tenders and grants

partnership

2. Purpose of the call
As part of its efforts to develop and disseminate effective good practice examples, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work is inviting applications with a view to co-financing about 40-50 projects which could significantly contribute to the reduction of health and safety risks in SMEs. Projects can either be submitted by SMEs themselves or be aimed at SMEs' specific needs.
The overall objective is to identify, communicate and support activities and projects with effective added value that will enhance SMEs' knowledge and capacity to combat safety and health risks.
The objectives are:
- to put into practice the general principle that SMEs require special attention and support in their efforts to combat health and safety risks and to demonstrate that a small business initiative can be of value and be cost-efficiently organised,
- to foster a more preventive approach with regard to occupational health and safety issues, including gender specific health risks, as called for by the Council in its Resolution of 3 June 2002 on the new Community strategy on health and safety at work (2002-2006), to demonstrate to SMEs that ‘good safety and health is good business’,
- to contribute to reducing the number of work related accidents in SMEs and improving work related health,
- to facilitate the exchange of effective good practices across Europe,
- to promote the development of effective risk assessment and prevention practice as embodied in safety and health directives,
- to prepare a specific multi-annual programme promoting high levels of health and safety at work in SMEs.

3. Overall amount available for this call for proposals:EUR 3,7 million.
4. Maximum and minimum grant amounts
The principle of co-financing applies. This means that the grants will fund only part of the total eligible cost of the projects.
The Agency's co-financing will be:
- Up to a maximum of 60 % of the total eligible cost of a ‘National project’ with grants ranging from EUR 25 000 up to a maximum of EUR 100 000.
- Up to a maximum of 80 % of the total eligible cost of a ‘European/Transnational project’ with grants ranging from EUR 50 000 up to a maximum of EUR 200 000.

5. Types of eligible project activities
5.1. The thr ee following types of act ivi ti e s ar e eligible:
(a) Training activities related to the reduction of safety and health risks in SMEs
Project activities that will be considered under this category include training activities and different methods of training at all levels (including vocational training, training of trainers), targeted at SMEs. Training activities should in particular focus on the owners and managers, workers and health and safety representatives, working in SMEs and should be aimed at enabling them to effectively manage and face occupational safety and health challenges.
Preference will be given to training activities embedded in an overall safety and health management plan rather than to single training courses.
(b) Information and communication on safety and health risks and preventive measures aimed at SMEs
This category covers activities aimed at:
- improving access to occupational safety and health information on good practices,
- encouraging participation of workers and/or their representatives in occupational safety and health,
- communicating the occupational safety and health message to SMEs (for example, through awarenessraising campaigns, the provision of OSH management concepts and tools for SMEs, and encouraging the development of SME networks to share ideas and experiences).
(c) Provision of effective good practices that reduce safety and health risks in SMEs
The projects must be related to innovative good practices that make a significant contribution to the improvement of safety and health in the working environment of SMEs (such as special risk assessment and evaluation activities, safety audits in the workplace, the implementation of controls — preferably sector or risk-specific).
5.2. Exclusions
Research projects, conferences, capital purchases, development of safety devices as well as actions already completed, or which will not be completed by 30 September 2004, are not eligible.

6. Eligibility of applicants
Any natural person or association of natural persons, any corporate body (institution, association, enterprise, etc.), legally constituted and registered under the legislation of one of the Member States of the European Union, may submit proposals.
The wide range of potential applicants includes:
- enterprises, in particular SMEs,
- local, regional, national, European organisations and bodies,
- social partners (employer organisations, trade unions),
- sector organisations, voluntary organisations,
- occupational insurance organisations,
- preventive services,
- professional bodies, trade organisations and guilds, chambers of commerce and industry.
Eligible applicants are invited to submit proposals, individually or preferably in partnership.
Commercial enterprises may only submit proposals for projects where the immediate objective is non-commercial and strictly non-profit.

7. Level of project organisation
7.1. National projects:
Proposals submitted by one or several applicants belonging to a single Member State of the European Union will be considered as ‘National projects’.
Projects may be either national, regional or local level, and may also be sector and company based.
Where two or more organisations want to submit a joint proposal, one of them must be designated as the Agency's potential contractual partner. Each of the different partners participating in the project must have specific roles and tasks which must be clearly described in the grant application, and must sign a letter of intent.
7.2. European/Transnational projects:
A project will be regarded as falling into this category if organised by at least two applicants based in different Member States of the European Union.
A project leader must be appointed as the Agency's potential contractual partner. Each of the different partners participating in a European/Transnational project should have specific roles and tasks which must be clearly indicated in the grant application. Each partner must sign a letter of intent to be attached to the grant application.

8. Duration of the projects
The proposed starting dates of projects for which a Community grant is requested under this call must not be earlier than 1 September 2003.
A final detailed activity report on the results of the project together with the final financial statements and a request for final payment, must reach the Agency no later than 30 September 2004.

