European Union’s Legal Standard on Risk Assessment

The European Union’s (EU’s) standard on Risk Assessment is formally a simple regulation (in the following, “Risk Assessment” refers to this standard as opposed to all other forms of “risk assessment”). It consists of two paragraphs in the EU Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 “on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work” (usually known as the Framework Directive). Article 6.3(a) states that “the employer shall… evaluate the risks to the safety and health of workers!’ And article 9.1(a) adds, “The employer shall be in possession of an assessment of the risks of safety and health at work .”