Latest news

The Roadmap’s presence at the 37th A+A International Trade Fair

November 29, 2021

At the 37th A+A International Trade Fair for Safety, Security and Health at Work the Congress for Occupational Safety and Health welcomed about 1500 participants. For friends and partners of the Roadmap, events like the A+A are the perfect opportunity to promote the aims of and tools provided by the Roadmap to a national or […]

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Workshop challenge 4.2 ‘process-generated carcinogens’

November 26, 2021

The Roadmap on Carcinogens Challenge 4.2 aims to get more grip on carcinogens created as a by-product during a work process, so called process-generated carcinogens (PGCs). An international online workshop was organized on 23 November 2021 to share knowledge and thougths on elimination and control strategies to accelerate reduction in exposure to PGCs in Europe. […]

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Online event: Occupational Exposure to Carcinogens in Hospitals

August 18, 2021

Please join this international online seminar on the protection of hospital workers from the occupational risks related to carcinogens on Friday, 3 September 2021, 9.00-14.00 CET. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), medical institutions and experts form Belgium, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain will present the latest research […]

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Reducing Respirable Crystalline Silica Dust Effectively

June 24, 2021

Dust in the workplace is often perceived as a painful reality, be it dust in the quarry, in agriculture or on construction sites. It is annoying, but it seems normal, it has always been there, so to speak. But more and more people are trying to avoid dust. Especially when renovating existing buildings, the owners […]

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Roadmap on Carcinogens Conference – Preventing occupational cancer

March 19, 2021

On 24 March, the Portuguese EU Council Presidency is holding the conference “Roadmap on carcinogens: Preventing occupational cancer.” This event is aimed to review the past achievements and future perspectives of the Roadmap for 2020-2024.  The conference brings together the Roadmap’s partners, occupational safety and health specialists, and representatives of the EU Institutions.  View the programme […]

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Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan: a new EU approach to prevention, treatment and care

February 15, 2021

On 3 February the European Commission published Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. With new technologies, research and innovation as the starting point, the Cancer Plan sets out a new EU approach to cancer prevention, treatment and care. Prevention, also in the workplace Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan will tackle the entire disease pathway, from prevention to quality […]

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EU Conference ‘STOP cancer in the workplace’ – event proceedings

January 5, 2021

During the German EU Council Presidency, the conference ‘STOP cancer in the workplace’ was held on 9 and 10 November. The German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) focussed the European Community’s attention on the still highly relevant issue of work-related cancer and […]

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Winners of the 13th German Hazardous Substances Protection Award announced

December 14, 2020

On 10 November 2020, the winners of the 13th German Hazardous Substance Protection Award (Deutscher Gefahrstoffschutzpreis) were announced in Dortmund, Germany. URSA Chemie GmbH, Montabaur, and Sterigenics Germany GmbH, Wiesbaden, share the 10,000 Euro prize awarded by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) for their technical solutions for the safe handling of […]

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The Roadmap on Carcinogens is heading from Berlin 2020 to Brussels 2024

September 24, 2020

New European partners joined; a refreshed strategy will strengthen effort as the ‘Roadmap on Carcinogens’ is heading from Berlin 2020 to Brussels 2024. The battle against occupational cancer continues! Neither falling from heights, nor machine accidents are responsible for the highest numbers of work-related deaths… Cause no. 1 is cancer, because workers are exposed to […]

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Beating cancer: Better protection of workers against cancer-causing chemicals

September 23, 2020

Each year, about 120,000 work-related cancer cases occur as a result of exposure to carcinogens at work in the EU, leading to approximately 80,000 fatalities annually. To improve workers’ protection against cancer, the European Commission has proposed to further limit their exposure to cancer-causing chemicals. This fourth revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive sets […]

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Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan: share your views and experiences

March 9, 2020

Europe’s fight against cancer is ongoing and requires everyone’s involvement. The European Commission is working on a new plan and wants to place European citizens at the centre. Therefore, the Commission invites all interested individuals and organisations to contribute to a public consultation. Friends of the Roadmap on Carcinogens are especially invited to make sure […]

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New EU-OSHA survey on workers’ exposure on cancer risk factors in Europe

March 4, 2020

Work-related cancer remains the biggest occupational health challenge in Europe. Through research and awareness raising activities, EU-OSHA contributes actively to the fight against work-related cancer. EU-OSHA is now in the preparatory phase of a survey to collect comprehensive data on the workers’ exposure on cancer risk factors in Europe. The aim of the survey is […]