9. Eligibility criteria
In order to be eligible, applications must:
1. meet those conditions set out in Point 13 (‘Submission of applications’) and Point 14 (‘deadlines for applications’) regarding forms, signature, number of copies, deadlines; etc.
2. include a detailed balanced budget and detailed action plans. Applications lacking an adequate project description or a balanced budget (income and expenditure) will be considered incomplete and will therefore not be eligible.

10. Selection criteria and priorities
Applications that comply with the eligibility criteria will be assessed under a number of selection criteria and certain priorities, as follows:
10.1. Selection criteria
Projects must fulfil all of the following selection criteria:
(a) Facilitate the provision and/or dissemination of effective good practices aimed at reducing safety and health risks at the workplace in SMEs that meet the relevant requirements established by the European directives, national legislation and practice;
(b) Demonstrate significant added value;
(c) Demonstrate that the project outcomes could be transferable to other enterprises, sectors, countries (e.g., the ability to make the results known and available to others);
(d) Be sustainable (i.e., demonstrate the potential lasting effect);
(e) Demonstrate feasibility and coherence as well as a sound management approach and clear plans to disseminate project outcomes (i.e., clarity and feasibility of objectives, commitment and balanced involvement of all parties, precise work plans and budget, quality of the proposal for monitoring and evaluation of the project, experience of the applicants, cost-effectiveness of the proposal, measures and resources for the dissemination of the project outcomes, etc.).
10.2. Priorities
When making the final selection, priority will be given to:
(a) Projects with a special focus on micro businesses (up to 10 employees) and small enterprises (up to 50 employees);
(b) Partnership projects (involving several organisations);
(c) Projects with effective participation of the workforce or involving social partners, and tripartite projects (dialogue/co-operation of public authorities with social partners);
(d) Action-oriented projects which go beyond the mere production of information material;
(e) Projects targeting priority risks, high risk sectors or new risks;
(f) Projects making a significant contribution to health and safety management;
(g) Projects aiming to initiate or develop SME business networks in the pooling of ideas and experience and the fostering of exchange of good practice, in particular on risk assessment and the prevention of health and safety risks in the workplace;
(h) Projects with a special focus on gender-specific health and safety issues;
(i) Projects targeting the concerns of disabled people.

11. Financial conditions for the granting of funding
The applicants must ensure co-funding of the selected projects and keep specific detailed accounts for the project in question, including co-funding details. On completion of the project, the grant holder will have to submit a certified statement of expenditure and revenue arising from the project.
The budget must not include any expenses that pre-date or post-date the indicated project duration. Eligible costs and indirect costs are those given in the specifications attached to the standard application for funding.
Applicants must give evidence of their financial and technical capacity to complete the projects to be supported. Selected applicants should be prepared to provide a bank guarantee covering the first grant instalment at the Agency's request.

12. Acknowledgement and publicity: a mandatory specification
The grant holders will be under a contractual obligation to acknowledge and publicise by all appropriate means, and in accordance with the conditions laid down in the grant agreement, that the project has received funding support from the Agency.
Failure to fully respect this rule will lead to repayment of the grant upon request by the Agency.

13. Submission of applications
The grant applications may be submitted in any one of the 11 official languages of the European Union. However, it would be of assistance if they were submitted in English and if the project activities described in the application (Part II of the form) could be in English. Nevertheless, all applications in whatever official language of the European Union, will be treated equally during the selection procedure.
To be eligible, applications must be submitted using the standard application form completed in accordance with the terms of this call for proposals and the ‘guidelines for applicants’. The format and instructions provided must be strictly observed.
Applications must be submitted in triplicate on paper within the deadlines set below (Point 14).
Applications must be signed by the project leader and duly accompanied by the letters of intent of the partners, in case of partnership projects. Each application must include one signed original and two copies.
In addition, the Agency would be grateful if the applicants would also provide a copy on a floppy disk or CD ROM. The Agency would encourage you to do so to facilitate the handling of the applications.
Applicants intending to submit several projects must complete a separate application form for each.

14. Deadline for applications
Applications must be submitted under the reference ‘OSHA/SME/2003’ to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao):
(a) either by registered mail, posted no later than:
- 23 June 2003 (postmark) for the national project proposals,
- 30 June 2003 (postmark) for the European/ Transnational project proposals;
(b) or by delivery (in person by an authorised representative or private courier service) to the Agency's reception (1st floor) no later than 16.00, Bilbao local time, on:
- 23 June 2003 (delivery date in Bilbao) for the national project proposals,
- 30 June 2003 (delivery date in Bilbao) for the European/Transnational project proposals.
In this case, a receipt must be obtained as proof of submission, signed, dated and stamped by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. Applications received within the deadline but only by e mail or fax will be rejected.

15. Detailed information
Detailed information concerning this call for proposals is contained in the Guidelines for applicants published at the same time on the Agency's website http://agency.osha.eu.int/sme2003/
The standard application form can also be obtained from the same website.
Any question regarding this call for proposals should be sent by e-mail (including the publication reference OSHA/SME/2003) to sme2003@osha.eu.int or by fax (34-94) 479 43 83. The Agency will publish the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) and the corresponding replies on the above website, and all applicants are encouraged to consult it regularly up until the deadline.