Industrial safety is an enabling and important success-factor in the pursuit of beneficial business activities. For this reason, industrial safety is a vital and important prerequisite for sustainable growth and competitiveness of the EU. Therefore, there is an urgent need to refocus the resources of national research programmes in EU Member States on industrial safety since the problems related to industrial safety are common to all and cannot be tackled adequately at the national level. SAF€RA will bring dynamism into European research on industrial safety by fostering collaboration of national research programmes, by encouraging lateral thinking and by promoting innovations related to implementation of industrial safety. The Consortium consists of 19 leading public agencies, ministries and research organizations funding or managing safety research working in close collaboration with stakeholders from industry, enterprises, authorities, science, social partners and society at large. The strategic objective of the SAF€RA project is to create a research and innovation market through systematic exchange of information and a stepwise integration of national research programmes in the EU by creating effective instruments which will emphasize collaboration between national research programmes on industrial safety. The goal is thus to promote the incorporation of a more effective safety culture into EU industrial activities to improve the competitive edge of European industries on a global scale. The scope of the SAF€RA will be to support traditional industries to solve existing safety challenges and to promote innovative novel industries, such as bio- and nanotechnology-based industries, to consider safety issues in all their activities from the outset. The SAF€RA therefore aims at improving the safety of European industries to promote sustainable growth as well as sharpening their competitive edge.