MEPs of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL) adopted almost unanimously (43 votes in favour, 2 abstentions) Laura Agea's (EFDD, Italy) report on the third revision of the directive on the protection of workers from mutagenic and carcinogenic substances at work.
“This third revision should improve the long-term working conditions of more than a million EU workers, preventing more than 22 000 cases of work-related ill-health", the rapporteur said during the vote. However, the member pointed out the difficulties that these new standards could pose for SMEs, which could be addressed through incentive mechanisms and digital tools.
In essence, MEPs endorsed the European Commission's proposal to set limit values and skin notations for five new substances: - cadmium and its inorganic compounds falling within the scope of the Directive; - beryllium and its inorganic beryllium compounds falling within the scope of the Directive; - arsenic acid and its salts, as well as inorganic arsenic compounds falling within the scope of the Directive; - formaldehyde; - 4,4'-methylene bis(2-chloroaniline) ("MOCA").
As a reminder, the limit values relate to exposure by inhalation and correspond to the maximum concentration level of a chemical substance in ambient air. These measurements are supplemented by skin observation for MOCA, for formaldehyde and skin and respiratory sensitization observation for beryllium and its inorganic compounds.
The EMPL Committee also asks the European Commission to assess by the fourth quarter of 2019 the possibility of extending the scope of the Directive to a list of potentially carcinogenic or mutagenic medicinal products and, if necessary, to propose other legal instruments to protect workers handling these medicinal products.
Recently, the European Parliament and the Council agreed to introduce a limit value for diesel vapours (see EUROPE 12115). The Commission is gradually abandoning the idea of a fourth revision of the Directive as the end of the mandate approaches. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)