23.06.2016
In May 2016, six organisations, including EU-OSHA, the European Commission and
the European social partners signed a Covenant agreeing to participate in a new
Roadmap for a scheme to reduce exposures to carcinogens in the workplace. The
initiative starts with the Netherlands EU Presidency in 2016 and is supported
by the Austrian EU Presidency in 2019.
Cancer is estimated to cause more than half of all work-related deaths in
Europe, and the new scheme proposes to raise awareness of the risks and of the
importance of the EU limit values as an element to prevent exposures. It also
aims to achieve more widespread and efficient exchange of the many good
practices that already exist in this area.
Some of the activities to be developed and implemented during the three years
of the scheme are:
Smaller businesses with limited experience of good practices, in particular,
are likely to benefit from the scheme. It is also hoped that greater awareness
will lead to innovations in production processes, resulting in the carcinogenic
substances being replaced with safer alternatives.
AplusA-online.de - Source: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work