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) […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

The latest issue of HesaMag, the magazine of the European Trade Union Institute on OSH and working conditions, focusses on work-related cancer. The title “emerging from obscurity” is related to the low visibility of the phenomenon. This might be because the majority of the affected population of work-related cancer are ‘silent workers’, in other words, blue-collar […]

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 […]

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 – […]

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 […]