A large part of our lives is spent at work. Most people recognize the importance of actively try to enjoy their leisure time but all too often, people tend to see work as something they just have to put up with. This is also due to the fact that debating about quality of working life makes little sense unless there is little or no risk of redundancy and dismissal.
Staff working at the Commission can count on a relatively secure type of employment, but stability, opportunities for career and even reasonably high salaries are not enough to make people happy with their work.
Therefore, in recent years some attempts have been made trying to assess what can make us feel better at work. Unfortunately, quality of working life usually can be measured only in the negative. People feel bad in uncomfortable environment, but hardly notice improvements or absence of disruptions.
One good example is noise. Noisy working areas are notoriously bad, because people cannot concentrate, get headaches and in the most extreme conditions might even get permanent damage in their ears. On the other hand, people working in a quiet environment do not feel particularly happy. They just do not feel bothered by excessive noise. The same apply to cleanliness, lighting, heating and quality of air.
However, regardless of one’s personal taste there are some aspects of working life which are regulated by laws and are important for each and every one of us, namely:
- the physical working environment (building and office space), and
- safety and security.
Building and working space
Since the Commission occupies a large number of buildings, working conditions can vary enormously even for staff of the same grade and seniority. Office space in new building such as the Berlaymont is relatively well distributed. Corridors are large and well lighted, air-conditioning is usually working efficiently, and heating is well regulated. However, even new buildings are at risk, as last year fire proved.Conditions are definitely much worse and rapidly deteriorating in older buildings such as L-130 and L-86. Besides, there is a chronic problem of lack of space which is increasingly getting worse.
Safety and security
The problem of security is closely linked with quality of the infrastructures, compliance with local laws and regulations and maintenance.
In any case please note that even if you are largely responsible to ensure your own safety (for instance by knowing the evacuation procedure in case of fire), your employer must ensure that your working conditions are in compliance with the law.
We listed some links to help you finding the information you might need about these topics.
On MyIntracomm
Health promotion 2010
Development in the Belliard area
- What the Belliard area will look like (06/03/2009)
- A new vision on the Commission’s buildings (13/12/2007 – .pdf)
- Face-lift for the European Quarter
- Press release – Operation facelift begins (10/04/2008)
- Blog – How Brussels EU quarter could look like in 2025
Reference documents on buildings policy (OIB)
- Reference documents
- Press releases on buildings policy (05/09/2007)
- The Commission’s buildings policy in Brussels (05/03/2009)
Schema Directeur Quartier Europeen
Vous pouvez télécharger sur http://www.bruxelles.irisnet.be les documents qui vous permettront de découvrir les principales options relatives à l’avenir du quartier européen ainsi qu’à son environnement immédiat.
Schéma directeur du quartier européen (*) (pdf 15 MB) *) le document est à imprimer en recto/verso pour garantir sa lisibilité
Atlas cartographique (pdf 35MB)
Annexes (pdf 9 MB)
Vous trouverez également un lien vers une étude sur la morphologie spatiale du quartier européen réalisée grâce à la méthodologie Space Syntax.
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Cartes (.pdf) | (11861K) |
| Cartes space syntax | ||
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morphogenese (.pdf) | (8649K) |
| mophogenese | ||
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Rapport (.pdf) | (466K) |
| Rapport | ||