Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-12-Speech-2-166"
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"en.20020312.8.2-166"2
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".
Mr President, I should like, first, to congratulate Mrs Thorning-Schmidt, because she has dealt with what is, both technically and politically, a very difficult issue. Just how difficult this issue is can be seen from the fact that the amended proposal has been pending before the Council since 1994 and the first part of the proposal on mechanical vibration is only now ready for discussion by the joint legislators. We put health and safety at the top of the social agenda and we have undertaken to improve protection for workers' health and safety by bringing the directive which already exists – 86/188 – into line with Framework Directive 89/391 and updating some of its provisions.
I should like to point out that some of the proposals we have heard take us behind the current framework and the specific directive which already exists. Loss of hearing is clearly the most widely-known harmful effect of noise. It is the most serious, but not the only effect. And as far as compensation for workers who have suffered the consequences of occupational illnesses are concerned, one-third concerns hearing problems.
In five countries in which studies have been carried out – Holland, Portugal, Spain, France and Germany – compensation for hearing problems costs EUR 96 billion a year. The Commission has accepted the Council's common position in that it enhances the level of protection set out in the Commission proposal. The reduction in the exposure limit value from 96 db to 87 db is clearly good progress.
The Commission fully accepts Amendments Nos 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 20 and 22, which improve the quality of the text and clarify its meaning. The Commission partly accepts Amendments Nos 4, 15, 16 and 19 and rejects Amendments Nos 3, 5, 13 and 21, together with Amendments Nos 23 and 25. Although I agree with the idea behind Amendment No 3, the second part of Amendment No 4, Amendment No 5, Amendment No 13 and the second part of Amendment No 16, the Commission cannot accept them for reasons of consistency and legislative procedure. The Commission also rejects Amendment No 21, because it feels that the manner in which the Member States obtain access to the relevant medical and scientific advice is a question of subsidiarity.
Finally on the question of compromise Amendments Nos 23 and 25, which temporarily exclude music and entertainment from the scope of the proposal, the Commission is strongly opposed to this derogation because there is no scientific justification for it. Applying health and safety measures to the music market will affect 3 to 5 million workers in Europe. Factory noise has been compared with the noise from music or concerts. I think the figures speak for themselves. Musicians constantly performing in concert are continually exposed to noise levels as high as 130 db. Constant exposure to this noise gradually gives them problems with their hearing, without which they cannot do their job. I should also like to remind the House that HINDREC, the European Association of Industry, Hotels and Restaurants, agrees with the proposal currently on the table. And there is another statistic I should like to give you: the noise level in small pubs is in the order of 75 db, that is, well below the limit value of 90 already set.
Finally to ear protection available on the market. If you surf the Internet you will see all these new aids, which are very different from standard ear muffs. Basically what they do is to reduce the sound to which each worker is exposed to a level set by the worker, so that they can do their job without suffering this gradual deterioration in their hearing.
Finally, I should like to remind the House that there are another two physical agents in the workplace, optical radiation and electromagnetic fields, and that we need to start work on the next two directives, which are also very important and affect large numbers of workers."@en1
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