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

The committee adopted the report by Helle THORNING-SCHMIDT (PES, DK) amending the Council's common position under the codecision procedure (2nd reading). As regards whole-body vibration, the committee was in favour of limit and action values corresponding to ISO standards which would represent a lower threshold than the values being proposed by the Council. The committee also felt that the transitional arrangements planned by the Council were too long. In the light of technical developments, MEPs were convinced that a five-year transition period would be sufficient for companies to replace their tools and machinery, although within the agricultural and forestry sector a further extension of two years (rather than three years as proposed by the Council) could be permitted. The committee also said that the final decision on the use of derogations should be taken by Member States after consulting the two sides of industry.