Brussels, 24/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - In order to continue its fight against occupational diseases, the European Commission on Wednesday adopted a recommendation on a new European list of occupational diseases. The Commission is calling upon Member States to define quantified national objectives to reduce rates of recognised occupational diseases, and to promote an active role for national healthcare systems, particularly improving diagnosis. It is asking them to take the necessary measures to prevent certain workplace-related diseases, which would enable the afflicted to claim compensation. Given the lack of comparative data on occupational diseases in the Union, the Commission is also inviting Member States to help to collect data to "give it a clear picture of the problem within Europe", as Anna Diamantopoulou put it. Diseases such as respiratory ailments caused by the inhalation of dust from cobalt, tin, barium and graphite, or lung cancer following the inhalation of asbestos dust are included in the schedule.
This recommendation, the importance of which for health and safety in the workplace is well-documented, update the list presented with the 1990 recommendation, which Member States broadly applied. The Commission is also presenting a second list as an annex, including diseases suspected of having an occupational origin, and which may be included in the complete list. Info: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/news/2003/sep/occ_disease_en.html.