How could standardisation improve health and safety conditions for workers working with machines or employed in sectors such as services and nanotechnologies ? This was the question debated by experts from the Spanish trade union movement and the Spanish National Standards Organization on December 11-12, 2009 in Madrid. This ETUI project aims at promoting future collaboration between these two major actors in the field of standardisation.

On the invitation of Japan's National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (JNIOSH), Tony Musu, a researcher at the European Trade Union Institute's (ETUI) health and safety department, was in Japan from 11 to 15 January to participate in seminars on chemical risks. The aim was to disseminate information on REACH, the new European legislation on chemical substances, and to discuss the expected benefits of the new law on the health of workers exposed to hazardous substances.

The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) has just launched HesaMag, a new magazine devoted to occupational health and safety. This twice-yearly publication will replace the Newsletter HESA.
"HesaMag aims to show that occupational health is not just a matter for the specialists, it is equally a question of everyday life and a major political issue", explains Laurent Vogel, the director of the ETUI’s Health and Safety department.

The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) launched the first issue of a sustainable development newsletter at the end of November. Titled Just Transition, the new monthly e-zine reports on what European trade unions are doing to help build a more sustainable society. It puts a special focus on initiatives that combine climate change issues with concerns for jobs and social justice.

This brochure from the ETUI takes stock of trade union participation in European standardization over the twenty years since the Machinery Directive was adopted. Since 1989, the ETUI has helped to develop ways and means by which to give workers an active say in technical standards development.

Does the presence of union officials in a workplace actually help to improve safety and health protection for workers? To try and answer this question, three researchers reviewed the studies done on the matter in Europe. They conclude that having trade union representation leads to better observance of the rules, lower accident rates and fewer work-related health problems. The findings of the study, done under the European EPSARE project, have just been published in an ETUI report.