Specialist Press Release (EP/SP05/2006) - February 15th, 2006

SUMMARY

The European Parliament has approved an EU directive designed to protect workers from exposure to optical radiation. MEPs voted by 570 votes to 16, with 49 abstentions.

The new rules lay down minimum standards for prevention and early diagnosis of damage to the eyes and skin from sources such as lasers and infrared lamps. They set limits for the level and duration of exposure and require employers to carry out risk assessments, including on the design and layout of workplaces and on appropriate protective equipment.

The European Parliament's key demand that the directive should cover only artificial sources of radiation was accepted by the Council of Ministers, so protection from natural sources, such as sunlight, is not now included in the final text.

The directive also does not cover x-rays or gamma rays, nor electromagnetic fields such as microwaves and radio frequencies.

This week's vote was the European Parliament's third reading based on a text agreed jointly between MEPs and the Council of Ministers. EU Member States will have four years to put the new rules into domestic law.

This is the fourth and last in a series of health & safety rules covering protection from so-called 'physical agents', the previous directives having covered vibrations (came into UK law in 2005), noise (due to come into UK law in April 2006) and electro-magnetic fields - see below.

For further details, see http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/047-5200-045-02-07-908-20060209IPR05134-14-02-2006-2006-false/default_en.htm

CONTACT

Simon Duffin, Press Officer, European Parliament UK Office, tel 020 7227 4300, simon.duffin@europarl.europa.eu

DEBATE

Excerpts from Monday's debate (13 February 2006) in Strasbourg

Stephen Hughes (Labour, North East): This directive will benefit workers exposed to risks from artificial sources of optical radiation in a wide range of working environments: everything from electric arc welders to workers using advanced industrial lasers.

At one time this institution took its work on health and safety subjects very seriously, but a rather worrying trend has developed in relation to recent directives. When we dealt, for example, with the directive on vibration, we were told that we must exclude whole-body vibration because – and this was used in the tabloid press – what we were trying to do was to prevent farmers from driving their tractors for more than three or four hours even at the height of the harvest, which was nonsense. When we dealt with the noise directive we were told that we must exclude music and entertainment because what we were trying to do was to force members of orchestras to wear Mickey Mouse ear protectors and that we were about to ban the use of the bagpipes in Scotland. Again nonsense, but it grabbed the tabloid headlines.

The rapporteur made a valiant effort and we tried to help him to give legal certainty to employers when it comes to solar radiation. They are now lacking that legal certainty and still have the full implications of the framework directive and temporary mobile work sites directive to deal with. Hopefully, common sense will prevail at Member State level, as it has so far. That would mean, for example, that a travel agency in my region could quickly discount the risk for employees working indoors in its shops in the north of England, but that it had better take very seriously the risk facing its staff acting as company representatives in Mediterranean resorts throughout the summer months.

Liz Lynne (Liberal Democrat, West Midlands): We now have a sensible directive to protect workers such as welders from artificial radiation. I am delighted that, at long last, everyone has seen sense and removed natural radiation from the remit of this directive.

Not only would it have brought the EU into disrepute again, it would also have been a nightmare for employers and workers alike. Legally, it would have been very difficult to prove whether a worker had contracted skin cancer from the workplace, the back garden or the beach.

Certainly, everyone ought to be warned about the dangers of the sun and that is why I am very much in favour of national campaigns. But once people have been given the information, we are adults and should be able to make up our own minds. It should not be left to the employer to enforce it. That is the nanny state mentality gone too far. Imagine the language from some builders, for instance, if they were told to cover up when they were trying to get a sun tan for their holidays! It is no business of the EU to tell workers that they cannot go bare-chested or wear shorts.

Today's proceedings, and I hope the vote tomorrow, are a victory for common sense. They also demonstrate the power of the European Parliament. If we had not voted the way we did at second reading, the Commission would not have changed its mind and probably, more importantly, neither would the Council.

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