Achieving Successful H&S Regulation

EU ‘social dialogue’ allows self-regulation of employer-employee matters on a host of work-related issues.The industrial minerals business can benefit from this but, argues Ursula Schliessner of Brussels legal firm McKenna, Long & Aldridge, must be willing to come to the table.

Social dialogue involves negotiating with unions and, therefore, causes fear within the industrial sector. This article describes the mechanisms of social dialogue at European Union (EU) level and its unique position in the EC Treaty, allowing for self-regulation by the social partners.

In the past, social partners have used their regulatory competencies only in traditional employer-worker relations, ie. organisation of working time and workers’ representation. There is now increased momentum and willingness to extend self-regulation to health and safety (H&S) issues. In the future, the mineral industry may be able to replace unpractical general H&S legislation with more sector-specific tailored