European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) - News list / Health & Safety

21/02/2019

Plastic – a human health crisis

A recent report from a coalition of NGOs lead by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) reveals that plastic is a human health crisis hiding in plain sight. To date, research into the human health impacts of plastic have focused narrowly on specific moments in the plastic lifecycle, often on single products, processes, or exposure pathways. This approach fails to recognize that significant, complex, and intersecting human health impacts occur at every stage of the plastic lifecycle: from extraction of fossil fuels, to consumer use, to disposal and beyond. According to the report, uncertainties and knowledge gaps often impede regulation and the ability of workers, consumers and policymakers to make informed decisions. However, the full scale of health impacts throughout plastic’s lifecycle are overwhelming and warrant a precautionary approach.

19/02/2019

Burnout: faced with an epidemic, Belgium launches a pilot project

In Belgium, stress and burn-out are responsible for one-third of all days off work. Furthermore, the increase in mental illnesses (including burnout and depression) to a large extent explains the increase in the number of people permanently leaving the workforce on health grounds. Faced with this worrying economic and health problem, the Belgian Federal agency for occupational risks (FEDRIS) launched a pilot project on burnout in January 2019.

14/02/2019

Detecting work-related diseases using alert and sentinel systems: a report of the European Agency for Safety and Health at work

A report of the European Agency for Safety and Health at work (EU-OSHA) analyses the alert and sentinel systems used in various European countries for the early detection of work-related diseases. This report is based on the analysis of twelve national schemes implemented in European countries or the United States, all of which help to spotlight health problems caused by bad working conditions and insufficient prevention measures in companies.

7/02/2019

Publication of the directive introducing new limit values into the European legislation on carcinogens

On 31 January 2019, the Official Journal of the European Union published the text of Directive 2019/130. This directive constitutes the second step of the process of revising the Directive on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work (CMD).

7/02/2019

Limit values for chemical substances: the ECHA replaces the SCOEL

30/01/2019

An ETUI publication on occupational health translated into Brazilian Portuguese

In 2018, the Fondation Fundacentro, the Brazilian federal agency responsible for occupational health, decided to publish a Brazilian Portuguese translation of an ETUI book on workplace prevention via posters. The ETUI is happy to thus contribute to the discussion on the importance of trade union action on occupational health.

18/12/2018

Enormous gaps identified in the recognition of occupational cancers in Europe

A new report by EUROGIP presents an analysis of the extent to which occupational cancers are recognised in nine European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. It also looks at the schemes for identifying occupational cancers, especially via monitoring the health of people exposed to carcinogens in the course of their working careers.

17/12/2018

Trade union networks: a response to occupational health in small firms?

The results of a project on best practices for organising worker representation for health and safety were presented at a seminar organised in Brussels on 29 November. This seminar allowed trade union activists to describe their day-to-day experiences in the countries covered by the project. It also included a fascinating presentation on the results of the research.

11/12/2018

France: a trade union campaign on the prevention of breast cancer

Several sectoral and regional branches of the CFDT have launched an ambitious campaign to raise awareness and mobilise people around the issue of breast cancer caused by work.

6/12/2018

Women, work and cancer – why is the link not being recognized?

Cancer is the leading cause of work-related mortalities in the EU and is responsible for 100,000 unnecessary deaths a year. Yet most research and policy on its causes and prevention still assume that it is mainly men who are affected, even though an increasing proportion of the victims are now women. The need to shift research priorities and better address workplace prevention to reflect changing occupational risks was the subject of an ETUI conference in Brussels in early December.