On Friday 28 April, the European Public Service Union (EPSU) and the Stop Cancer at Work coalition welcomed the guidelines published the same day by the Commission offering advice to employers and workers on how to manage exposure to hazardous medicinal products (HMPs).
“HMPs may cause carcinogenic, mutagenic, or reprotoxic (CMR) effects in workers exposed to them. Exposure can affect medical workers as well as cleaners and laundry workers, or waste workers, and the advice provided in the guide is tailored to the groups of workers potentially exposed”, explain the Commission and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (OSHA).
“For years we have been campaigning for better protection for workers exposed to these potentially life-threatening drugs. Every year more than 12.7 million healthcare workers in the EU are potentially exposed to HMPs which can mutate our DNA, cause cancer or are toxic to fertility and babies”, states EPSU.
The Stop Cancer at Work coalition is also calling on the Commission to “formally adopt and implement the agreed legal definition of HMPs in the 2022 Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic Substances Directive (CMRD)”.
Link to the guidelines: https://aeur.eu/f/6mp (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)