HSE and Europe

The UK joined European Economic Community (EEC) at the beginning of 1973, which became the European Union (EU) in 1992.

People across HSE work with various international bodies on occupational health and safety law (OSH). In the European Union these include the following:

• Directorates General of the Commission
• European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
• Eurostat
• European Committee for Standardisation

Dedicated teams in HSE's policy, technical and operational divisions are responsible for negotiating and implementing specific Directives, Standards and Conventions, via domestic legislation. HSE's International Branch takes an overview of this work, with a wide range of responsibilities.