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The awards will provide the winners with European recognition for their role in improving working conditions in Europe. In addition:
- Awarded enterprises/organisations will be invited to the closing event and award ceremony of the European Week for Safety and Health at Work 2003 which takes place in Bilbao towards the end of 2003.
- The selected examples will be presented in an Agency brochure to be widely distributed across Europe and presented on the Agency’s website.

Good practice examples are implemented solutions to prevent the exposure of workers to dangerous substances. All entries should show good management, particularly the effective use of risk assessment and implementation of its findings, and be focused on ‘successful prevention of risks to workers from dangerous substances’. They could be examples of successful initiatives to eliminate, substitute or reduce worker exposure to dangerous substances or examples of effective methods of communicating safety and health information on dangerous substances to those that are handling them at the workplace.

The Director of the European Agency, Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, said

‘Dangerous substances are encountered in many workplaces, often on a daily basis, and contribute significantly to the 350 million days lost through occupational ill health in the EU. In many cases, there are safer alternatives available, so that the use of dangerous substance is no longer required, or the process itself can be changed, so there is no longer any exposure. The good practice awards aim to demonstrate, by example, to all European employers and workers the benefits of following good safety and health practices to prevent risks from dangerous substances at work’

Further information

Further information on the good practice awards can be found at http://osha.eu.int/ew2003/gp.htm