REACH: Mixed results for workers
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Ten years of intense debate has culminated in the EU chemicals legislation reform, finally adopted by the European Parliament and Council in December 2006.
The ETUC welcomed the adoption of REACH because it shifts the burden of proof onto industry, which has now to provide essential information on chemicals, including their toxicity, before placing them on the market. The legislation came into force on 1 June 2007, and will enable Europe to take a more socially responsible approach to managing chemical risks.
But the ETUC still rues the fact that some provisions have been dropped in response to chemical industry lobbying. The main step back for workers concerns the chemical safety report, which will only be required for substances produced in volumes of at least 10 tonnes a year. This means that workers who are exposed to the 20,000 chemicals produced in quantities of from 1 to 10 tonnes will be denied access to information that is vital to their safety.
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The ETUC will contribute to the information campaign on the REACH regulation
(03/06/2008)
European Parliament adopts REACH: completing an important step forward
(13/12/2006)
REACH: a decisive step, but inadequate in protecting workers’ health
(01/12/2006)
REACH: ETUC calls on Council to go with Parliament on substitution principle
(10/10/2006)
REACH must give workers better health protection
(19/09/2006)
REACH: Member States conclude agreement on a text that lacks ambition
(13/12/2005)
REACH has taken an important step forward
(17/11/2005)
REACH to deliver 3.5 billion euros savings over 10 years
(17/10/2005)
ETUC convinced that REACH works
(19/07/2005)
REACH: an opportunity to grab in order to develop a more socially responsible Europe
(16/03/2005)
REACH should boost the protection of workers exposed to chemicals
(20/01/2005)
ETUC declaration on REACH, the proposed reform of EU policy on Chemicals (1/12/2004)
Available in: [Deutsch] [English] [Français] [Español]
ETUC welcomes the European Commission’s new chemicals initiative: REACH
(08/04/2004)
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REACH: Impact for workers
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Prevention at the workplace depends very much on the information provided to workers. REACH is an instrument for producing and transmitting useful data on chemicals. The potential benefits expected from REACH depend not just on the various actors involved applying the regulation, but even more so on the information that the system will genereate on the hazards of chemicals and means of managing the risks related to their uses.
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REACH, Impact on Occupational Health
Presentation for the "Workshop for State Authorities Impacts of Chemicals policy – How to measure it?", Laulasmaa, Estonia, 11-12 November 2004.
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REACH, a positive impact for workers’ health and the economy
Presentation for the "New Chemicals Law, New Political Landscape" conference, Copenhagen, October 18th, 2004.
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The potential of REACH for improving enforcement of the rules on chemical risk prevention at the workplace, Laurent Vogel, TUTB.
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The Relation between Chemicals Legislation and Worker Protection Legislation - Present and in the Future under REACH,
14-15 June 2004. Workshop report.
- "Reach, impact for workers", ETUC-TUTB intervention at the European Parliament, November 10, 2003.
- Overview of 36 studies on the impact of the new EU chemicals policy (REACH) on society and business
Workshop on REACH Impact Assessments, The Hague, 25-27 October 2004.
- Assessment of the impact of the new chemicals policy on occupational health
Report prepared for European Commission by Risk & Policy Analysts Ltd, Loddon, 2003.
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REACHing the workplace
How workers stand to benefit from the new European policy on chemical agents
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ETUI activities on chemical risk
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Seminar on protecting workers from chemicals
Amsterdam, January 21-22, 2008
Thirty-odd European trade unionists, researchers and European Commission representatives attended a seminar on protecting workers from chemical hazards in Amsterdam on 21 and 22 January. The seminar was called by the ETUI-REHS Health and Safety Department to take forward the trade union debate on REACH implementation, the development of a new international classification and labelling system, and the setting of occupational exposure limit values for carcinogens. The health implications of industrial applications of nanotechnologies were also looked at, while the areas of uncertainty surrounding their rapid development provoked a lively debate.
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ETUC conferences on REACH
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REACH and Worker Protection Legislation
Two complementary pieces of law for improved worker protection?
Brussels, September 19, 2006
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To explore how REACH will affect existing worker protection legislation, the ETUC and its Research and Training Institute, the ETUI-REHS, held a conference on “REACH and worker protection legislation: two complementary pieces of law for improved worker protection?” in Brussels on 19 September 2006.
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A special focus has been put on the linkages between REACH and two sets of worker protection rules - the Chemicals and Carcinogens Directives. The conference has given ETUC-affiliated unions and other economic, political and institutional players an opportunity to trade views ahead of November’s scheduled second reading in the European Parliament. It also aimed to help inform the social dialogue in European industry.
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REACHing the workplace
Trade unions call for a more ambitious European policy on chemicals
Brussels, March 11-12, 2005
The ETUC held a conference bringing together the main players in the debate around the reform of the European legislation on chemicals. The conference took place in Brussels on 11-12 March 2005.
