SOCIAL POLICY: AGENCY FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK ADOPTS WORK PROGRAMME FOR 1999.

Summary: The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, based in Bilbao, plans to publish its first annual report on the state of occupational safety and health in the EU Member States next year, according to the work programme recently adopted by the organisation's Administrative Board. The report will cover both research into risk prevention at work and good practice in preventing those risks. The Agency also proposes to extend its information network in 1999 via the Internet, at both the international and the national level.

Agency Director, Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, believes the programme demonstrates that two years after its creation, the Bilbao Agency is now fully up and running. The 1999 report is intended as a first step towards the establishment of a permanent system for monitoring health and safety at work. In addition to this annual report, the Agency will also publish sectoral documents focusing on such topics as stress at work and the...