OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY IN CHEMICALS ON THE ROAD TO EUROPEAN UNION MEMBERSHIP: REACH DIRECTIVE REVIEW

Occupational health and safety is becoming increasingly important in developed and developing countries with the development of technology, growth of industry and increasing quality awareness. Occupational safety covers the measures taken to ensure that employees work in a safe environment and to minimize occupational accidents. The main purposes of these studies are to protect employees from work accidents and occupational diseases, to provide a healthier working environment, to increase efficiency by ensuring production safety and to ensure operational safety. Chemical substances, in particular, pose great risks in terms of occupational health and safety within the industry. The dangers that workers working with chemicals may be exposed to show the importance of occupational safety measures. In this regard, many national legal regulations have been made in the field of occupational safety in Turkey. Our country's commercial relations with the European Union also play an important role in this field. Within the scope of both commercial relations and the EU harmonization process, efforts are being made to comply with EU directives. The European Union has enacted the REACH directive regarding hazardous chemical substances. REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals) means the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemical substances and aims to minimize the harm of chemicals to human health and the environment. In this study; Considering the importance of chemical substances, information is given about the status of chemical substances in our country, definitions of hazardous chemicals and the REACH Directive regarding the environmental and occupational health and safety management of hazardous chemicals in the European Union. Developing a culture of occupational safety in chemical substances, preventing work accidents and occupational diseases, raising awareness and strengthening control mechanisms will contribute to the creation of safer working ...