Legislative Decree No. 39 of 15 February 2016 (which entered into force on 29 March 2016), makes significant changes to Legislative Decree No. 81 of 9 April 2008 on the management of chemical agents.
Specifically, it obliges all companies carry out a chemical risk assessment based on the new classification of chemical agents introduced by EC Regulations No. 1907/2006 and No. 1272/2008.

Indeed, Article 223, subsection 1 of Legislative Decree No. 81 of 9 April 2008, imposes the following post-amendment requirements:

“In carrying out the assessment referred to in Article 28, the employer makes a preliminary finding as to the presence of hazardous chemical agents in the workplace, and also assesses the health and safety risks to workers of those agents, taking into account the following in particular:

a) their hazardous properties;
b) the health and safety information notified by the supplier by the relevant safety data sheet provided pursuant to EC Regulation No. 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and Council;
c) the level, mode and duration of the exposure;
d) the circumstances in which the work is performed in the presence of these agents, taking into account the quantity of the substances and mixtures that contain them or that could give rise to them; [4]
e) the limit values of occupational exposure or the biological limit values; an initial list of these is provided in Annexes XXXVIII and XXXIX;
f) the effects of the prevention and protection measures adopted or to be adopted;
g) if available, the conclusions drawn from any health surveillance already undertaken”.

Furthermore, Legislative Decree No. 39 of 15 February 2016 also amends Legislative Decree No. 151 of 26 March 2001 on the protection of pregnant women and lactating women, still in connection with the new provisions introduced by the aforementioned EC regulations.

We are happy to clarify any issues by email: commerciale@cds-brescia.it.

(19 April 2016)

Following the new EU Regulation 605-2014 (CLP Regulation), changes were made to the harmonised classification and labelling of certain substances listed in Annex VI to the CLP Regulation. A number of pejorative classification changes may be mentioned, for example:

Ø Formaldehyde: from carc. Cat. 3 R40 to carc. Cat. 2 R45 (H350) and is also classified as a mutagen cat. 3 R68 (H341);

Ø Styrene: the classification is added as Repr. Cat. 3 R63 (H361d), and STOT RE 1 (H372) for the auditory organs.

As to the safety implications, note that the change of classification for formaldehyde significantly alters the regulatory framework for companies that handle this substance. More particularly, the substance falls within the scope of Title IX of Legislative Decree 81/08 Chapter II for carcinogens and mutagens, with additional obligations for the Employer, including:

Ø Obligation to replace the agent where technically possible, or alternatively the obligation to put in place a closed-loop system, or alternatively to reduce the number of exposed workers to a minimum

Ø Obligation to update the risk assessment for the risk in question, at least every 3 years (including data on the investigations carried out on the number of workers exposed…)

Ø Obligation to implement the industrial hygiene examination (art. 237 subsection 1 letter d)

Ø Obligation to provide targeted mandatory training at least every 5 years

Ø Obligation to draw up and notify the Register of Exposed Workers to the Local Health Authority (ASL) every 3 years

Ø obligation to provide locker rooms with lockers that contain separate compartments where the worker can separate normal clothes from work clothes/PPE

Ø Obligation to perform special health surveillance

Ø Obligation to notify supervisory bodies in the event of unforeseeable exposure or accident

Note also that depending on concentration levels, mixtures with formaldehyde may also be Toxic (R23/24/25), and this also has implications for the applicability of Legislative Decree No. 334/99, as amended.

It should also be noted that formaldehyde is not found exclusively in the form of a product or mixture (e.g. applications in pathological anatomy, disinfection): most formaldehyde produced is used to produce polymers and other chemical compounds, e.g. thermosetting resins, plastic laminates, insulating foams, adhesives, polyoils; with urea it is used as a bonding paint for wooden laminated chipboard or MDF; it is also contained in the sound-absorption panels of false ceilings and in the partition walls of open space offices. It also used in textile dyes.

In all these applications, therefore, there is a risk that this substance may be released into the work environment, particularly where high-temperature processes are underway.

The classification of Formaldehyde as “carcinogenic, 1/B”, which was to enter into force from 1 April 2015, has been postponed until 1 January 2016.

The updating of the Risk Assessment Document must therefore be postponed until this date.

