Every day millions of EU workers are potentially exposed to hazardous chemicals
in a wide range of employment sectors including manufacturing and service
industries, agriculture, health care and education.

The EU's Council of Ministers adopted therfore measures to better protect
workers from risks linked to exposure to chemicals at the workplace.

The new Directive amends five existing EU health and safety Directives on
protection of workers from exposure to harmful chemicals to align them with the
latest rules on classification, labelling and packaging of chemicals
(Regulation (EC) 1272/2008). Member States now have until 1 June 2015 to
implement the new Directive in their national legislation.

The new rules will ensure that the requirements of the five Directives, which
protect workers when using chemicals, are brought in line with the recently
introduced new rules for the supply of chemicals. Manufacturers and suppliers
of chemical substances and mixtures will have to provide harmonised labelling
information on hazard classification, alerting the user to the presence of
hazardous chemicals, the need to avoid exposure and the associated risks.
Employers use this information when carrying out workplace risk assessments.
This allows employers to put in place appropriate risk management measures to
protect workers' health and safety, such as process enclosure, ventilation
systems and the use of personal protective equipment.

More information

AplusA-online.de - Source: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work