Cobalt, Cancer and Compliance: What Managers Need to Know About New EU Rules

The legislative work of the European Parliament continues with significant files progressing through committee stage. Last week, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs EMPL examined the sixth revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive, presented by its rapporteur, Liesbet Sommen of the EPP Group.

In the briefing on the impact assessment for the revision of the Carcinogens, Mutagens and Reprotoxic Substances Directive, the analysis highlights that work-related diseases impose significant costs on businesses, including reduced productivity, higher insurance payments, absenteeism and loss of output due to mortality, costs that companies often do not fully internalise in their operations.

Strengthening and harmonising occupational exposure limits across the EU is therefore expected to have a positive overall economic impact on businesses by reducing these health-related burdens and creating a more level playing field within the single market.

The assessment also notes that transitional measures (such as phased-in implementation periods) have been considered to help businesses adapt to new requirements without excessive disruption.

The revision forms part of the European Union’s ongoing effort to strengthen occupational health and safety standards and to further reduce exposure to dangerous substances at work. In her address to the Committee, Ms Sommen recalled the scale of the challenge:

Every year in the European Union, around 120,000 workers develop cancer due to exposure to dangerous substances at work, and around 80,000 die. With the sixth revision of the Directive on carcinogens and mutagens, we aim to reduce these risks and better protect workers. It introduces new binding exposure limits for substances such as cobalt. It also includes welding fumes when they contain harmful substances.

Liesbet Sommen

EPP Group

The proposal introduces updated binding occupational exposure limits, including for cobalt, and clarifies the inclusion of hazardous welding fumes within the scope of the directive.

Occupational cancers remain one of the leading causes of work related deaths across the Union, which explains the continued legislative focus on this policy area.

In her exchanges with CEC European Managers, Ms Sommen also placed the revision within a broader industrial perspective:

This revision supports the EU’s goal of preventing work related deaths and improving health and safety at work while at the same time, acknowledging that substances like cobalt are important for key industries such as battery production and for the strategic autonomy of the EU.

Cobalt is a strategic raw material with a central role in battery production and in Europe’s green and digital transitions. The parliamentary debate reflects the need to uphold high standards of worker protection while recognising the importance of maintaining strong and competitive industrial value chains within the Union.

As part of her ongoing work, Ms Sommen visited a cobalt refinery in Finland and a production site in Olen in Belgium. The visits enabled her to assess the potential impact of the legislation on one of the only cobalt refineries in Europe and to exchange views with trade union representatives active at the plant. Negotiations on the European Parliament mandate are currently ongoing.

For leaders and managers, this means they can play a proactive role in compliance and risk management by integrating the updated exposure limits into workplace safety policies, planning for transitional changes, and investing in preventive measures that protect worker health and enhance productivity while aligning with evolving EU standards.

European legislation in the field of occupational health and safety shapes the regulatory framework within which companies and their leadership operate. Among the member organisations of CEC European Managers is FECCIA, the Federation of European Managers working in the Chemical Industry.

FECCIA (European Federation of Managers in the Chemical Industry), the largest European sectoral trade union federation for managers, has carefully monitored the developments of CMD 1 to 6 as well as any of that legislation relating to occupational health and safety in the chemical industry.

As one of the six EU Social Partners, CEC European Managers values constructive dialogue with policymakers and has been directly in touch withLiesbet Sommen (MEP, EPP Group), Rapporteur of the 6th revision of the Carcinogens and Mutagens Directive, who has shared her with CEC impressions on the ongoing legislative work.