Managing exposure to CMR substances at the workplace

Background

The chemical Industry uses various chemicals on a daily basis for many different purposes and applications. Some of these require the use of carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic chemicals (in short CMRs). Due to their potential health impacts, exposure to CMRs at the workplace requires constant attention from manufacturers, and an effective, European-wide occupational health and safety legislation promoting the safe use of these chemicals.

Currently, the EU regulatory framework offers two separate directives: on the one hand, a directive to manage the Carcinogenic and Mutagenic substances (set by the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive) and, on the other hand, rules for managing reprotoxic substances (set by the Chemical Agents Directive). Both legal frameworks, CMD and CAD are similar, but not identical. For some time now, a debate has been ongoing whether it would be justified to move to a single set of legal requirements for managing CMR substances at the workplace.

Health and safety at work paramount

For the European chemical industry, the safety of workers and enhancing health and safety in the workplace is a top priority. Healthy workforces are a core part of the success of any business, and we regard the protection of workers’ health and safety as being of utmost importance to achieving sustainable healthy workplaces.

Cefic’s position

Cefic supports the idea of moving to one legal framework for managing CMR substances at the workplace. In our view, one directive covering CMR substances would strengthen the current system for protecting workers’ health. A single solid framework at EU level will benefit both companies and workers across all EU countries. Moreover, we work in favour of setting up EU-wide upper exposure limits on carcinogens, mutagens and reprotoxic substances. Consequently, we support the overall process on taken onboard by the Commission for developing such exposure limits.