Those attending the conference included Mr Stavros Dimas, European Commissioner for the Environment, Mr Lucien Lux, Minister of State in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, representing the presidency of the Council and Mr Guido Sacconi, principal rapporteur on REACH for the European Parliament, as well as representatives from industry, consumer associations and the main environmental NGOs.
The Conference report has been published in a special issue of our Newsletter.
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New chemicals classification and labelling system
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On 27 June 2007, the European Commission adopted a proposal to bring the European system for classifying, labelling and packaging chemicals and preparations into line with the Global Harmonised System (GHS) created by the United Nations to ensure that the same criteria are used to classify and label hazardous chemicals worldwide.
The Commission proposal for a GHS-compliant European regulation still has to be adopted by the European Parliament and Council. After a transitional period, the new legislation will replace existing Community rules on classification and labelling of hazardous chemicals (Directive 67/548/EEC for dangerous chemicals and Directive 1999/45/EEC for dangerous preparations).
The new system will also affect health and safety legislation, like the Chemicals Directive (98/24/EC) and Carcinogens Directive (2004/37/EC), both of which require employers to assess and eliminate or minimise all risks to the health and safety of their workers from the use of dangerous chemicals or preparations.
The GHS will bring changes to the way some substances and preparations are classified and labelled in the EU: some chemicals already classified as dangerous may be reclassified as more or less hazardous , while others not currently classified could be put into the hazardous category.
De-classification of hazardous chemicals or preparations would deprive workers and consumers of key information for their health and safety. The ETUC is adamantly opposed to the Commission's proposal to exempt additional substances which will be classified as hazardous under the GHS from the scope of Directive 98/24/EC. It is also against any de-classification of hazardous substances currently classified under Annex I of Directive 67/548/EEC without a reassessment of data on their ecotoxicity.
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- Not That Innocent: A Comparative Analysis of Canadian, European Union and United States Policies on Industrial Chemicals
Richard A. Denison, Environmental Defense Fund (USA), 2007
- Green Chemistry: Cornerstone to a sustainable California
University of California. The Centers for Occupational and Environmental Health, 2007
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REACH, the new European chemicals policy: what for?
Tony Musu, New Solutions, 16(2), 2006.
- Hazardous chemicals can be substituted
The Danish Ecological Council, 2006.
- Effect thresholds and “adequate control” of risks:the fatal flaws in the Council position on Authorisation within REACH
Greenpeace report, 2006.
- Toxic Lobby: How the chemicals industry is trying to kill REACH
Greenpeace describes how the chemicals industry has scared and misled decision-makers by denying the problems of chemical contamination, May 2006.
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Profits before health and environment. How the chemical industry is undermining European chemical legislation
Andrea Foster and Roddy Mackenzie, Friends of the Earth Europe, 2005.
- Relation between Chemicals Legislation and Worker Protection Legislation
Workshop proceedings, London, 14-15 June 2004.
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50 years of Protecting Europe's Environment
(TVLink Europe)
Catsub
(Danish project to get ideas for possible substitution of dangerous chemicals in various sectors and processes)
CIS-ILO
(International Labour Office - International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) provides online access to chemical exposure limits for a number of countries)
Chemical Substances Portal
(INERIS, France)
ChemSec
(International Chemical Secretariat)
Choosing our Future
(website being part of a joint campaign between the Chemicals Health Monitor project of HEAL and MDRGF)
CLEEN
(Chemicals Legislation European Enforcement Network)
CNRS
(Centre national de la recherche scientifique - Unité de prévention du risque chimique)
eChemPortal
(OECD portal offering free public access to information on properties of chemicals)
ECB
(European Chemicals Bureau)
ECHA
(European Chemicals Agency)
EEB
(European Environmental Bureau)
EMCEF
(European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers' Federation)
ESIS
(European chemical Substances Information System)
GESTIS-database on hazardous substances
(Information system on hazardous substances of the German institutions for statutory accident insurance and prevention)
Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS)
(UNECE)
Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety
(Substitution and alternatives. Case studies, examples and tools. WHO)
Integrated Risk Information System
(Database of more than 500 chemicals compiled by the US Environmental Protection Agency)
IPCS
(International Programme on Chemical Safety)
IPCS INCHEM
(Chemical Safety Information from Intergovernmental Organizations)
RISCTOX Database
(Information on the health and environmental risks of over 100.000 chemicals - in Spanish)
Toxicology Network (TOXNET)
(Family of chemically-specific databases developed by various US governement agencies)
Toxic Watch Network
(Japanese web site)
UNEP Chemicals
(United Nations Environment Programme)
WWF- Detox campaign
Contact person:
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