Keywords
Summary

Keywords

1 Social policy - Protection of health and safety of workers - Directive 90/394 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work - Use of carcinogens at the workplace - Employers' obligations - Whether contingent on the outcome of the assessment of risks - Not contingent

(Council Directive 90/394, Arts 3 and 4)

2 Social policy - Protection of health and safety of workers - Directive 90/394 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work - Exposure of workers to carcinogens - Employers' obligations - Contingent on the outcome of the assessment of risks

(Council Directive 90/394, Arts 3 and 5)

3 Social policy - Protection of health and safety of workers - Directive 90/394 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work - National rules placing employers under obligations more stringent than those provided for by the Directive - More stringent measures for protection within the meaning of Article 118a(3) of the Treaty - Whether permissible - Conditions

(EC Treaty, Art. 118a(3); Council Directive 90/394, Art. 5)

4 Social policy - Protection of health and safety of workers - Directive 89/655 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work - Time allowed for the adaptation of existing equipment - National rules prescribing a period shorter than that prescribed by the Directive - Whether permissible - Conditions

(Council Directive 89/655, Art. 4(1)(b))

Summary

1 Article 4 of Directive 90/394 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work must be interpreted to the effect that the employer's obligation to reduce or replace a carcinogen is not contingent on the outcome of the assessment of risks referred to in Article 3 of that Directive.

2 Article 5 of Directive 90/394 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work must be interpreted to the effect that the employer's obligation to avoid or reduce exposure to a carcinogen is contingent on the outcome of the assessment of risks referred to in Article 3 of that Directive.

3 A national provision which requires the employer to reduce workers' exposure to a carcinogen irrespective of the assessment of risks is not contrary to Directive 90/394 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work where it constitutes a more stringent measure for the protection of working conditions authorised by Article 118a(3) of the Treaty and by Directive 90/394, which lays down only minimum requirements in this respect.

In the first place, such an obligation, which increases the protection of the health and safety of workers and which is confined to reinforcing the obligation laid down in Article 5 of Directive 90/394, does not undermine the coherence of Community action in the area of workers' health and safety. Secondly, a national provision which reinforces the obligation laid down in Article 5 of Directive 90/394 by requiring the employer to reduce workers' exposure to the carcinogen irrespective of the assessment of risk applies in a non-discriminatory manner and does not hinder the exercise of the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty.

4 Article 4 of Directive 89/655 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the use of work equipment by workers at work does not preclude a Member State from setting a time-limit for adapting existing working equipment that expires before 31 December 1996 - the deadline set in Article 4(1)(b) of that Directive - provided that the time-limit is not so short that it does not enable employers to effect the adaptation or entail a cost that is clearly excessive as compared with what they would have had to meet if the time-limit had been longer.