Electromagnetic risks, agreement at 15

(B2) Employers in the EU will be required to assess the risks to their workers exposed to electromagnetic fields, electric fields, radio waves, TV waves, mobile phone antennas, as well as large furnaces in the type of those used in the metallurgical industry. This is the meaning of a directive which was adopted unanimously by the Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs of the EU, who met in Council on October 20 (2003) in Luxembourg. According to the new legislation, employers will be required to take preventive measures in relation to electromagnetic waves and fields if the level of exposure is above a certain ceiling. They may also have to take technical and organizational measures, such as installing warning signs in areas with high levels of electromagnetic interference. The directive sets out the elements that employers must take into account in their risk assessment, such as the influence of waves on medical devices such as pacemakers and cochlear implants. The legislation will mainly concern workers exposed to a high risk of radiation, for example in heavy industry or in the treatment of steel and metals. This will also affect people working near radio or television installations, radars and mobile telephone antennas, as well as cashiers exposed for long periods to anti-theft devices in stores.
NB: this directive was definitively adopted on December 15, 2004 (after Parliament's opinion) and published in the Official Journal of December 31, 2004 (directive 04/108).

(NGV)