Exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents.

1) OBJECTIVE

To harmonise national provisions relating to the protection of workers by measures to prevent exposure to certain chemical, physical and biological agents, or to keep it at as low a level as is possible.

2) COMMUNITY MEASURES

Council Directive 80/1107/EEC of 27 November 1980 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents at work.

Council Directive 88/642/EEC of 16 December 1988 amending Directive 80/1107/EEC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to chemical, physical and biological agents at work.

These two Directives have been repealed in compliance with Article 13 of Directive 98/24/EC since 05.05.2001.

3) CONTENTS

The Directive does not apply to workers exposed to radiation covered by the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), sea transport and air transport.

Definition of the terms "agent"; "worker": any employed person exposed or likely to be exposed to an agent at work; "limit value": exposure limit or biological indicator limit in the appropriate medium. More detailed definitions of "limit value" and "suspended matter" are contained in Annex II a.

Obligations of Member States:

When adopting provisions relating to an agent, the Member States must take a series of 14 measures, including: limitations of the use of the agent, technical preventive measures, determination of the nature and degree of the workers' exposure, establishment of limit values and of sampling procedures, measuring procedures and procedures for evaluating results (a reference method is contained in Annex II a), collective hygiene and protection measures, information and the use of signs, and a ban on an agent in cases where there is inadequate protection. The measures also include the adoption by the employer of appropriate measures to ensure that workers and/or their representatives receive the necessary information and full instruction concerning not only the potential risks, preventive measures and precautions but also the risk assessment methods used, the existence of a limit value and the action to be taken in the event of a limit value being exceeded.

Additional measures must be taken in the case of the list of agents specified in Annex I: medical surveillance, access to the results of exposure measurements, biological tests and information of workers.

The list of agents may be amended by the Council.

The Member States must determine the extent, if any, to which each of these measures is to apply to the agent in question.

In the case of the agents listed in Annex II, the Member States must provide medical surveillance during the period of exposure and access for workers at the place of work to information on the dangers which these agents present.

Adaptation to technical progress is restricted to the technical aspects listed in Annex III. A committee consisting of representatives of the Member States has been set up to assist the Commission with adaptation to technical progress.

The Council will establish, in the individual Directives that it adopts with regard to the agents listed in Annex I, binding limit values and/or other specific requirements; in the case of other agents, indicative limit values will be drawn up by the Commission, assisted by the Committee for adaptation to technical progress. The indicative limit values reflect expert evaluations based on scientific data.

The Directives are without prejudice to the right of Member States to apply or adopt other provisions laying down more stringent standards.