- Date 2023-07-11
Cancer is the leading cause of death of workers in many different sectors. We’re talking around 100.000 deaths in Europe every year! The cause of their disease? Exposure to cancer-causing substances at work! It’s time to get smart about carcinogens at work.
The Roadmap on Carcinogens (https://roadmaponcarcinogens.eu/) is a Europe-wide action scheme to raise awareness and offer solutions.
Factsheets carcinogens
Carcinogens are substances that may cause cancer. There are various forms of carcinogens, including chemical carcinogens, such as nickel and cobalt, and pesticides.. These chemical carcinogens may cause cancer due to their intrinsic properties. In other cases, a particular process may generate exposures, such as fine particles in the air from car exhaust, silica dust on construction sites or hard wood dust in woodwork environments.
Please check the factsheets (available in 18 languages) for further details about specific carcinogenic substances.
To the factsheets >> https://roadmaponcarcinogens.eu/facts/fact-overview/
Solutions
To avoid exposure to carcinogens at work, the best solution is to substitute them.
It’s easy to remember: STOP keeps you safe!
S … Substitution – replace dangerous substances with less dangerous ones. Substitution is always the first measure to consider.
T … Technical measures – from closed systems to effective air suction, many techniques help to reduce the exposure towards carcinogens significantly.
O … Organisational measures –Is your workplace tidy and cleaned on a regular basis? Does everyone wash their hands and faces before eating, drinking and smoking? Shift-working can also limit the exposure to hazardous substances.
P … Personal Protection – sometimes substitution is not possible and technical and organisational measures are not sufficient. If this is the case, you need to use personal protection. Personal protection helps to keep carcinogens away from the lungs and skin.
Many companies have already created solutions to prevent workers from exposure to carcinogens. Take a look in this overview, where you can filter on substance and profession, amongst others.
To the solutions >> https://roadmaponcarcinogens.eu/solutions/good-practices/