The formaldehyde sector welcomes the progress in ensuring the best conditions for workers

Formacare welcomes strong uptake of its voluntary agreement protecting workers

During the 2019 EU Safety and Health at Work Week, the formaldehyde sector welcomes the progress in ensuring the best conditions for workers

Brussels
In the lead up to 2019 European Week for Safety and Health at Work

Formacare welcomes the strong uptake and implementation of its Voluntary Agreement to implement a pan-European occupational exposure limit (OEL) for workers in the formaldehyde sector.

This is a unique commitment resulting from collaboration between Formacare, the European Chemical Employers Group (ECEG), as well as trade unions representatives from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and industriALL. It voluntarily implements OEL values two years ahead of the requirements from the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive (CMD).

The preliminary results, 6 months after the signature of the Voluntary Agreement, show great progress. The vast majority of businesses have implemented the agreement, with all their workers below the occupational exposure limit of 0.3ppm. The results show that 54% of workers face no exposure at all and 32% are well below the limit at 0.1 ppm. A first annual Progress Report will be published in mid-2020 detailing the full results.

Lars-Eric Johansson, Chairman of Formacare, commented: “We are really pleased with the progress in implementing the agreement so far and it reflects the strong commitment our sector to ensuring the best working conditions for its employees. We know there is still more to do and we will continue the hard work until the agreement is fully implemented across the sector. We look forward to publishing the full results in our progress report next year”.

Formacare is currently looking at how the voluntary agreement can also be extended to downstream users to ensure the same level of protection is proactively covering the whole value chain.

Please click here to read the full agreement.

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About Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring chemical widely produced for applications such as glues for wood panels, coatings for paints, lubricants, high-end plastics, etc. The formaldehyde industry provides direct jobs to 30,000 people in Europe, with as many as 1,7 million jobs in downstream sectors being supported by formaldehyde applications.

About Formacare
Formacare is the formaldehyde sector group of the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) representing key European producers of formaldehyde, aminoplast glues and polyols. Made up of representatives from large chemical and manufacturing companies across Europe, Formacare promotes the safe use and manufacturing of formaldehyde in accordance with the strictest health, safety and environmental regulations.

Media enquiries:
Jonathan Crozier, Secretary General of Formacare
+32 (0) 2436 9451