker on an individual basis, but also to create a minimum basis of protection for all Community workers in order to avoid possible distortions of competition.

(4) This Directive lays down minimum requirements, thus giving Member States the option of maintaining or adopting more favourable provisions for the protection of workers, in particular the fixing of lower values for the daily action value or the daily exposure limit value for vibrations. The implementation of this Directive should not serve to justify any regression in relation to the situation which already prevails in each Member State.

(5) A system of protection against vibration must limit itself to a definition, free of excessive detail, of the objectives to be attained, the principles to be observed and the fundamental values to be used, in order to enable Member States to apply the minimum requirements in an equivalent manner.

(6) The level of exposure to vibration can be more effectively reduced by incorporating preventive measures into the design of work stations and places of work and by selecting work equipment, procedures and methods so as to give priority to reducing the risks at source. Provisions relating to work equipment and methods thus contribute to the protection of the workers involved.

(7) Employers should make adjustments in the light of technical progress and scientific knowledge regarding risks related to exposure to vibration, with a view to improving the safety and health protection of workers.

(8) In the case of sea and air transport, given the current state of the art it is not possible to comply in all circumstances with the exposure limit values for whole-body vibration; provision should therefore be made for duly justified exemptions in some cases.

(9) Since 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 work(5), that Directive therefore applies to the exposure of workers to vibration, without prejudice to more stringent and/or specific provisions contained in this Directive.

(10) This Directive constitutes a practical step towards creating the social dimension of the internal market.

(11) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(6),

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: