The Advisory Committee for Safety and Health at Work (ACSH) assists the Commission in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of activities in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) and facilitates cooperation between national administrations, trade unions and employers' organisations.

The Committee is a tripartite body set up in 2003 by a Council Decision (2003/C 218/01). It took on the tasks of the former Advisory Committee on Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work as well as the Safety and Health Commission for the Mining and Other Extractive Industries.

More specifically, the ACSH supports the Commission by:

• Giving opinions on EU initiatives in the area of OSH (e.g. draft proposals for new legislation,  EU programmes/strategies, and any other EU initiatives having an impact on OSH policy)
• Contributing pro-actively to identifying OSH policy priorities and to establishing relevant programmes and strategies
• Encouraging the exchange of views and experiences between Member States and stakeholders, connecting the EU and national levels.

Structure and Members

The ACSH is composed of

• three full members per Member State, representing national governments, trade unions and employers' organisations.
• two alternate members are appointed for each full member. Council Decision 2016/C 79/1 provides the latest overview of appointed full members and alternate members of the ACSH.
• three Interest Groups representing national governments, trade unions and employers’ organisations, respectively. Each interest group selects one of its members to be its spokesperson and designates a coordinator.
• a Bureau that organises the Committee's activities, composed of two representatives of the Commission and the spokespersons and coordinators designated by the interest groups.
• a number of Working Parties (WPs) established by the Committee to deal with specific technical issues and to prepare draft opinions for adoption by the ACSH

Operation and Meetings  

The functioning of the ACSH, including the organisation of Committee meetings, its decision-making procedures, internal organisation, work programme and other practical arrangements are described in the ACSH Rules of Procedure.

The ACSH adopted in November 2021 its Action Programme for the period 2021-2027. This document is being revised on an annual basis, in order to take account of the progress of the activities planned and of new projects with which the Committee could be involved in the future.

The Committee reports on its tasks and activities in annual activity reports, prepared by the Bureau and discussed and adopted by the Committee.

The Committee meets twice a year in the ACSH plenary meeting. Separate meetings by the Bureau, Interest Groups and Working Parties take place on a regular basis throughout the year.

Documents

For access to the official ACSH documents see the ACSH document library.

Click on the links below to access specific documents directly:

• Adopted ACSH opinions
• Minutes of Plenary meetings
• Minutes of Bureau meetings