Personal protective equipment is the last resort and not a permanent condition
Directive (EU) 2026/2450 sets out the rank of protective equipment for carcinogens and gives wearers a right to breaks. What this means for the substitution assessment for chromate-contaminated insulation systems.
On 30 October 2026 the European Union published Directive (EU) 2026/2450 in the Official Journal. It amends Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens, mutagens or reprotoxic substances at work, enters into force on 19 November 2026 and must be transposed by the Member States by 20 November 2028. Besides new limit values, it contains two additions that apply directly to work on chromium-alloyed hot components with insulation containing basic oxides.
Protective equipment as a last resort
The new subparagraph in Article 5(5) governs when individual protection measures come into play. Personal protective equipment, in particular respiratory protection, “shall be used as a last resort” where exposure cannot be avoided or adequately reduced by other means despite the technical and organisational measures. It must be correctly chosen, individually adjusted to fit the wearer, and maintained in accordance with Articles 4 and 5 of Directive 89/656/EEC.
The hierarchy itself has applied since 1989. Under Article 3 of Directive 89/656/EEC, personal protective equipment shall be used when the risks cannot be avoided or sufficiently limited by technical means of collective protection or by measures, methods or procedures of work organization. The German Hazardous Substances Ordinance provides in § 7(5) that the use of burdensome personal protective equipment must not be a permanent measure. Directive (EU) 2026/2450 now states this hierarchy expressly for carcinogens and names respiratory protection explicitly.
A right to breaks
Article 10 receives a new paragraph 3. Workers who wear personal protective equipment are entitled to regular breaks in an area where there is no risk of contamination. Duration and frequency are determined by taking into account the risk assessment. Directive 2004/37/EC did not contain such an entitlement so far. The provisions that the regulatory analysis of the Chromate Experts examined for Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland do not contain it in this form either.
The entitlement presupposes that a contamination-free area exists and can be reached without spreading contamination. For work on chromate-contaminated insulation systems this means a black-and-white facility with separate changing rooms for street clothes and work clothes and a washroom with showers, as provided for in the operating instruction of the German construction industry accident insurer BG BAU on the removal of chromate-contaminated insulation materials. Every break interrupts the wearing, and under Article 10(1) of the Directive the protective equipment must in any case be checked and cleaned after each use. The effort grows with every hour worked under respiratory protection.
What this means for the substitution assessment
Substitution comes before the last resort. In chromate-contaminated insulation systems the source of exposure lies in the material pairing of a chromium-alloyed hot component and an insulation material containing basic oxides. In operation, this pairing forms the chromium(VI) compounds that are released as chromate-containing dusts and fibres during dismantling. Respiratory protection protects the person who wears it for as long as it is worn. It changes nothing about the formation of the compounds and nothing about their spread via tools, clothing and dismantled parts.
High-temperature insulation materials free of alkali and alkaline earth metal oxides are available, among them VitroSilk® by Cleansulation® Technology. The substitution assessment under § 7(3) of the German Hazardous Substances Ordinance and section 4.1 of the German TRGS 561 therefore decides on the insulation material for reinstallation. Anyone who reinstalls contaminated insulation or replaces it with an insulation material of the same composition creates the exposure of the next dismantling.
Dismantling insulation that is already contaminated remains an activity involving a carcinogenic hazardous substance, for which the German TRGS 561 requires respiratory protection in section 5.9.3. A risk assessment that provides for respiratory protection as a permanent solution for recurring overhauls, while insulation materials free of alkali and alkaline earth metal oxides are available, reverses the hierarchy.
The regulatory analysis
The Chromate Experts have set out the amendment in the regulatory analysis “Personal Protective Equipment as a Last Resort”, with the wording of the provisions of the European Union, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland and Great Britain. It is available for download in English, German, Dutch and Polish in the compendium of the Chromate Experts.
How the chromium(VI) compounds form on insulated hot components is described in the expert analysis “The Overlooked Ingredient” on cr6.info.
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