Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 398: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding persons (details supplied) with regard to health surveillance; the position regarding X-rays as a means of such surveillance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19422/05]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that the question refers to the exposure of workers to asbestos in the workplace. The protection of workers from exposure to asbestos at work is covered by the European Communities (Protection of Workers) (Exposure to Asbestos) Regulations 1989 (S.I. No. 34 of 1989), as amended. These regulations, inter alia, transpose Council Directive 83/477/EEC of 19 September 1983 on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to asbestos at work. Directive 83/477/EEC has in turn been amended by Directive 2003/18/EC of the European Parliament and the Council which is required to be transposed into national law by the member states by 15 April 2006.

Regulation 22 of the 1989 regulations provides that where the action level at a place of work is or is likely to be reached or exceeded, the employer concerned must ensure that arrangements are made to enable any worker at such a place of work to avail of a health assessment by an appointed doctor. The regulations require that the health assessment in respect of each worker be made by the appointed doctor concerned after medical interview and examination which must include specific examination of the chest.

After making a health assessment of a worker, the appointed doctor concerned must, where appropriate, advise on or determine any individual protective or preventive measures to be taken which may include the withdrawal of the worker from all exposure to asbestos and certify whether the worker is fit, unfit or fit with certain restrictions for exposure to a concentration of asbestos fibres in the air equal to or in excess of the action level. Individual medical records in respect of assessments by an appointed doctor of the health of workers must be maintained by the appropriate appointed doctor and each individual medical record must include the following information: name and personal address of worker concerned; name of employer concerned and the appropriate address or addresses; date of birth of worker; date of commencement of asbestos exposure, if known; medical history; occupational history; the results of clinical examinations, X-rays and spirometry and the significance of the results; the results of asbestos sampling which relate to the worker's exposure; and details of any action taken by the appointed doctor concerned following the results of a health assessment.

Amongst the requirements of Directive 2003/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council are the following: Health examination of workers should be carried out in accordance with the principles and practices of occupational medicine. It should include at least the following measures: keeping records of a worker's medical and occupational history; a personal interview; a general clinical examination, with particular reference to the chest; lung function tests (respiratory flow volumes and rates).

The doctor and-or authority responsible for the health surveillance should decide on further examinations, such as sputum cytology tests or a chest X-ray or a tomodensitometry, in the light of the latest occupational health knowledge available.