FPB brands EU sun directive 'absurd'
  
A proposed EU directive which will force bosses to make daily risk assessments on the strength of the sun, is being branded unworkable and absurd by a leading business pressure group.
  
Under the proposed EU Directive on optical radiation, being discussed this week by the European Parliament, all employers with staff working outdoors would be forced to make daily 'risk assessments' of the levels of UV radiation to which their employees could be exposed. This would mean assembling complex meteorological information and analysing its implications for employees.
  
On the basis of this assessment, the employer is then supposed to devise an action plan to minimise the potential health and safety risk to its employees.
  
But the Forum of Private Business (FPB) said business owners would shake their head in disbelief at how they could possibly comply with such technical and scientific red tape.
  
"Most businesses have neither the resources nor, more importantly, the expertise to undertake such scientific analysis,' said the FPB's Chief Executive Nick Goulding. "This directive requires an utterly unrealistic degree of technical and medical expertise that the vast majority of small owners simply do not have. Worryingly it could also open a legal can of worms for employers by creating uncertainty about legal liability in cases of diseases caused by exposure to natural sources of radiation.
  
"Unless the directive is amended and natural sources of radiation, like sunlight, are removed from its scope, it will be impossible for small businesses to comply with its provisions."
  
  
  
Notes
  
  
The FPB's sister organisation, UEAPME which represents small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe , is calling on the European Parliament to return to remove natural sources of radiation from the directive's scope. This would still enable the proposal to cover artificial radiation, such as x-rays and lasers.
  
  
  
FPB BACKGROUND:
  
  
The Forum of Private Business (FPB) was formed in 1977 and is a pressure group fighting on behalf of private businesses. The FPB represents approximately 25,000 UK-based businesses employing in excess of 600,000 people, and is a powerful lobbying voice in both the UK and the European Union.
  
  
The FPB, as the only full UK member of UEAPME - the organisation that represents small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe - is the most prominent advocate of UK SMEs in Brussels and has a track record of positively affecting legislation prior to its introduction in the UK .
  
  
The FPB also provides a range of business services aimed at increasing member efficiency and profitability. Visit  www.fpb.org
  
(24/6/05)