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March 14, 2007
In June and July 2006, around 2,000 establishments in France went through inspection to determine whether adequate prevention against risks to carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic substances (CMR agents) was being implemented at the workplace. The inspection was led by representatives from regional health insurance funds and by labour inspectors.
The most affected sectors were machinery, plastics, paint manufacturing and the building sector where conductive materials are used. 904 industries are currently using CMR agents of category 1 or 2 and 334 industries have used CMR agents in the past. O40% of the controlled industries have carried out an evaluation of the risks related to the exposure of their employees to these harmful substances. In just under 50% of cases, CMR agents were replaced with non or less harmful agents. It is easier to find a substitute for trichlorethylen, a solvent used to remove fatty substances, whereas this is not always possible with every substance. In these cases, the situation becomes worrying.
Collective protective measures are applied in only 34% of cases. The safest measures are used but surveys have indicated that one measure out of two was not properly implemented. In 31% of companies using CMR agents, the only protective measure was individual protective equipment such as masks. They were often worn incorrectly and were poorly maintained.
What has been found in general is that regulation concerning CMR agents was partly implemented. In larger entreprises and in specific sectors such as paints and varnishes where there are higher levels of toxiciticy, more protection is used. There was also a higher level of awareness which was not always the case in SMEs.
Regarding the controls focused on asbestos, the French Labour inspection has found that out of 936 sites where the removal of asbestos was carried out, 76% of them has shown some safety protection measures were still inadequate.
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