Posted By Sarah V Our organisation also has offices in continental Europe (Netherlands, Belgium, Lux, Germany, Poland and Hungary) my predecessor did H&S audits / risk assessments for these offices according to UK law. I would like our system in Europe to be as robust as our system in the UK, but cannot do so without better knowledge of local legislative requirements for H&S in the countries we operate. I have been told about the OSHA.EUROPA website, which is great if I speak Flemish, Dutch, German, Hungarian and Poland – unfortunately I don’t Any help is greatly appreciated – I’m in the dark here and refuse to accept that I must depend on expensive lawyers and that Europe doesn’t have organisations like the HSE that offer free advice to companies that want to do the right thing.

Posted By Jez Corfield Hello Sarah, Ive recently gone through this same painful process, and its a difficult juggling act! There is a great deal of information on the website you mention in multiple languages including English. I have found vehicle repair and construction info in Portugese and Spanish as well as English, so I can compare the information. But this is mainly useful for giving out information, rather than auditing. As for audits, why not look beyond strict UK legislative requirements, and look at sensible management requirements? That way your audits and checks can be linked to standards of good management practice (similar to BS/OHSAS/ISO standards) that work across national boundaries. For me this also means I can apply the same general standard in the UK as well as Europe. Please feel free to drop me a line, happy to chat this through if you like. Jez

Posted By Alan Haynes I meant 'specific countries' not 'companies' Oh for an 'edit' facility

Posted By Jon Dawson09 Sarah If you put in an internet search something like 'health and safety law in xxx country', you will normally pick up that country's equivalent to the HSE or a government website - you may need to select the 'English' button! We have done some work in Portugal and their law is fairly 'voluntary' - all agreed with the unions - but it is enforced by the Police. If there is an accident they just arrest everbody! But an earlier responder was right - if you stick to UK rules you won't go far wrong, as most are our way of meeting the EU Directives. Look out for local bye-laws though. Good luck! Jon