On behalf of the EUROSHNET Steering Committee, it is my great pleasure to invite you to participate in the 3^rd European Conference on standardization, testing and certification – Safer products for competitive workplaces to be held in Cracow on 11-12 September 2008. The conference is organized by the European Occupational Safety and Health Network – EUROSHNET.

The conference is aimed at market participants and other stakeholders, in particular those involved in occupational safety and health (national authorities, accident insurance institutions, social partners, users of products, etc.). It will most certainly provide an excellent opportunity to pool views and to review the experience gained to date with the New Approach.

More than 20 years after the adoption of the New Approach, the European Commission has initiated its revision, in order to improve the effectiveness of the Single Market and to promote simplification and enhance regulation. Amendments are related in particular to the obligations of market players, the evaluation of the competence of notified bodies, safeguard clause procedures, conformity assessment procedures, conformity marking, and market surveillance issues.

All these changes have far-reaching implications. They concern the market surveillance authorities in the Member States, accreditation bodies, conformity assessment bodies and testing laboratories, and also the manufacturers of products and the European standards organizations.

The possible impact of the new developments upon the safety and competitiveness of workplaces in the European Union is to be analysed. The key questions to be answered will be whether the new developments can help to overcome the remaining imperfections of the system, and whether they respond to the need for improvement identified by OSH experts in the fields of standardization, testing, certification and related research.

I am firmly convinced that with your support and cooperation we are fully capable of making the 3^rd European Conference in Cracow one of the most successful events in the history of EUROSHNET.

I look forward to seeing you all in Cracow.



Prof. Danuta Koradecka
Director of CIOP-PIB