Posted on March, 12 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.


For more information: 
Ninja Reineke, Senior Toxics Programme Officer
WWF Detox Campaign 
Tel: +32 2 7400926
E-Mail: nreineke@wwfepo.org
 
Justin Wilkes, Toxics Programme Officer
WWF Detox Campaign
Tel: +32 2 740 0932
E-mail: jwilkes@wwfepo.org