E. Safety and health protection
This provision concerns both night workers and shift workers and requires Member States to ensure appropriate protection of their health and safety and the availability at all times of protection and prevention services or facilities equivalent to those applicable to other workers. The first indent requires that workers who carry out night and shift work benefit from appropriate measures tailored to the nature of their work. Recital 7 points to the fact that ‘the human body is more sensitive at night to environmental disturbances and also to certain burdensome forms of work organisation’. The Commission’s proposal also stated that the aim was to take into account ‘the more demanding nature of these forms of work and the problems which usually occur when shift work cycles change’ (362). In this light, Article 12 means that the protection granted to the workers should take account both of the fact that the workers carry out night or shift work, and of the conditions in which they carry out their work. As to what protective measures could be taken, the Commission’s Explanatory Memorandum gave the example of scheduling rest periods and breaks246, but the Directive does not specify. The Court has interpreted Article 12 first indent by referring to Recital 6 (363). With regard to the organisation of working time, in particular of night work, account should be taken of the principles of the International Labour Organisation, according to which compensation for night workers in the form of working time, pay or similar benefits must recognise the nature of night work (364). The Court has held that pursuant to Article 12 first indent night workers must benefit from protective measures regulating working hours, remuneration, allowances or similar benefits, to compensate for the particular hardship involved in the work they carry out (365). However, a provision of a collective agreement which provides for a higher supplementary allowance for irregular night work than that established for regular night work is not within scope of the Directive (366). The second indent can be linked to Recital 10, which states that ‘the organisation and functioning of protection and prevention services and resources should be efficient’. The methods that Member States adopt to fulfil their obligations may be linked to those set out in Article 5 of ILO Convention 171, which states: ‘Suitable first-aid facilities shall be made available for workers performing night work, including arrangements whereby such workers, where necessary, can be taken quickly to a place where appropriate treatment can be provided.’ However, the Directive is broader, since it not only covers protection but also refers to prevention services and facilities. The exact extent of the requirements will depend on the protection and prevention facilities established for day-work in the Member States and other EU directives on the safety and health of workers (367).
Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.