Construction labour, mobility and non-standard employment

The EU encourages flexible work patterns and labour mobility and the European Commission expects net immigration in the coming years. However, a majority of migrant workers are employed in labour-intensive, poorly paid and dangerous 3-D (‘dirty-dangerous-difficult’) jobs. Recruitment takes place in the shady segment of the market, with no commitment to occupational health and safety. The EU internal market endangers thus the health of the people who actually embody the ideals behind this internal market. The EU must prevent labour becoming a simple factor of production at will to deploy, where profit is greatest. Therefore, permanent action in the OSH-field is necessary and wise. As enshrined in the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers the improvement of occupational safety and health has to stay on the EU’s agenda.