"The reason these amounts are so high is because they take all costs into account: direct costs for Member States’ health systems (related to medical treatment), indirect costs for workers and employers (associated with monetary losses due to the cessation of work) and human costs for the victims (impact on the quality of life of workers and their families)," the ETUI stated on its web site.
With more than 100 000 deaths per year, occupational cancers are the leading cause of death in the EU.
"This study shows that the societal cost of work-related cancers is tremendous. It is the workers and their families who shoulder the largest share of the costs. This unjust situation is socially and economically unacceptable, and the EU must take action to put an end to these preventable cancers," Tony Musu, an expert in chemical risks at the ETUI, was quoted as saying.
In 2016, the SSSH trade union federation in Croatia joined in a campaign launched by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) to establish the exposure to 50 types of cancerous substances in the workplace.
According to a press release issued by the SSSH, in Croatia 742 people die of occupational cancers annually.
The most prevailing occupational cancers in Croatia are cancerous mesothelioma and lung cancer. These two types of the malignant disease also cause the highest treatment costs.
SSSH leader Mladen Horvat called for adopting measures to restrict the exposure to cancerous substances in the workplace.