The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work organised a conference on the Safe use of dangerous substances in the workplace in Bilbao, Spain on 24 November 2003. Dangerous substances are found in nearly all workplaces and across the EU 28 million workers inhale fumes and vapours for at least a quarter of their working time, while between 6 and 9 million people are exposed to biological agents at work. Skin complaints, lung disorders and cancers are just some of the risks.
Conclusions from the conference include:
Awareness about the hazards and how to combat them is scarce, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Safe use of chemicals is highly dependent on the quality and efforts of communication from specialists to lay people.
Successful substitution of dangerous substances is possible but it must be supported by expertise, targeted research and good practice information.
The key to any successful approach to minimise the risks of working with dangerous substance lies in social dialogue. An example of this is where the European social partners have agreed on a guidebook for the safe handling of chemical substances in the cleaning industry.
National authorities together with the EU need to develop an integrated chemicals policy not only on health and safety at work, but also on the environment, on consumer’s health and on public health.
With regards to the new Commission system REACH - all participants agreed upon the importance of having a single integrated system for the registration of new chemicals.
Safety data sheet quality needs to be improved. Surveys have shown that many are not complying with regulations and are particularly poor in content regarding preventive measures in the workplace.
Information about successful initiatives from the Member States needs to be transferred to EU level. More cooperation needed at EU level regarding sectoral initiatives, substitution policies, and targeted research.
The Agency will gather existing information about health risks from the use of dangerous substances and dissseminate this data together with risk avoidance and risk reduction strategies which have shown to be successful.
