EU: European trade unions in favor of a revision of the law on the protection of workers from electromagnetic fields

Take account of scientific progress. European staff representatives answered yes to the consultation launched by the European Commission shortly before the summer (see our dispatch No. 090796) on the need to revise directive 2004/40 protecting workers against electromagnetic fields. The ETUC and the EPSU (in charge, notably, of the medical and electricity sectors), wrote in their answer that scientific progress allows updating the directive both regarding values which can be directly measures by employers, which lead to protection measures, and the limit values of exposure to electromagnetic fields. Indeed, recent research showed that the limits set by the European directive were too strict. They think that a revision is even more needed since the directive doesn’t contain the notion of scientific progress, only considering the mid-term impact of exposure and forgetting about long-term effects.