9.9.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 347/125 Thursday 10 March 2022
H.
whereas exposure to asbestos claims around 88 000 lives in Europe annually, accounting for 55-75 % of lung cancers developed at work, and whereas asbestos is the main cause of lung cancer, responsible for 45 % of cases (18); whereas it is estimated that mortality rates from this exposure will continue to increase into the late 2020s and the 2030s (19); whereas although asbestos has been banned in the EU since 2005, it is still often present in administrative buildings, schools, housing, infrastructure, public-transport facilities and water supply networks; whereas 80 % of occupational cancers recognised in the Member States are asbestos-related;
I.
whereas factors such as radiation, stress, work organisation and working conditions have all been linked to work-related cancer; whereas cases of skin cancer as one of the most wide-spread occupational diseases are increasing due to various factors such as climate change, while only a very small proportion of skin tumours that are work-related are recognised as occupational diseases; whereas outdoor workers, in particular those working in the agriculture, forestry, construction and tourism sectors, face a significant risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) due to elevated levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure; whereas workers in the healthcare and emergency sector, who play a fundamental role in emergency preparedness and response, such as firefighters and nurses, also face similar exposures as well as additional stress due to an increased workload which can increase psychosocial risks; whereas there is not yet a common European approach towards prevention of UVR exposure (20); whereas there is currently a lack of reliable and comparable EU-level data on workplace exposure to cancer risk factors (21); whereas 2 % of the EU cancer burden can be attributed to ionising radiation and that indoor exposure to radon and its decay products is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in Europe (22) (23);
J.
whereas climate change has already had and will continue to have detrimental effects on human health, safety at work and working conditions; whereas according to the latest IPCC report, working conditions will be increasingly affected by significant changes in weather patterns such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall; whereas increased exposure to high temperatures in the workplace exacerbate the risks of heat stroke, dehydration, fatigue, lack of concentration and complications of chronic diseases; whereas work-related diseases linked to biological agents are also affected by climate change, as increasing temperatures, for example, can affect the geographical distribution of the vectors of biological agents (ticks, mosquitoes), thereby facilitating the spread of diseases that are new to a region; whereas it is essential to adapt working practices to take account of the effects of climate change (24);
K.
whereas a good psychosocial working environment enhances workers’ mental and physical well-being; whereas psychosocial risks can arise from poor work design, organisation and management, as well as poor social context of work, and can result in negative psychological, physical and social outcomes such as stress, anxiety, burnout and depression, which belong to the second-largest group of self-reported work-related health problems (25); whereas work-related stress can significantly increase the risk of triggering or exacerbating musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), heart disease, autoimmune diseases or rheumatic/chronic inflammatory diseases (26); whereas, according to Eurofound and EU-OSHA, 25 % of workers in Europe experience excessive work-related stress; whereas 51 % of EU workers say
(18) (19) (20)
Takala, J., working paper Eliminating occupational cancer in Europe and globally, 2015, p. 6.
‘Global Asbestos Disaster’, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2018.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/health-consumers/infographic/the-economic-impact-of-non-melanoma-skin-cancer-on-thesociety-and-the-welfare-system/ EU-OSHA, worker survey on exposure to cancer risk factors, 20 May 2020.
WHO fact sheet entitled ‘Radon and health’, 2 February 2021.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/radon-and-health European Parliament, DG IPOL, Strengthening Europe in the fight against cancer — Going further, faster, July 2020.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2020/642388/IPOL_STU(2020)642388_EN.pdf IPCC, sixth assessment report, regional fact sheet — Europe.
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/factsheets/ IPCC_AR6_WGI_Regional_Fact_Sheet_Europe.pdf Eurostat, self-reported work-related health problems and risk factors — key statistics, September 2021.
EU OSHA, Musculoskeletal disorders: association with psychosocial risk factors at work, 2021.
(21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26)