EU : no-fault liability is not the only way, according to ECJ, to ensure the effective character of the employer’s responsibility for health and safety

The directive defines the scope of responsibility and not the nature of the responsibility.  For the CJEC the directive defines the scope of responsibility but does not define the nature or the forms of the employer’s responsibility. The Member Sates are therefore free to define the type of responsibility they wish to impose provided that their choice does not compromise the achievement of the objectives of the directive, notably by restricting the scope of the employer’s responsibility. In the case, the judges esteem that the Commission has not shown in what way the British clause “can affect the extent of the employer’s general duty to ensure safety resulting from the directive” and that it has not succeeded in demonstrating that the only way to ensure the effective character of the directive is to impose no-fault liability on the employer.  
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imitation of responsibility” is contrary to directive 89/391 on the implementation of measures to promote the improvement of the health and safety of employees in the workplace.

The “health and safety” directive does not impose a no-fault liability on the employer. The European Commission maintains that article 5 § 1 of directive 89/391, which stipulates “that the employer is responsible for ensuring the health and safety of workers in all work-related aspects” implies “that the employer remai

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