Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee concerning the Guidelines of a non-binding nature for implementing certain provisions of Directive 98/24/EC of the Council on the protection of the health and safety of workers form the risks related to chemical agents at work {SEC(2004) 1594}
Date: 2004-12-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: accident prevention, dangerous substance, occupational accident, occupational health, occupational safety

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 21.12.2004 
COM(2004) 819 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE 

concerning the Guidelines of a non-binding nature for implementing certain provisions 
of Directive 98/24/EC of the Council on the protection of the health and safety of 
workers form the risks related to chemical agents at work 

{SEC(2004) 1594} 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
Article  12  (2)  of  Directive  98/24/EC1  provides  that  the  Commission  shall  draw  up  practical 
guidelines of a non-binding nature, to assist Member States, in pursuance of the Directive, in 
drawing  up  their  national  policies  and  to  facilitate  compliance  with  their  regulations  on  the 
protection of the health and safety of workers, in particular as regards the topics referred to in 
Articles 3, 4, 5 and 6 and Annex II, section 1. 

To discharge this duty, the Commission has produced guidelines which covers the following 
topics:  

- Analytical methods for the measurement of the indicative occupational exposure limit values 
(IOELVs)  of  the  chemical  substances  included  in  the  Annex  of  the  Commission  Directive 
2000/39/EC2 establishing a first list of IOELVs in implementation of Directive 98/24/EC. 

-  Identification,  assessment  and  control  of  risks  arising  from  the  presence  of  hazardous 
chemical agents (HCAs) in the workplace. 

-  General  principles  for  preventing  risks  related  to  HCAs  and  specific  prevention  and 
protection measures for controlling these risks. 

-  Medical  surveillance  and  biological  monitoring  of  workers  exposed  to  lead  and  its  ionic 
compounds. 

In  producing  these  guidelines  the  Commission  was  assisted  by  the  Advisory  Committee  on 
Safety, Hygiene and Health Protection at Work, which delivered a favourable opinion on 28 
June 2004. 

The Advisory Committee considers that the Guidelines deal adequately with the fundamental 
issues as expressed in the provisions of Directive 98/24/EC mentioned above. 

It also believes that they will be a useful reference document for Member States to be used as 
tool for developing their own guidance in particular for small and medium-size enterprises. 

The Commission in accordance with Article 12 (2) of Directive 98/24/EC, asks the Member 
States  to  take  account  as  far  as  possible  of  these  guidelines  in  drawing  up  their  national 
policies  for  the  protection  of  the  health  and  safety  of  workers  and  to  ensure  that  it  is 
distributed as widely as possible in interested circles. 

1 
2 

O.J. L 131, 5.5.1998 
O.J. L 142, 16.6.2000 

EN 

2 

   EN