A proposed EU directive requiring employers to make daily risk assessments on the strength of the sun has left small business groups hot under the collar.

The Forum of Private Businesses (FPB) has called the directive on optical radiation 'unthinkable and absurd' and is lobbying for it to undergo radical amendments.

The proposed directive would require all businesses, regardless of size, to make daily risk assessments on the levels of UV radiation that staff are exposed to by collating complex meteorological data and analysing its effect on employees. From this, an action plan to minimise health and safety risks, such as sunburn or skin cancer, would be devised.

'Most businesses have neither the resources nor the expertise to undertake such scientific analysis,' says the FPB's chief executive Nick Goulding. 'This directive requires an utterly unrealistic degree of technical and medical expertise the vast majority of small owners simply do not have. It would be a nightmare to comply with on top of all other red tape business is being lumbered with.'

'On the strength of their risk assessments, employers will be required to put in place action plans to reduce the danger of over-exposure to a minimum,' advises John Davies, head of business law at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. 'They will also have to provide their staff with information and training on how to minimise the risk to themselves, which could include advice on wearing a hat, covering up bare skin and drinking plenty of water.'

(23/6/05)

See also: Changes in disability discrimination law