(19) This Directive applies without prejudice to Community legislation laying down minimum requirements for the protection of workers contained in Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work and in individual directives based thereon, in particular Council Directive 90/394/EEC of 28 June 1990 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work and Council Directive 98/24/EC of 7 April 1998 on protection of health and safety of workers from the risk related to chemical agents at work ,

(a) no employer requires a worker to work more than 48 hours over a seven-day period, calculated as an average for the reference period referred to in Article 16(b), unless he has first obtained the worker's agreement to perform such work.

And the most recent Directive, Directive 2001/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2001 amending Council Directive 89/655/EEC concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work, refers in one of its recitals to self-employed workers, pointing out that when they personally use work equipment they may put the health and safety of employed workers at risk, as if the self-employed worker were considered a risk factor not deserving of protection from the same risks, as if they were not considered truly a worker.

(9a) Council Directive 92/57/EEC of 24 June 1992 on the implementation of minimum safety and health requirements at temporary or mobile construction sites 1 , provides for the extension to self-employed workers and to employers, where they are engaged in work activity, of certain relevant provisions of Council Directive 89/655/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work 2 and of Council Directive 89/656/EEC of 30 November 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use by workers of personal protective equipment at the workplace 3 .

For example, a frontier worker employed in one Member State but living with his family in another State cannot be required to pay more tax than a person living and working in the State of employment, where that worker's main family income comes from the State of employment [109].

Relevant directives thus adopted relate to risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work[7], risks related to chemical agents at work[8], the use of work equipment by workers at work[9], the use of personal protective equipment at the workplace[10] and safety and health protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres.[11]