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Occupational Health and Safety

Improving workers' protection from hazardous chemicals

It has been reached a provisional agreement to update the European Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive, which protects workers from risks of exposure to carcinogens and mutagens

As reported in the press release of 16 December, the Council Presidency and the European Parliament have reached an agreement to amend Directive 2004/37/EC on carcinogens and mutagens at work.

Nowadays, more than one million workers are exposed to carcinogens and mutagens at work; in the EU 52% of work-related deaths per year are due to cancer. The agreement will set new exposure limits for acrylonitrile and nickel compounds, and it will lower the current limits for benzene, giving workers greater protection. A further step is the decision to extend the scope of the Directive to substances toxic for reproduction.

Here are the main new features:

  • With the inclusion of reprotoxic substances in the Directive, limit values for the 12 reprotoxic substances currently covered by other EU legislation will be included in the regulatory text;
  • Provision of better training for health professionals dealing with carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic 'dangerous drugs'.

 

The agreement will now be assessed by the Council's Permanent Representatives Committee, which will have to approve it, followed by a formal vote by the Council and the European Parliament.

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