Proposals to update and improve EU rules to protect workers from electromagnetic fields have been put forward by the European Commission. The rules protect workers like doctors and nurses giving patients magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRI).
***EU deal extends the moratorium until 31 October 2013 in order to adopt new legislation***
The European Parliament has extended to 31 October 2013 the application of the directive on electromagnetic fields which was due to take effect on 30 April 2012. At the same time, a new legislative proposal is being scrutinised within the Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs committee.
The new deadline will enable time to find a possible agreement with Council on the new proposal. The European Commission initially proposed to postpone the application of the Directive until 30 April 2014.
Revised EU proposals on electromagnetic fields
The EU proposal took account of the 2004 Directive on minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from electromagnetic fields and updated the current exposure limits to take on board new scientific evidence - particularly in relation to exposure limits of MRI in hospitals. The aim of the proposal is to balance the protection of workers' health and safety with appropriate flexibility and proportionality so as not to unduly hamper the use and development of (industrial and) medical activities.
The proposal also clarified a number of provisions intended to facilitate the work of employers when carrying out the risk assessments required by law.
As employers are obliged to carry out risk evaluations, the proposal will introduce detailed provisions to ensure a proportionate approach as well as to ensure adequate preventive measures to reduce the exposure of workers to electromagnetic fields. The proposal would require employers to give exposed workers and their representatives the necessary information and training, particularly relating to the outcome of the risk assessment, the measures taken by the employer, safe working practices, the detection of adverse effects and the circumstances in which workers are entitled to health checks.
For the medical magnetic resonance imaging sector, or MRI scans, the proposal would require appropriate good practices to be developed and disseminated to limit the exposure of workers who carry out of magnetic resonance imaging scans.
Recent developments on the MRI exemption
Although the original proposals chose to exempt staff using scanners from the exposure limits laid down by the Directive (subject to alternative health and safety checks), proposed amendments sought to alter this and severely curtail use of this life-saving equipment.
Without such an exemption the proposals will restrict and limit the use of MRI in interventional applications and in imaging vulnerable patients and children where closer patient contact is required. Furthermore, new research and developments in MRI will be severely restricted, as will routine cleaning and maintenance of MRI equipment.
The NHS European Office has been seeking urgently to secure changes to the Directive which will ensure that staff are appropriately protected and that patients continue to benefit from this vital technology.
Next Steps
The moratorium gives breathing space to a process which will see the Commission’s proposal being scrutinised by the European Parliament and the Council. If there is agreement on the text, the revised proposal could be adopted swiftly into EU law. The NHS European Office will be engaging with EU decision-makers throughout the process to ensure the exemption for MRI scans remains in the agreed Directive.
For more information please contact: Kate.ling@nhsconfed.org.
Background to the issue
In 2006, the medical community informed the Commission of its concerns regarding the implementation of the existing Directive, claiming that the exposure limit values laid down therein would have made some Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques difficult or even impossible to carry out whilst remaining compliant with the law. Subsequently, other industrial sectors also expressed their concerns about the impact of the Directive on their activities.
In response to these concerns, the Commission asked the Member States to inform it of any difficulties associated with implementation of the Directive. It also launched a study to assess the actual impact of the Directive on medical procedures using MRI. The results of this study were made available in early 2008.
The original EU Directive was due to be implemented in April 2008 but implementation was delayed to 2012 as a result of concerns that the exposure limits set out in the Directive are too low.
First stage consultation of the social partners
In summer 2009, the European Commission launched a formal consultation process with the social partners seeking views on how best to proceed. Both CEEP and HOSPEEM responded to this consultation, with input from NHS Employers and the NHS European Office on behalf of the NHS.
The CEEP and HOSPEEM responses argued that as there is no evidence of long-term damage from EMFs the application of strict exposure limits was unjustified. In addition, if the exposure limits set out in the Directive were implemented there could be a negative effect on the health of workers as it would mean greater use of other scanning techniques most likely using ionising radiation, whose potential for long-term ill health effects is well-known. CEEP and HOSPEEM recommended that the explicit exposure limits should be dropped and the Directive should emphasise the use of risk assessment to determine appropriate health and safety measures.
Second stage consultation of the social partners
The European Commission launched its second stage consultation of the social partners (employers' representatives and the trade unions) on options for improving Directive 2004/40/EC on the protection of workers exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in May 2010.
The European Commission reviewed the responses to the consultation, and also took advice from a range of experts and commissioned a study looking in particular at the potential impact on the use of MRI in the health sector. On this basis, it put together the proposals set out in the second stage consultation document.
NHS Employers and the NHS European Office contributed to the response to the consultation on behalf of the NHS through our social partner organisations, CEEP and HOSPEEM. In particular, the response supported the potential exclusion for workers conducting MRI procedures from the exposure limit values set in the EU law, which would instead be replaced by commonly agreed qualitative preventative and protective measures.