Brussels, 07/12/2004 (Agence Europe) - Employment and social policy ministers from EU Member States reached a political agreement on Tuesday on a proposal on minimum health rules for workers exposed to optical rays. This involves the fourth directive from the package on "exposure to physical agents". Following the work on the translations into the different EU languages, the text will officially be adopted (during the next Council) as a common position and then sent to the European Parliament for a second reading.
The proposal focuses on the risks to the health and safety of workers, the damaging effects on eyes and skin from exposure to optical rays, namely: electromagnetic rays that are between 100 nano-meters (nm) and 1 millimetre (mm) in length and whose spectrum is subdivided into ultraviolet rays (visible and infrared). Annexed to the text are the limited exposure values for optical rays known as "incoherent rays".
According to the draft directive, employers should assess the level of optical rays which workers are exposed to. In doing this, they should also pay particular attention to several elements: the level of wave lengths and the length of exposure to artificial sources of optical rays, exposure to natural sources of optical rays and total indirect effects such as temporary blindness, explosions or fires.
Employers should also get rid of or reduce the risks of exposure to these optical rays. They should implement a programme with technical measures to reduce optical ray emissions (including, if necessary, using sealing or screening) and limit the lengths of and levels of exposure. Employers should ensure that workers are informed and trained when facing these dangers. This directive establishes minimum rules: it therefore leaves it up to Member States to maintain or adopt stricter provisions for protecting workers (notably by setting values of the lowest levels of exposure).