12/03/2005 This week a
packed auditorium at the European trade union
headquarters in Brussels heard why Europe’s
trade unions support REACH.
At this major event in Europe’s trade union
calendar, John Monks, the European Trade Union
Confederation supremo, was unequivocal in
his support for REACH.
"The ETUC is one of the champions of
REACH. We think it is extremely important
to get it through and are looking for improvements
in the current proposals", he said.
Over 200 people from all countries of Europe-25
attended the two-day debate which looked in
depth at how REACH would help working people.
Participants represented all different aspects
of the world of work: employers and employees
from the chemical, engineering, construction,
metal and textile industries. There were also
high-ranking European officials, MEPS, government
representatives, academics and NGOs.
Chemicals cause one in three of all occupational
diseases
In his opening speech John Monks pointed
out that one in three of all occupational
diseases in Europe is caused by exposure to
chemicals, because of the lack of basic information
about how to use them safely. "At present,
industrial users that work with chemicals
don’t have enough information about what they
are using. Employees will benefit from knowing
the ingredients in the products they work
with".
European Environment Commissioner Stavros
Dimas backed this up in his Conference speech
when he described a recent case where the
failure to provide enough information had
been responsible for the deaths of six workers.
The men had developed lung cancer because
they had sprayed paint, instead of applying
it with a brush, because there had been no
safety instructions to explain that the paint
could be carcinogenic if sprayed.
Savings costs by saving lives
While occupational health and safety is a
major issue for Europe’s workers, keeping
Europe’s working population healthy is financially
important for Europe’s companies and governments.
The meeting heard about a current ETUC study
into the potential financial benefits that
REACH is likely to bring by cutting down skin
and respiratory disorders, two very common
short term occupational illnesses that are
closely related to chemical exposure.
Simon Pickvance, from Sheffield University
UK, who is leading the ETUC study told the
meeting that REACH could save an estimated
€1.4 billion over a 30-year period on these
two occupational disorders alone.
The net balance of REACH is positive for
jobs
Business has argued that REACH will be bad
for business, and so one might expect their
employees to follow suit. However, trade unionists
are fully behind REACH because they feel that
business will benefit from the innovation
that REACH will generate, as companies are
forced to create new, safe chemicals to replace
current hazardous ones.
Spanish trade unionist Estefania Blount from
Comisiones Obreras explained:
"Spain is the fourth largest chemical
producer in Europe, and the chemical industry
has the capacity to innovate. Our experience
is that when new legislation comes up, industry
makes changes and becomes more innovative
and competitive. The REACH phasing-in period
is long enough to overcome localised employment
losses. The net balance is positive".
This view of the positive role for REACH
in stimulating competition was confirmed during
the meeting from another angle was well –
international trade. It appears that the chemical
industries in the US, Japan and Canada are
concerned that European companies will gain
the competitive edge as REACH forces them
to be more innovative.
More safety procedures needed for downstream
users
Great emphasis was made during the Conference
about the position of employees in downstream
user firms in sectors such as car manufacture
or textile production which use goods containing
chemicals. Downstream users are often small-
or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
According to Bernd Eisenbach from the European
Federation of Building and Woodworkers:
"These SMEs have to fulfil their clients’
needs, and while there are regulations governing
chemicals at work in Germany, ninety percent
of them are not implemented and often the
workforce isn’t strong enough to demand proper
protection. This is where REACH will help
protect workers in downstream SMEs. When details
of chemicals are known, we will be able to
work with the companies to bring in less harmful
substances."
Current proposals fall short of needs
While supporting REACH in general, the trade
unions believe that current proposals fall
far short of what is needed to protect health
and safety and are pushing for a stronger
chemical law. They want:
•A ‘Duty of Care’ principle binding on producers
and importers to be reinserted in the proposals.
•More safety information on the 20,000 substances
produced annually in quantities between 1
– 10 tonnes
•Each competent authority should be required
to check the compliance of minimum 5% of its
registration dossiers selected at random
•Strengthening of the role of substitution
in the authorisation procedure
•Extend authorisation to other substances
of very high concern that show serious or
irreversible effects
•Development of workable technical guidelines
for DUs and SMEs (RIP projects)
Negotiations look set to reach a positive
conclusion
During the Conference, Guido Sacconi, the
rapporteur on REACH, was very upbeat about
negotiations over the current proposals. He
believed that as the day for taking decisions
approaches the opposing sides were being forced
to come together and make compromises.
"The job of a rapporteur is to find
compromises. It’s rather like being a traffic
policeman," he joked. "As someone
who has a trade union background myself, I
understand the importance of knowing when
to give up part of your proposal. That’s what
I see happening now".
The Conference heard some positive news from
Jos Delbeke, Director at DG Environment, as
well. He confirmed that there was no question
of the current proposals being withdrawn,
something which had been mooted earlier in
the year. He said that any new amendments
would only be accepted if they fell within
the framework of the current REACH proposals.
Clearly the feeling of the Conference was
that Europe’s workforce will benefit from
a strong REACH. It will improve health and
safety at work and this cannot be bad for
the industry.