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10 and 11 February 2020: EU Conference on the limit value system for carcinogens

December 18, 2019

The Dutch Social and Economic Council (SER) organizes the Conference “Working together on the future of the limit values system for carcinogens in Europe”. You are most welcome to join the conference on 10 and 11 February 2020 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Registration and program To participate in the conference, please register here. You […]

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European cooperation in combatting occupational cancer continues

November 28, 2019

Policy makers and experts from all over Europe met in Helsinki to explore how to accelerate the fight against work-related cancer. The cooperation will be further strengthened by continuing the Roadmap on Carcinogens campaign, which aims to raise awareness about carcinogens and reduce exposure to them. An agreement on the continuation of the campaign was […]

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Join online: conference ‘Working together to eliminate occupational cancer’

November 22, 2019

As part of the EU Presidency program, Finland is organizing the Roadmap on Carcinogens conference ‘Working together to eliminate occupational cancer’ on 27 and 28 November in Helsinki. At this conference, the Roadmap Partners will review the achievements of the past years and will look forward to further developments in legislation, activities and cooperation. Download […]

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How can we protect vulnerable workers from dangerous substances?

November 14, 2019

Some groups of workers are more at risk than others when exposed to dangerous substances. This can happen because these workers are inexperienced, uninformed or physically more vulnerable. Other reasons include frequent change of jobs, or working in sectors where awareness is low, or because of greater or different physiological sensitivity. New infosheet on vulnerable […]

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Carcinogens at work: the basics on risks and prevention

September 27, 2019

The Roadmap on carcinogens is all about identifying solutions and sharing good practices between businesses and organisations. But what if you are new to the subject and want to know the basics? That’s why today the Roadmap presents two new documents: the infosheet ‘Carcinogens at Work’ on EU-OSHA’s website and a new addition to the […]

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STOP-principle as a basis for practical measures on the shop floor

August 5, 2019

Heidi Boussen, Director Safe and healthy work environment at the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment summarised the main challenges: “The sectoral organisations that presented their approach show that we need to translate policy to the shop floor. We need to get away from a high level of abstraction and offer pragmatic solutions adjusted […]

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Third revision of Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD)

July 12, 2019

On 19 June 2019, the Official Journal of the European Union published the text of the third revision of the CMD: the directive protecting workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work (Directive 2019/983 (EU), amending Directive 2004/37/EC). The revision not only introduces four new occupational exposure limit values (OELVs) […]

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Euronews video on occupational cancer – how to minimise risks

June 5, 2019

In an episode of ‘Real Economy’, Euronews published the video ‘Occupational cancer – how to minimise risks’. In this video, we discover the economical impact of work-related ill-health and injury. We see which measures are taken by a Croatian lumber factory and EU-OSHA director Christa Sedlatschek shares the measures taken by the EU. Estimated costs […]

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Most dangerous substances and sectors at risk in the EU: new study

February 7, 2019

A new study, based on collected data from several publicly available sources, has identified the substances and sectors that pose the greatest risk to workers in the EU. The top 5 most dangerous substances are: silica, asbestos, solvents, non-infectious biological agents and wood dust. The top 5 sectors at risk are: Trade and repair of […]

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Agreement to add five more cancer-causing chemicals to the CMD

February 7, 2019

The European Parliament, the European Council and the European Commission reached a provisional agreement on the Commission’s third proposal to broaden the list of recognised cancer-causing chemicals in the workplace. With this agreement, 5 additional cancer-causing chemicals will be covered by the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD). This agreement will, for instance, ensure better protection […]

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Proceedings conference ‘Women, work and cancer’

December 19, 2018

Work on the prevention of occupational cancer in women is facing some challenges. Epidemiological research in this area focuses far more often on men than on women. There is a stereotype of occupational cancer only being an issue for male professions in traditional industries. The ETUI has organised a conference ‘Women, work and cancer, which took […]

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European Parliament adopts position on third amendment to the carcinogens Directive

December 7, 2018

Updated regulations from the European front. The European Parliament has adopted the European Commission’s proposal to further update the rules concerning carcinogens in the workplace. Five additional cancer-causing substances are added to the carcinogens Directive with the third amendment. Exposure limites and/or skin notations are concerned of Cadmium, Beryllium, Arsenic acid, Formaldehyde and MOCA (4,4’Methylene-bis(2-chloroaniline)). Next […]

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Available now! Free download of “Cancer and work: understanding occupational cancers and taking action to eliminate them”.

