They aimed, rather, at harmonizing
national provisions on the subject, which often included technical
specifications and self-regulatory standards, resulting in different
levels of safety and healthprotection and permitting competition at
the expense of safety and health. Hence, EU countries are
committed to encouraging improvements in OHS conditions and to
harmonize OHS conditions acrossmember states. Directive 89/391/
EEC is the European OHS framework directive that lays down the
principles for the introduction of measures to encourage
improvements in the safety and health of workers and provides
a framework for specific workplace environments, developed in
individual directives (Matias, Coelho, & Barata, 2008).