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2021 promises to be a special year. We obviously hope that it will be better than 2020 and lead us towards a return to “normal” life. It also marks the 30th birthday of EUROGIP, created as a public interest grouping at the end of 1991 by the CNAM (National occupational risk insurance) and the INRS. The aim was to better understand and participate in the European process that was taking shape in the field of health and safety at work (OSH).
Indeed, two years earlier, the European framework directive (Directive 89/391/EEC) marked a decisive turning point:
- It guarantees minimum OSH conditions across Europe while allowing Member States to maintain or introduce more stringent measures;
- it is the basis for a series of “separate directives” relating to the use or placing on the market of machinery, personal protective equipment, display screens, etc.
At the same time, Europe adopted its “New Approach” (1985) which established a strong complementarity between European directives and standards. The former set essential OSH requirements for placing on the market and using products. The latter propose means to achieve these objectives. They are the result of a consensus between all interested parties. The French occupational risk insurance therefore had a duty to take part in drawing them up in order to defend the imperatives of occupational risk prevention, its primary mission.
It is in this context that EUROGIP was created. Since then, it has been enriched with new missions and activities, always with the same raison d’être: deepening and sharing knowledge on OSH, prevention and insurance of occupational risks, but also exploring the best levers for action, in France and internationally.