December 7, 2018

Tony Musu and Laurent Vogel from the European Trade Union Institute bring the contributions of 28 experts together in “Cancer and work: understanding occupational cancers and taking action to eliminate them.” The only recently released volume combines a richness of material on the latest knowledge on the issue, new prevention practices, legislation and the recognition […]

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Presentations from Austrian Presidency conference available online

October 10, 2018

All presentations from the Austrian presidency conference have been published and can be found here: Conference programme Dietmar Hammer, Team Styria – “Protection against carcinogens – simple measures – big success” Dr. David Tjong Respirable Crystaline Sylica – practical solutions Dr. Vincent Ho, IOSH No Time to Lose  Laurie Hermans, Roadmap on carcinogens, State of play 2016 – […]

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The Roadmap via Vienna2018 to Helsinki2019!

September 24, 2018

Vienna, 24 september 2018 Today the Roadmap on Carcinogens made an important pit stop in Vienna on its journey to tackle work-related cancer. The Austrian government is one of the six founding partners of the Roadmap since the start in Amsterdam in May 2016 during the Dutch EU Presidency conference. Austria holds the Presidency of the […]

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Ready-to-use factsheets online!

April 20, 2018

Feel like sharing information regarding carcinogenic substances in an easy and accessible way? Look no further, as the roadmap on carcinogens published 10 ready-to-use factsheets on asbestos, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS), vinyl chloride, chromium VI, hardwood dust, welding fumes, silica dust, diesel engine exhaust, and benzene. In the factsheets, attention is paid to the risks, […]

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New events online!

March 28, 2018

Interested in events, conferences or workshops concerning carcinogenic substances near you? Have a look at the event’s overview and have your pick. Prefer to read up on the latest developments? Have a little bit more patience as the European Trade Union Institute is about to come up with interesting materials. In June, the ETUI will […]

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New good practices online!

November 30, 2017

Sharing knowledge is vital to help companies find good solutions with regards to carcinogens in the workplace. To see all new entries, we invite you to take a look at the good practices overview, where more good practices will be published soon. Currently 51 solutions are published, and by the end of this year we […]

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Ireland joins roadmap on carcinogens

September 13, 2017

Ireland is now an official partner of the Roadmap on Carcinogens. Mr Pat Breen, the Irish Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection signed a written commitment in support.  Ireland will become increasingly engaged with other Members states on the important topic of carcinogens. Let’s give Ireland a warm welcome: […]

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Return to work after cancer: what does science say?

August 30, 2017

Around 1.6 million people of working age are diagnosed with cancer in Europe each year. Thanks to medical advancements, the number of cancer survivors is rising and more recovered patients return to work. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA, one of the six partners), provides an overview of what is known […]

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Belgium focuses on the prevention of risks of carcinogens at work

July 5, 2017

Cancer is the leading cause of work-related deaths in the European Union. The diagnosis of these cancers is usually made many years after exposure has taken place, which complicates the matter. The good news is that occupational cancers can be prevented by avoiding risks of exposure to carcinogenic chemical agents in the workplace. How to […]

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The stop strategy starts with the S of substitution

May 29, 2017

Substitution is the first step in the occupational health hygiene strategy, also when dealing with carcinogens in the workplace. On the 11th of May a Conference on substitution of carcinogens was organised in the Netherlands. The Dutch team of the roadmap co-organized this event and participated with opening remarks and a presentation of the roadmap […]

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Occupational cancer in the workplace? Use this guide!

May 29, 2017

What is cancer? Why is cancer different? Where are carcinogens? And how to use control measures? Carcinogenic substances in the workplace can be a tricky thing. The best solution in one workplace could be different in another.  Luckily, the Trade Union Councils from the UK developed a guide on cancer and carcinogens in the workplace, […]

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Finnish Minister of Social Affairs signs the roadmap!

April 7, 2017

The Finnish Minister of Social Affairs and Health Pirkko Mattila has signed a written commitment to join the “Roadmap on Carcinogens” in March 2017. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health organized a seminar “Work-related cancer can be prevented” for social partners and experts in occupational safety and health on 6th March 2017. There were […]

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Learn more about specific carcinogens

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