Where workers are exposed (laboratories, health, industry, cosmetics) the following obligations are therefore extended until 01.01.2016:

Employer: to adjust the risk assessment document to the application of the provisions of Title IX – Chapter II of Legislative Decree 81/08;

in the event of exposure, the following obligations apply: to maintain the Register of workers exposed to carcinogens, to ensure health surveillance, to collaborate in the training of workers and selecting PPE, to organise a heath inspection when the employment relationship has ended, to transmit the medical health and risk file to the National Institute for Insurance against Occupational Accidents (INAIL, formerly the ISPESL) in the event of termination, to request the medical health file from ISPESL (if the employee does not have a copy) when commencing employment, etc.

Regulatory changes have taken effect in recent years in the area of safety and prevention at work, dealing with aspects related to the further risk of inappropriate behaviour including the consumption of alcohol.

The Legislature has introduced a prohibition on the consumption and supply of alcoholic beverages in the context of working activities that involve a high risk of occupational accidents, including the possibility of testing workers for alcohol content and has also – in the context of health surveillance – made provision for testing the absence of alcohol dependency and the ingestion of psychotropic and narcotic substances.

APPLICABLE REGULATORY PROVISIONS:
Law 125/2001 – Framework Law on alcohol and alcohol-related problems
Introduction of a prohibition on consuming and supplying alcoholic beverages and spirits in the context of working activities that involve a high risk of occupational accidents or that pose risks to the health or safety of third parties, and provision for the alcohol content testing of workers by the company doctor or by occupational physicians attached to the workplace safety and prevention services of the Local Health Authority (ASL) (art. 15)

Ruling 16/3/2006 of the “State-Regions Conference (CSR)”
Identification of working activities that involve a high risk of occupational accidents or that pose risks to the safety or health of third parties (art. 15 of Law 125/2001)

Legislative Decree 81/2008 and Legislative Decree 106/2009 – the “Consolidation Act on safety in the workplace” Obligation to assess all risks. Health surveillance also aimed at assessing the absence of alcohol dependence and the use of psychotropic substances. The same Decree provides, furthermore, that the employer should adopt measures for prevention and for the safety of workers, also in relation more specifically to the risk associated with alcohol consumption, and requires workers to comply with the same.

Operators who are engaged in the hazardous activities indicated in the State-Regions Conference agreement of 16.3.2006 (list provided below) are forbidden from consuming alcohol also prior to work or during meal breaks, as the presence of alcohol in the blood contributes to the risk of occupational accidents or adversely effects the health of third parties.
This prohibition also applies to operators who are on call and who are involved in the activities aforementioned.

Contact C.D.S. at 030.24.29.612 for more specific advice on the topic.

The European Agreement on Stress at Work of 8 October 2004, to which Legislative Decree 81/08 refers, states that “stress is a state, which is accompanied by physical, psychological or social complaints or dysfunctions and which results from individuals feeling unable to bridge a gap with the requirements or expectations placed on them.”

What factors cause work-related stress?

Not all indications of stress at work may be related to work itself. Indeed, stress caused by reasons outside work may lead to a decline in work performance. The factors that cause work-related stress may be linked to both the content of the work and its organization: poor communication, job insecurity, physical or social isolation, too much or too little work, shifts that are too long or that affect social rhythms …

Is it necessary to assess work-related stress?

Legislative Decree 81/08 specifies the obligation for employers to assess the risks linked to work-related stress. Further details are available in the Ministry of Labour Circular of 18 November 2010.

From 1 January to 31 March occupational health physicians must provide in electronic form the information specified in attachment 3B concerning Health and Safety Supervision for the previous year.

The Ministerial Decree of 9 July 2012 redefined the contents of attachments 3A (risk, health and safety record) and 3B (communication to the local health authority of workers’ occupational risk, health and safety data) of Legislative Decree 81/08 and how to forward attachment 3B.

In particular, Art. 3 of the Ministerial Decree of 9 July 2012 specifies the content and forms for the forwarding of the aggregated data and those on workers’ occupational risks.

In particular:
1) The communication of data for epidemiological purposes, see preceding para., has to be done by the Occupational Health Physician by the end of the first quarter of the year following the year concerned.
2) The forwarding of the data covered by the preceding paras. 1 and 2 has to be done solely in electronic form (through the INAIL portal).

This task is compulsory for the Occupational Health Physician and accompanies other mandatory duties such as inspections, annual meetings, consultancy on the risk assessment document, etc.

This task entails the collection of statistical data using electronic tables, which then have to be manually transferred using the portal made available by INAIL for this purpose.

Once the data have been recorded, the company will be notified – by electronic communication – by INAIL of the commencement of the collection of data on the health and safety activity of the Occupational Health Physician.