Module Application
Does the organisation fulfil its legal obligations to protect the safety and health of all workers across
all activities, workplaces and levels of management?
Does the organisation identify and manage health and safety risks arising from its working
environment, work equipment, hazardous substances, physical agents and work organisation?
Does the organisation ensure that workers are effectively informed, consulted and equipped to
participate in health and safety matters, and that appropriate arrangements exist to respond to
workplace emergencies and dangerous situations?
Does the organisation provide the additional protections required for workers who are more
vulnerable to workplace risks, including pregnant workers, workers who have recently given birth,
breastfeeding workers and young workers?
Module Scope
The Workplace Health and Safety module addresses the comprehensive regulatory framework
established by the European Union to protect workers from risks to their health, safety and
wellbeing at work. It covers the obligations imposed on employers in relation to health and safety
governance and prevention, worker consultation and emergency preparedness, workplace design
and conditions, work equipment and personal protective equipment, hazardous substances, physical
agents, work organisation and ergonomics, and the protection of vulnerable workers. The module is
designed to provide organisations with a structured approach to understanding and meeting these
obligations as an integrated system across all activities and levels of management.
Regulatory coverage
EU workplace health and safety law is built on a framework directive establishing overarching
employer duties, supplemented by an extensive body of individual directives addressing specific
hazards, workplace types, categories of worker and aspects of work organisation. These instruments
set minimum standards that each Member State is required to implement through national law, and
employers are subject to the national provisions transposing these requirements in each jurisdiction
where they operate. The framework also incorporates EU regulations governing the classification
and labelling of hazardous substances and the management of chemicals across the supply chain,
which apply directly across all Member States. The scope of the framework is broad, extending
across all sectors and sizes of undertaking, with additional requirements triggered by the nature of
specific hazards, work activities or workforce composition.
What the module helps organisations do
The module supports organisations in establishing and maintaining a compliant health and safety
governance framework, including the assignment of accountability, application of prevention
principles, conduct of risk assessments, designation of competent protective and preventive
services, and maintenance of required health surveillance and documentation. It addresses the full
lifecycle of risk management, from identifying hazards before work begins through to reviewing
controls when circumstances change.
The module assists organisations in meeting their obligations to communicate with and involve
workers in health and safety matters, deliver appropriate information and training, coordinate safety
arrangements in multi-employer workplaces, and maintain preparedness for emergencies and
serious danger. It also covers the requirements for recording and reporting occupational accidents
and specified incidents to competent authorities.
In relation to the physical working environment, the module covers minimum requirements for
workplace design, structural conditions, welfare facilities, safety signage and the management of
explosive atmosphere risks, as well as the obligations for selecting, inspecting, maintaining and
controlling work equipment and providing personal protective equipment where residual risks
remain. It addresses the full range of hazardous substance obligations covering chemical agents,
carcinogens, mutagens, reprotoxic substances, asbestos and biological agents, and the management
of physical agent exposure arising from noise, vibration, artificial optical radiation and
electromagnetic fields.
The module further assists organisations in organising work to reduce ergonomic and fatigue-related
risks, including manual handling, display screen equipment workstation requirements and working
time arrangements. It also provides guidance on the additional protections required for pregnant
workers, workers who have recently given birth, breastfeeding workers and young workers,
including risk assessment, prohibited work restrictions, adjusted working conditions and required
employment protections.
Applicability
The module applies to any employer operating in the European Union that has an employment
relationship with workers and holds responsibility for an undertaking or establishment. This includes
natural and legal persons across all sectors, sizes and forms of activity. The obligations extend to
employers responsible for specific workplace types, including construction sites, mineral-extracting
industries and marine vessels, as well as those operating establishments that handle dangerous
substances subject to major accident hazard controls. Employers operating across multiple EU
Member States must comply with the national implementing measures applicable in each
jurisdiction, and compliance in one Member State does not relieve the organisation of its obligations
in others. Workers covered by the module include all persons employed by an employer, including
trainees and apprentices, but excluding domestic servants.
Consequences of non-compliance
Non-compliance with EU workplace health and safety obligations may expose the employer to
enforcement action under the national laws of the Member States in which it operates.
Consequences may include improvement or prohibition notices, administrative penalties, criminal
prosecution, civil claims, compensation liability, restrictions on work activities and increased
regulatory supervision. Across the legislative framework, Member States are required to ensure that
penalties are effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and serious infringements under certain
instruments may attract criminal liability. Where a failure contributes to worker injury, occupational
disease or a major accident, the operational and reputational consequences may be severe.
Employers operating across multiple EU jurisdictions may face differing enforcement processes and
penalty regimes in each Member State.
The Workplace Health and Safety module provides organisations with a structured and
comprehensive framework for understanding and meeting the full range of employer obligations
applicable to worker health and safety within the European Union. By consolidating requirements
spanning governance, prevention, worker engagement, physical conditions, hazardous exposures,
work organisation and vulnerable worker protection into a single coherent resource, the module
supports organisations in achieving and maintaining compliance across an integrated and multilayered
regulatory framework.