title: Health and safety implications of European community 1992 (EC92). Management committee. American Industrial Hygiene Association.
abstract: Progress toward the implementation of a single, common market in Europe is well underway. European-wide standards and regulations are being formulated to remove the physical, fiscal, and technical barriers to the free movement of goods, services, capital, and people among member states. In 1992, the target year for implementation, members of the European Community are attempting to harmonize their health and safety standards so that each nation is on equal footing. The European Community has given high priority to health and safety to the extent that 1992 has been declared the "year of health and safety in the workforce." The EC-rulemaking bodies have developed requirements for significant hazards, including risk communication and risk assessment. Efforts are underway to develop directives addressing exposure limits, product safety, and environmental protection. The result of this ambitious strategy will present substantial opportunities and challenges for the member countries, American companies with EC-based subsidiaries, and any company that sells products in the European market. The end result could have a much farther reaching effect. To emphasize this, I will quote James Tye, president of the British Safety Council, who said, "The European Community will eventually be 700 to 800 million strong as other nations join it. I have no doubt it will be the dominant market in the world, assuredly as far as the field of health and safety is concerned. I also have no doubt that the standards we will be developing in the European Community will be followed by Japan and the United States.
mesh_terms: D005062:European Union; D005858:Germany; D006293:Health Promotion; D016272:Occupational Health; D012955:Societies, Medical; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D017132:Workplace