European Working Time Directive

Maxwell AJ, Crocker M, Jones TL, Bhagawati D, Papadopoulos MC, Bell BA. Implementation of the European working time directive in neurosurgery reduces continuity of care and training opportunities. Eur J Neurosurg 2010 152 1207-10. 

European Union, Council Directive No. 93/104/EC concerning certain aspects of working time (Working time directive), EU, Luxembourg (1993)... 

Thirty consecutive 12 hour days would obviously be exhausting. In the European Union it would also be illegal under the Working Time Directive, enacted in 2003. 

Six new sets of health and safety at work regulations came into force on 1 January 1993. The new regulations implement European Community (EC) directives on health and safety at work in the move towards a single European Union. At the same time they are part of a continuing modernisation of existing UK law. 

David M. Haddleton is a professor of chemistry at the Univeisity ofWarwicl UK which he joined in 1993 following 6 years atiCI. His PhD was in photochemistry of rhodium ethene compounds at very low temperatures (<20K) with Robin Perutz at York. He is an ex-editor-in-chief of European Polymer Journal and is currently lrtor-in-chief of the RSC Journal Polymer Chemistry. His research centers on controlled polymerization to give maaomol iiles of design / desired, and taigeted structure. Work is directed to the synthesis of polymeis one monomer at a time in an attempt to approach the d r> of sophistication exhibited by natural polymeis. An overriding aspect of all the work is the desire to produce polymers by commercially accessible processes for biosdences and materials applications. 

As a consequence of EU Directive 78/142/EEC, which introduced a limitation of vinyl chloride monomer both as residual amount in final articles (QM lmg/kg) intended to come into contact with foodstuffs and in migration to food (SML not detectable LOD 0.01 mg/kg), the corresponding necessary analytical methods were developed between several European expert laboratories and laid down as agreed methods in EU Directives 80/766/EEC and 81/432/EEC, respectively. This piece of the EU harmonization process was too time- and work-consuming to continue in this way. The vinyl chloride Directives therefore remain a unique feature in EU food packaging legislation since this was found to be impractical for generalization. 

It is interesting to note that the direct method of nitration was attempted in Europe as well as in the U.S.A. (Barksdale Plant), long before the Canadian and Keystone Ordnance Works trials indicated the great benefits derived from this process. However, the early European experimentation indicated that the method was unsafe and that it was difficult to control the important temperature and time factors. It seems highly probable that the difficulties encountered were due lo improper feeding of toluene or MNT or DNT to the acid in the nitrator, poor agitation, inefficient cooling and the use of incorrect acid compositions. 

Since the first European Directive on medicinal products was published in 1965, a lot of work has been done to harmonise the authorisation of medicinal products across the European Union (EU). At the time of writing (early 2007) the most recent legislation is Directive 2001/83 implemented in October 2005. 

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