On Thursday 15 January, the members of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs will discuss the draft report by Belgian EPP member Liesbet Sommen on the sixth revision of the so-called ‘CMRD’ directive on carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic substances at work.
The EU Council approved its mandate on 1 December (see EUROPE 13763/4). Like the Member States’ mandate, the MEP’s report is more ambitious on a number of points, in particular the substance ‘isoprene’, which was not included in the Commission’s initial proposal.
The European Parliament report states that “isoprene meets the criteria for classification as a carcinogen (category 1B) in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008; it is therefore a carcinogen within the meaning of Directive 2004/37/EC”.
On the basis of the information available, in particular scientific and technical data, “a long-term occupational exposure limit value of 8.5 mg/m³ (3 ppm) should therefore be established”.
“Union-wide data from work-related health problems due to exposure to cobalt and its inorganic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, isoprene and 1,4-dioxane are often absent, unreliable or insufficient”, the report adds. The Commission should therefore “develop guidelines and recommendations for data collection by the Member States to improve the reporting and exposures registries”.
The Belgian MEP’s report further reinforces the need to take account of fumes from welding and “processes generating fumes in a similar way, which may include carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxic substances, such as chromium compounds, nickel compounds, cadmium and its inorganic compounds”.
The draft report also amends the provisions on cobalt. “For cobalt and its inorganic compounds, the limit values of 0.02 mg/m³ (inhalable fraction) and 0.0042 mg/m³ (respirable fraction) should apply”.
The Commission’s text states that “it will be difficult to comply with a limit value of 0,01 mg/m³ for the inhalable fraction and 0,0025 mg/m³ for the respirable fraction in the short term. It is therefore appropriate to introduce a transitional period of six years after the entry into force of this Directive, during which the limit values of 0.02 mg/m³ (inhalable fraction) and 0.0042 mg/m³ (respirable fraction) should apply”.
The draft report also recommends that, “because of the harmful properties of cobalt and its inorganic compounds”, “relocation of cobalt processing companies to third countries with less stringent occupational health and safety regulations” needs to be avoided at all times.
The report also includes information on firefighters and emergency service personnel who may be exposed to carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances in the course of their work. “It is therefore important that the employers of firefighters, including volunteer firefighters, and emergency services personnel assess, in accordance with Directive 2004/37/EC, the risk of exposure to carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances and that they take the necessary measures to protect the health and safety of those workers”.
In general terms, “there is a need for workers to receive sufficient and appropriate training when they are exposed or are likely to be exposed to carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxic substances, including those contained in certain hazardous medicinal products”.
The training that the employer is required to provide “should be adapted to take account of a new or changed risk”.
Link to the report: https://aeur.eu/f/k8j (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)