From niche to interface:
occupational safety as a cross-cutting issue

At the European level, not only is a lot happening politically, but institutional responsibilities are also shifting noticeably. For a long time, safety and health at work were anchored almost exclusively within the responsibility of the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL). In the meantime, however, there is a clear expansion into other policy areas. Increasingly, topics relevant to occupational safety, and therefore also to statutory accident insurance, are today overseen by other Directorates General.

Whether machinery regulation, sustainability reporting, or the circular economy, regulations concerning occupational and health protection are now being adopted in many policy fields. This development reflects the growing importance of cross-cutting issues. Protecting employees can no longer be viewed in isolation. It is increasingly intertwined with economic, environmental, and competition policy. This becomes especially clear in areas where technical standards, market rules, or sustainability requirements directly shape working reality.

There are also cross-sector EU initiatives that go beyond classic occupational safety but still have a significant impact. These include, for example, the General Data Protection Regulation or European public procurement law. The shift becomes even more evident in the example of European chemicals policy. The planned revision of the REACH Regulation, which governs the registration, authorisation, restriction, and evaluation of chemical substances, has direct implications for preventing workplace hazards. Responsibility for this, however, does not lie with DG EMPL, but with the Directorates General DG ENV (Environment) and DG GROW (Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs).

The influence of European decisions on the work of social insurance institutions is steadily increasing. In practice, this means not only closer interlinking of political responsibilities, but also the need to identify European developments early on, to accompany them actively, and to engage in dialogue with the European Parliament, the European Commission, and other stakeholders, always with the aim of systematically bringing in the perspective of social insurance.

The institutional shift makes one thing clear: occupational safety is no longer just a social policy concern, but also an economic and environmental cross-cutting issue. For German social insurance, this creates new opportunities for shaping policy. At the same time, however, this development requires strategic positioning at the interfaces of European policymaking, as well as continuous monitoring and assessment of legislative initiatives across departmental boundaries.