{"id":34104,"date":"2025-06-06T16:02:54","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/"},"modified":"2025-06-06T16:14:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:14:19","slug":"hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/","title":{"rendered":"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Between 2020 and 2023, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) conducted <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/osha.europa.eu\/en\/facts-and-figures\/workers-exposure-survey-cancer-risk-factors-europe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a survey in six European countries<\/a><\/span><\/strong> (Germany, Spain, France, Finland, Hungary and Ireland) to assess workers&#8217; exposure to occupational cancer risk factors, based on over 24,000 telephone interviews.<\/p>\n<p>On the basis of this study, EU-OSHA recently published a report dedicated to workers in the health and social care (HeSCare) sector, representing around 3,040 of the participants. This report provides <strong>estimates of the exposure of workers in the sector to 24 occupational cancer risk factors<\/strong>, as well as information on working circumstances and preventive measures in place.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h1>Focus on the health and social sector<\/h1>\n<p>Representing around 11% of all jobs, the health and social care sector is one of the largest employers in the European Union (Eurostat, 2022). According to the EU-OSHA report, <strong>almost 30% of professionals in this sector were exposed to at least one carcinogenic risk factor during their last week of work<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Doctors, nurses, orderlies and laboratory technicians are among the most exposed categories. Overall, men are more often exposed to at least one risk factor than women (34.3% vs. 24.3%).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h1>The main risk factors for occupational cancer<\/h1>\n<p>According to the report, <strong>the most frequent risk factors<\/strong> in the healthcare and social sector, <strong>all levels of exposure combined<\/strong>, are :<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>ionizing radiation (7.4%),<\/li>\n<li>diesel exhaust emissions (6.2%),<\/li>\n<li>solar UV radiation (6.1%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With regard to <strong>the degree of exposure<\/strong>, the report estimates the percentage of workers probably exposed to a risk factor as follows:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-34106 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Capture-decran-2025-06-06-160839-300x180.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Capture-decran-2025-06-06-160839-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Capture-decran-2025-06-06-160839-1024x614.png 1024w, https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Capture-decran-2025-06-06-160839-768x460.png 768w, https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Capture-decran-2025-06-06-160839.png 1518w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h1>Contexts of exposure to cancer risk factors<\/h1>\n<p>Exposure to a carcinogenic agent depends not only on its presence in the workplace, but above all on the <strong>concrete circumstances<\/strong> in which the worker is exposed to it: type of task performed, work environment, frequency and duration of exposure, use or non-use of protective measures, etc.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Ionizing radiation<\/h2>\n<p>Health and social care professionals are mainly exposed to ionizing radiation when using <strong>X-ray machines<\/strong> for diagnostic purposes (X-rays, mammography), <strong>radiology<\/strong> (fluoroscopy, angioplasty), or as part of treatments such as <strong>radiotherapy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The most commonly used protective devices are <strong>shields<\/strong> (lead or Plexiglas) (85%) and <strong>radioprotective clothing<\/strong> such as lead aprons, gloves or thyroid protectors (between 67% and 87%, depending on the task). Use of a <strong>personal dosimeter<\/strong> varies according to the context, while observance of safety distances (more than 2 meters from the source) remains infrequent (7.6%).<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Diesel exhaust emissions<\/h2>\n<p>Workers may be exposed to diesel emissions when they <strong>drive, maintain or travel in diesel vehicles<\/strong> as part of their duties (home visits, medical transport, etc.). Although exposure is generally of low intensity, it remains frequent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Few specific protective measures<\/strong> are reported in this context. There is not always suitable ventilation, nor personal protective equipment dedicated to this type of exposure in the sector.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Solar UV radiation<\/h2>\n<p>Exposure to natural UV radiation concerns professionals <strong>working outdoors during the day<\/strong>, whether in the open air, <strong>in a vehicle<\/strong> with open windows, or <strong>near reflective surfaces<\/strong> (water, glass, metal, concrete). This is particularly true for those working in the home or in rural areas.<\/p>\n<p>Protective measures reported include the <strong>wearing of covering clothing<\/strong> (93% to 99% depending on the case), <strong>sunglasses<\/strong> (up to 48.3%) and <strong>headgear<\/strong> (25% to 32%). On the other hand, the use of sun cream remains low (around 10%), probably due to an underestimated perception of the risk associated with such exposure.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/osha.europa.eu\/en\/publications\/occupational-cancer-risk-factors-europe-findings-workers-exposure-survey-health-and-social-care-workers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Find out more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EU-OSHA recently published estimates of the exposure of workers in Europe&#8217;s HeSCare sector to 24 occupational cancer risk factors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":26095,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[907],"class_list":["post-34104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors - Eurogip<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"EU-OSHA recently published estimates of the exposure of workers in the sector to 24 occupational cancer risk factors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors - Eurogip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EU-OSHA recently published estimates of the exposure of workers in the sector to 24 occupational cancer risk factors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eurogip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-06T14:02:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-06T14:14:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Marie Pendaries\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Marie Pendaries\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Marie Pendaries\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/919983710f1b81ce9c27f97984910681\"},\"headline\":\"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-06T14:02:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-06T14:14:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":551,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Community news\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/\",\"name\":\"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors - Eurogip\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-06T14:02:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-06T14:14:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/919983710f1b81ce9c27f97984910681\"},\"description\":\"EU-OSHA recently published estimates of the exposure of workers in the sector to 24 occupational cancer risk factors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/04\\\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Eurogip\",\"description\":\"Comprendre les risques professionnels en Europe\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/eurogip.fr\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/919983710f1b81ce9c27f97984910681\",\"name\":\"Marie Pendaries\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e9603f71d83b0ead47602fd35191e7cf4a2a08dd638e1f933fa1eb9fe216383f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e9603f71d83b0ead47602fd35191e7cf4a2a08dd638e1f933fa1eb9fe216383f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e9603f71d83b0ead47602fd35191e7cf4a2a08dd638e1f933fa1eb9fe216383f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Marie Pendaries\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors - Eurogip","description":"EU-OSHA recently published estimates of the exposure of workers in the sector to 24 occupational cancer risk factors.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors - Eurogip","og_description":"EU-OSHA recently published estimates of the exposure of workers in the sector to 24 occupational cancer risk factors.","og_url":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/","og_site_name":"Eurogip","article_published_time":"2025-06-06T14:02:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-06T14:14:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Marie Pendaries","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Marie Pendaries","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/"},"author":{"name":"Marie Pendaries","@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/919983710f1b81ce9c27f97984910681"},"headline":"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors","datePublished":"2025-06-06T14:02:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-06T14:14:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/"},"wordCount":551,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg","articleSection":["Community news"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/","url":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/","name":"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors - Eurogip","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-06T14:02:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-06T14:14:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/919983710f1b81ce9c27f97984910681"},"description":"EU-OSHA recently published estimates of the exposure of workers in the sector to 24 occupational cancer risk factors.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/masque-artisanal-covid-19-4969674_1920-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/hescare-sector-report-on-occupational-cancer-risk-factors\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Health and social care sector: report on occupational cancer risk factors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/","name":"Eurogip","description":"Comprendre les risques professionnels en Europe","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/919983710f1b81ce9c27f97984910681","name":"Marie Pendaries","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9603f71d83b0ead47602fd35191e7cf4a2a08dd638e1f933fa1eb9fe216383f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9603f71d83b0ead47602fd35191e7cf4a2a08dd638e1f933fa1eb9fe216383f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9603f71d83b0ead47602fd35191e7cf4a2a08dd638e1f933fa1eb9fe216383f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Marie Pendaries"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34104"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34109,"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34104\/revisions\/34109"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eurogip.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}