Asbestos-induced illnesses are still amongst
the most serious occupational diseases in Europe. It was more than 20 years ago that the Occupational Health and Safety Administration
of the federal state of Hesse called for asbestos to be replaced with substances that did not pose a health risk. This call, visionary
back then and still the subject of some controversy amongst experts, has now become one of the guiding criteria in European policy
on occupational health and safety (OH&S). The European Union's new directive on asbestos will give the employees in an expanded Europe
long-term protection against asbestos-induced work-related illnesses in the future.I firmly believe that the European Asbestos Conference in Dresden will provide crucial impetus for the implementation of the new directive at the workplace and that it is thus a milestone on the road to an asbestos-free Europe.
Dr. Bernhard Brückner
Social Services Ministry of the Federal State of Hesse
