Occupational Exposure Limits

Limit values are laid down throughout the EU, but each Member State establishes its own national OELs, often going beyond EU legislation. OELs are set by competent national authorities and other relevant institutions. OELs can be binding (meaning that they must be met), or indicative (giving an idea of what should be achieved), and they can apply both to marketed products and to waste and by-products resulting from production processes.  

Though they do not cover every substance that is used in the EU, OELs represent an important tool for risk assessment and management, and provide valuable information for occupational safety and health activities concerning hazardous substances. Employers must ensure that the exposure of their workers does not exceed national limits.

All OELs assume that the workers who are exposed healthy adults, although in some cases they also aim to protect ‘sensitive subgroups’. Normally, exposure limits do not apply to pregnant women and nursing mothers, for example, and specific action should be taken where necessary to protect these groups.

The average exposure time in OEL lists is normally eight hours per day (often referred to as TWA-8h or Time-Weighted Average - 8h). OELs are usually based on the assumption that a worker can be exposed to a substance for a working life of 40 years with 200 working days per year.