On May 28 2025, the Slovenian Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (MoLFSA), in cooperation with EU-OSHA and the Labor Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia (LIoRS) organized an international webinar: Prevention of Occupational Cancer.
Exposure to carcinogens threatens the general health and quality of life of workers and affects their presence at work and productivity. As many as 53% of work-related deaths in the EU are linked to exposure to carcinogens at work (OSHwiki). It is estimated that almost 80,000 people die from occupational cancer in the EU every year. In addition, more than 120,000 people are diagnosed with occupational cancer every year. Diagnosis is often made many years after exposure, as the time between exposure and the development of cancer can be very long. The worker may therefore be retired when the disease develops.
The seminar presented the results of the Workers’ Exposure to Cancer Risk Factors in Europe (WES) survey , which was conducted by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) in Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Hungary and Finland in 2023, to the Slovenian public for the first time. The survey provides data and findings on the likely exposure of workers to 24 known cancer risk factors in the last working week.
- Prof Dr Alenka Franko, MD (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine) presented classification of carcinogens and various forms of occupational cancers, including the procedure for recognizing cancer as an occupational disease.
- Marine Cavet (EU-OSHA) presented results of the Workers’ Exposure Survey on Cancer Risk Factors in Europe (WES).
- Dr Lidija Korat (LIoRS) presented Targeted Inspection Action regarding exposure to carcinogenic, mutagenic, and reprotoxic substances which is being carried out this year by LIoRS.
The playback of the webinar is available in English and Slovenian. Scroll down on this webpage.
