Home page > News> EP fleshes out rules for public health and health and safety at work statistics
News
EP fleshes out rules for public health and health and safety at work statistics
19/11/2007
In Strasbourg on Tuesday 13 November in first reading under the codecision procedure, the European Parliament adopted a slightly amended report by Austrian Socialist Karin Scheele on the draft regulation of the EP and Council on EU public health and health and safety at work statistics. The proposal makes a substantial contribution to improving the collection and processing of EU statistics in this field, covering essential aspects like data protection and funding. Its aims are clearly defined and connected with various efforts undertaken by the EU in health and social affairs.
Supporting amendments tabled by the ALDE group, the European Parliament is calling for: 1) additional funding to be provided for the collection of health and safety statistics under the EC employment and solidarity programme PROGRESS. The EP wants financial aid to help member states strengthen their national capacities in order to improve and implement new data collection tools; and 2) the production of EC statistics should respect impartiality, reliability, objectivity and efficiency standards in terms of the cost and confidentiality of the data. The EP believes: a) universal access to healthcare is essential to help ensure the health and lifespans of the population in the countries concerned; and b) it is essential that all information on definitions and statistical methods be used in order to limit the information burden on the member states. The experience of organisations like the European Agency for Health and Security at Work should be used when it comes to collecting health and safety data.
The EP says it is also essential to have statistics on healthcare and rapidly evolving diseases that take account of variables like gender, age and the professional status of the people suffering from the diseases in question. The EP wants statistics to be collected on accidents and wounds, including consumer safety data, and information on the damage wreaked by alcohol and drugs. The amendment was adopted by 392 to 254 with 11 abstentions.
