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 […]

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 – […]