10.10.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 270/3 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Directive on the protection of workers by the proscription of 
specified agents and/or work activities 
(Fourth individual Directive within the meaning of Article 8 of Directive 80/1107/EEC) 
COM(84) 456 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 13 September 1984) 
(84/C 270/04) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 100 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas the Council resolution of 27 February 1984 
on a second programme of action of the European 
Communities on safety and health at work (') 
provides for the development of protective measures 
for substances recognized as being carcinogenic and 
other dangerous substances and processes which may 
have serious harmful effects on health; 
Whereas certain differences are revealed by an exami­
nation of the measures taken by Member States to 
protect workers against the risks related to exposure 
to specified work agents and work activities; whereas, 
therefore, in the interest of balanced development, 
these measures, which directly affect the functioning 
of the common market, should be approximated and 
improved; whereas this approximation and 
improvement should be based on common principles; 
Whereas to this end Council Directive 80/1107/EEC 
of 27 November 1980 on the protection of workers 
against the risks related to exposure to chemical, 
physical and biological agents at work (2) contains 
such principles; 
(*) OJ No C 67, 8. 3. 1984, p. 2. 
(*) OJ No L 327, 3. 12. 1980, p. 8. Whereas, under the terms of the said Directive, such 
protection should as far as possible be ensured by 
measures to prevent exposure or to keep it at as low a 
level as is reasonably practicable; whereas, also under 
these terms, for the provision of adequate protection 
of workers it is necessary to proscribe in the 
workplace specified agents and/or work activities 
which can give rise to serious effects on health in 
cases where use of other means does not make it 
possible to ensure adequate protection; 
Whereas provision should be made in these circum­
stances to proscribe certain specified agents and/or 
work activities; 
Whereas representatives of employers and workers 
have a role to play in the protection of workers, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 
Article 1 
The purpose of this Directive is the protection of 
workers against the risks to their health by the pros­
cription of specified agents and/or work activities 
where serious health effects have been demonstrated 
and where the present technical and organizational 
precautions have not reduced or where future 
precautions are unlikely to reduce the risks from 
exposure to an acceptable level. 
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Directive: 
(a) 'substances' means chemical elements and their 
compounds as they occur in the natural state or 
as produced by industry, including any additives 
required for the purpose of placing them on the 
market; 
(b) 'preparations' means intentional mixtures or 
solutions composed of two or more substances; 
No C 270/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 10.10. 84 
(c) 'impurities' means substances which are present in 
small amounts in other substances; 
(d) 'intermediates' means substances which are formed 
during a chemical reaction, and which should 
disappear by the end of the reaction; 
(e) 'by-products' means substances which are formed 
during a chemical reaction and which remain at 
the end of the reaction; 
(f) 'waste products' means the remains of a chemical 
reaction which need to be disposed of at the end 
of the reaction. 
Article 3 
To prevent the exposure of workers to risks to their 
health from certain specified agents and/or work 
activities where the serious health effects have been 
demonstrated, Member States shall take all necessary 
measures to proscribe: 
(a) the agents listed in the Annex to this Directive; 
and/or 
(b) any work activity or any additional agent listed in 
an amendment to the Annex which the Council 
adopts acting on a proposal from the 
Commission. 
Article 4 
1. In accordance with the Annex, Member States 
may grant exemptions from the proscriptions listed on 
receipt of a reasoned application made by an 
employer. 
2. The reasoned application must be submitted by 
the employer to the responsible authority of the 
Member State in accordance with national laws, regu­
lations and administrative provisions. This notification 
must include at least a brief description of: 
— the quantities used, — the products manufactured. 
3. Member States shall permit an exemption only 
where, having regard to the circumstances of the 
case, they are satisfied that the employer has taken 
adequate precautions to protect the health and safety 
of the workers affected or likely to be affected as a 
consequence of this exemption. 
4. Where Member States grant an exemption, they 
shall lay down the measures to be followed by the 
employer, in application of Article 4 (1) to (3), (5) to 
(13) and Article 5 of Directive 80/1107/EEC. 
Article 5 
1. Workers and/or their representatives in under­
takings or establishments shall have access to the 
documents which are the subject of notification 
concerning their own undertaking or establishment in 
accordance with national laws. 
2. Appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure 
that workers and their representatives in the under­
taking or establishment receive adequate information 
concerning the health and safety risks pertaining to 
the agent or the work activity to which they are 
exposed or likely to be exposed, together with the 
measures to be taken against these risks. 
Article 6 
1. Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations 
and administrative provisions necessary to comply 
with this Directive before 1 January 1987. They shall 
forthwith inform the Commission thereof. 
2. Member States shall communicate to the 
Commission the provisions of national law which they 
adopt in the field covered by this Directive. 
Article 7 
— the activities and/or processes involved, This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 
10.10.84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 270/5 
ANNEX 
Proscriptions and specific exemptions in application of Articles 3 and 4 
The following are not permitted alone or as an intentional constituent of a preparation: 
2-naphthylamine and its salts, 
4-aminodiphenyl and its salts, 
4-nitrodiphenyl. 
This proscription does not apply if the agents are present in a substance or a preparation in the form 
of impurities, by-products or as a constituent of waste products, if their individual concentration is 
less than 0,1 % w/w in the substance. 
Member States may grant exemptions for: 
— production and use for the sole purpose of research and testing, including analysis, 
— work activities in which the agents are formed as intermediates in a closed system in higher 
concentrations than 0,1 % w/w but which fall to a concentration of less than 0,1 % w/w by the 
end of the reaction, 
— work activities intended to eliminate the agents that are in the form of waste products.