Health and safety at work

Your employer’s obligations

Your employer is required to ensure the health and safety of all its workers. This means your employer must, among other requirements, carry out a risk assessment to identify all the risks you might be exposed to and put in place preventive and protective measures.

The detailed requirements for risk assessments may differ from country to country, but will always include identifying, assessing and managing risks, including for workers who are particularly vulnerable. Your employer is required to provide you with health and safety information and training, which covers e.g. first aid, firefighting, or building evacuation measures. As a worker, you and/or your representatives have a right to be consulted on all questions relating to safety and health at work.

In each EU country, workers and/or their representatives can appeal to the authority responsible for safety and health at work if they find that the measures taken are inadequate.

Your obligations as a worker

The details of the rules for workers may differ from country to country, but as a general rule, you are required to take steps to protect your own health and safety while at work as well as the health and safety of other people affected by your actions or omissions. This includes your employer and your colleagues.

You must also follow training and instructions provided by your employer to ensure that the working environment and working conditions specific to your field of work pose no risk to safety and health.

EU and national rules

There is EU legislation on occupational health and safety in many areas, that all EU countries have to apply. For more details of the specific obligations and rights for employers and workers in your country, check the rules from the relevant national authority.