The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has launched a new awareness-raising campaign on dangerous substances.
The two-year campaign, entitled Healthy Workplaces Manage Dangerous Substances, will feature events and activities aimed at promoting the best ways of tackling the risks that dangerous substances pose to workers.
The main objectives of the campaign include promoting risk assessment, elimination and substitution and raising awareness of the risks of exposure to carcinogens by supporting the exchange of good practices.
The campaign will also target specific groups of workers who are at greater risk, by providing tailored facts, figures and guidance on good practice.
A multi-lingual website has also been developed to support the campaign, which includes a dangerous substances e-tool to have manage substances in the workplace.
Speaking at a press conference to launch the campaign, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, said: “We will continue to raise awareness and take action to limit workers’ exposure to cancer-causing chemicals.
“This is a key priority for the European Commission, not least because the European Pillar of Social Rights entitles workers to a high-level of protection of their safety and health at work.
“EU-OSHA’s campaigns are leading the way in reach workplaces across Europe and help organisations adopt effective approaches to occupational safety and health management with the necessary tools.”
EU-OSHA’s Director, Dr Christa Sedlatschek added: “Many workers are unaware that not only manufactured chemical products that are labelled with risk and safety information can cause harm.
“Other commonly used substances across all sectors – from working with flour in bakeries to silica dust on construction sites – can be hazardous if their use is not managed effectively. Therefore, our campaign raises awareness of all types of dangerous substances, not just the obvious ones, and emphasises the importance of risk assessment in all sectors as the first step towards prevention.”
To find out more, visit the campaign website here https://healthy-workplaces.eu
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In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.
Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.
