legislation-profile

Safety and/or Health Signs at Work Directive

EU Directive 92/58/EEC on the minimum requirements for the provision of safety and/or health signs at work. OJ, L 245, p. 23, 26 August 1992, as amended through OJ, L 65, p. 1, 5 March 2014

Scope

The Directive lays down minimum requirements for the provision of safety and/or health signs in the workplace. It requires employers to provide or ensure that safety and/or health signs are in place where hazards cannot be avoided or reduced. The technical specifications* are laid down in the Annexes to the directive. Strictly technical amendments to the Annexes can be made in order to take account of technical harmonisation and standardisation concerning the design and manufacture of safety and/or health signs or devices at work, as well as technical progress, changes in international regulations or specifications and advances in knowledge in the field of safety and/or health signs or devices at work. *These are adapted to reflect changes to related directives and technical progress in the field of health and safety signs at work.

Exemptions

Article 1(2): This Directive shall not apply to signs for the placing on the market of hazardous substances and mixtures, products and/or equipment, unless other Union provisions make specific reference thereto. Article 1(3): This Directive shall not apply to signs used for regulating road, rail, inland waterway, sea or air transport. See also Article 3(2). Art. 6(1): Taking account of the types of activity and/or size of the undertakings concerned, Member States may specify categories of undertakings allowed to replace totally, partially or temporarily the illuminated signs, and/or acoustic signals by alternative measures which afford the same level of protection. Art. 6(2): Member States may derogate, after consulting both sides of industry, from the application of Annex VIII, section 2 and/or Annex IX, section 3, whilst laying down alternative measures guaranteeing the same level of protection.

Regulatory activities

Employers shall provide safety and/or health signs where hazards cannot be avoided or adequately reduced by techniques for collective protection or measures, methods or procedures used in the organization of work, or ensure that such signs are in place (Art. 3). Safety and/or health signs at work (used at work for the first time or already in use) must fulfil the minimum requirements set out in Annexes I to IX (Art. 4 and 5). Workers and/or their representatives shall be informed of all the measures to be taken concerning the safety and/or health signs used at work (Art. 7). Consultation and participation of workers and/or their representatives shall take place in accordance with Article 11 of Directive 89/391/EEC on the matters covered by the Directive, including Annexes I to IX (Art. 8).

Relevant product types

Not applicable

Reference documents

Throughout the legal text: 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 In relation to it being the OSH framework Directive Annex II: Council Directive 89/654/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace (first individual directive within the meaning of Article 16 (1) of Directive 89/391/EEC) In relation to the use of phosphorescent colours, reflective materials or artificial lighting should be used where the level of natural light is poor. Annex III: Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures In relation to labelling of containers used at work for chemical substances or mixtures classified as hazardous, containers used for the storage of such hazardous substances or mixtures, and visible pipes containing or transporting such hazardous substances and mixtures

Obligations based on CLP hazard class

Not applicable

Obligations based on properties of concerns

Not applicable

EU-level occupational exposure limits

Not applicable

EU-level emission limit values

No provision

Substance-centric data source(s) at the EU level

Not applicable

Industry submission system in place

Not applicable

Format for industry submission

Not applicable

Owner

DG EMPL

Update process

Not applicable

Amendments

Directive 2007/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council Text with EEA relevance of 20 June 2007 Directive 2014/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 Regulation (EU) 2019/1243 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019