"Optical radiation" means, principally, visible light, infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) radiation and laser beams. Scientists classify these rays by wavelength, and divide them into groups according to their characteristics (e.g. UV-A, B or C rays).

Optical radiation belongs to the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, as do ionising rays (such as X-rays), radar signals, microwaves and radio waves. Electromagnetic radiation is transmitted in the form of waves.

Solar radiation is made up of UV, IR and visible light.

For more information on the physical characteristics of optical and UV radiation:

• World Health Organisation (WHO) 
• Report by the French National Institute for Research and Safety (Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité - INRS)
• Report by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)

More technical information on optical radiation (lasers, limits of exposure, measurements etc.), is available from the website of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNTRP) 

UV radiation is paradoxical in its physiological effects. It is vital to life on earth (photosynthesis, production of vitamin D, disinfectant - bactericidal effect etc.) but can also be damaging to human health.

UV rays may weaken immune reactions (immunosuppressive effect which can aggravate some infections or trigger others, such as sunlight-related herpes). They can also damage DNA (photogenotoxicity). They speed up the ageing process for skin and interfere with medical treatments (antibiotics). They can cause cataracts and skin cancers (carcinomas and melanomas).

For more information, see the following:

• Les ultraviolets : état des connaissances sur l'exposition et les risques sanitaires (Ultraviolet radiation: current knowledge on exposure and health risks), report published by the French Agency for Environmental Health and Safety
• Report by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
• WHO webpage: Ultraviolet radiation and health
  

Around 60,000 new cases of cutaneous melanoma are diagnosed each year in Europe, some 1% of all cancers. Incidence is slightly higher in women than men, at about 7 and 6 per 100,000 per year respectively, and higher in northern than in southern Europe. In North America and Australia the incidence of cutaneous melanoma is even higher, at 11 and 36 per 100,000 respectively. More than 50% of patients are between 20 and 59 years of age.

The following sites give reliable figures concerning skin cancers and other skin diseases:

• "Carex" (International Information System on Occupational Exposure to Carcinogens)
• Databases of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
• Information from the United States National Cancer Institute
• The project "Start, Oncology in Europe"
• Ultraviolet radiation and the INTERSUN Programme (WHO)

The parts of the body most at risk for workers exposed to optical radiation are the eyes and the skin. The eyes represent a very small surface-area compared to the skin. Yet any damage to the eyes will have major repercussions on the individual's quality of life.

Workers are exposed to artificial optical radiation when engaged in activities such as:
• arc welding
• medicine: surgery and medical use of rays (UV, IR, lasers)
• work involving kilns, furnaces, metal-casting (steel, ceramics, chemical, food industries etc)
• using industrial lasers
• working on computers
• etc.

These workers are running major risks (burns, tissue and skin damage). Proper procedures for the use of radiation-emitting devices and good training for users can significantly reduce the number of victims.

Workers exposed to the sun's rays are those whose occupation involves outdoor work:
• construction workers, workers in open-cast and salt mines;
• fishermen, oil-field workers;
• farmers and gardeners, stock-breeders;
• park attendants, workers in sports centres;
• outdoor sports instructors, as well as first-aid workers and beach attendants;
• etc.

Exposure varies according to the intensity of the sun's rays, which in its turn depends on a number of factors: the season (summer), the time of day (peaking when the sun is overhead at midday - solar noon), altitude (4% increase per 300 metres), any environmental reflection of the sunlight (snow, sand, water etc.).

These workers suffer risks to, above all, their skin (melanomas, carcinomas, premature ageing of the skin) and eyes (cataracts). Over-exposure to UV radiation can also affect a person's general health (aggravating infections).

For further information:

• Sunburn 'could be as bad as asbestos', The Telegraph, July 2006
• Skin cancer as an occupational disease: the effect of ultraviolet and other forms of radiation
  International Journal of Dermatology  44(2): 95-100 (2005)
• Global solar UV index : a practical guide
• Les ultraviolets. Etat des connaissances sur l'exposition et les risques sanitaires
  (Ultraviolet radiation: current knowledge on exposure and health risks), report published by the French Agency for Environmental Health and Safety
  • Complete report
  • Summary

Some simple preventive measures could be highly effective. They should include proper information to those concerned (employers and workers), combined with awareness-raising campaigns targeted at workers and coordinated largely by the European Union, governments and trade unions.

The following measures, more specifically, should be sufficient:

• consulting on-line weather forecasting services, which give the UV index by region and time of day;
• informing workers and encouraging them to wear appropriate clothing (hard hat or cap, long-sleeved T-shirt) between 12 and 4pm;
• as well as this, organising an awareness-raising campaign targeted at employers and workers.

 Meteorological institutes giving the UV index:

• List of meteorological institutes

Two examples of well-designed European websites:

• UK
• Spain

Risk assessment and management in the workplace:

• OMS
• Projet SunSmart (Australia)

Examples of awareness-raising campaigns and material:

UK

• Sun protection: advice for employers of outdoor workers
• Keep your top on: health risk from working in the sun
  

Australia

• SunSmart campaign on skin cancer and outdoor work
• Protecting construction workers
• Australian government - occupational health and safety

The conservative majority in the European Parliament voted on Wednesday 7 September to exclude solar radiation from the scope of the directive on exposure of workers to optical radiation. A week after the vote, EU Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said he would be lining up behind Parliament.

On September 27, the Commission confirmed this  political orientation. Within the framework of its initiative on "Better Regulation", the European Commission adopted a communication in which the Commission concludes that "aspects of the proposal on workers' exposure to rays from the sun should be scrapped."

On 14 February 2006, Parliament endorsed the results of the earlier Parliament-Council conciliation committee on the directive, agreeing that regulation to protect workers from over-exposure to sunshine should be left to member states. The resolution was adopted by 570 votes in favour, 16 against with 49 abstentions.

The Directive 2006/25/EC was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 April 2006. Member States have four years to bring it into practice. This Directive is the last in a series of four aimed at protecting workers from the dangers of various “physical agents” (the three others are on exposure to noise, to vibrations and to electromagnetic fields).

• The text of the Directive

The ETUC is asking that Article 4 of the draft directive:

• should contain an obligation to carry out a risk assessment and to inform workers so that they can wear proper protective clothing (paragraph 2);
• should refer to daily consultation of the regional sun index and notification of workers exposed to the sun's rays (paragraph. 3);
• should refer to solar radiation (paragraph 4b).

The ETUC is also asking for the directive to be accompanied by targeted information campaigns and practical guides for employers and workers. These should, in particular, clear up misunderstandings and prevent any nonsensical interpretations of the new obligations which would destroy their effectiveness.

Further information:

• European Parliament legislative resolution 
• Common position adopted by the Council
• ETUC letter to the European Parliament
  

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