Safety and health at work: exposure of workers to mechanical vibrations

Following an exchange of letters, the Conciliation Committee reached agreement on a joint text for the directive. The main points of this agreement can be summarised as follows: - the directive has to be transposed by the Member States by 2005 and they may, after consultation of the social partners, apply a maximum derogation period up until 2010 for machines given to workers before 2007; for forestry and agriculture machinery a longer derogation period will be permitted (until 2014); - the European Parliament and the Council commit themselves to continue examining the draft directives on exposure of workers to other physical agents: noise, optical radiation and electromagnetic fields and waves; - maximum daily exposure limit values and daily exposure action values for whole-body vibration are fixed at 1,15 m/s2 and 0,5 m/s2 respectively (standardised to an eight-hour reference period); - a provision for vibration-reducing handles has been added to the text of the directive, which is important for the reduction of vibration transmitted to the hand-arm system. - employers shall have to be provided with information on health surveillance taking into account any medical confidentiality; - the Member States' reports to the European Commission on the implementation of the directive shall contain a description of best practices for preventing vibrations and other forms of work organisation and action taken by the Member States on the basis of these practices. On the basis of the Member States' reports, the Commission shall carry out an overall assessment of the implementation of the directive. �