Employers have reported an increasing number of employees in the ASA register, the Finnish register of workers exposed to carcinogenic substances and processes.
About 66,700 exposed employees were reported in 2024, which is about 5,200 more than in 2023. Approximately 88 per cent of those exposed were men.
ASA reports were submitted for nearly one hundred different carcinogenic exposure agents. The majority (83%) of ASA reports related to the ten most common exposure agents. Work methods highlighted in the reports involve exposure to crystalline silica dust (quartz dust), diesel engine exhaust fumes, stainless steel welding fumes, deciduous wood dust or substances created or generated by the combustion process and used combustion engine oils. Other most common exposure agents included nickel and its inorganic compounds, asbestos, formaldehyde and arsenic and its inorganic compounds.
A total of 40 per cent of those reported were exposed to quartz dust
The notifications are made by work department. The employer can determine the size and scope of a department, but the departmentit should primarily include employees with similar exposures. In 2024, ASA reports were submitted for approximately 3,300 departments, which is about 200 more than in the previous year. All of the most commonly reported exposures were reported at a higher rate than in the previous year.
In 2024, approximately 26,200 employees were reported to have been exposed to crystalline silicon dioxide, i.e. primarily quartz dust, which accounts for 40 per cent of all workers recorded in the ASA register. Reports of exposed to quartz were recorded for nearly 1,100 work units.
There were approximately 10,000 people exposed to diesel engine exhaust fumes, approximately 8,300 exposed to stainless steel welding fumes and nearly 8,100 reported to be exposed to deciduous wood dust. Approximately 6,900 people were reported to have been exposed to substances produced in combustion processes and approximately 6,100 to nickel compounds. The number of people exposed to used engine oils was approximately 5,500 and the number of people exposed to asbestos was approximately 4,700. Nearly 4,600 people were reported to have been exposed to formaldehyde.
Field of construction, the work of rescuers, and the installation and repair of vehicles and machinery are highlighted
By occupation, the majority of exposures affected about 4,200 people in the agricultural and industrial machinery technicians and repairers, where the total number of individual exposures was about 7,600. Many of them were simultaneously exposed to several substances, such as used motor oils, stainless steel welding fumes, quartz, diesel engine exhaust fumes, nickel compounds, asbestos, arsenic, deciduous wood dust and chrome(VI)- compounds.
Approximately 3,800 rescue firefighters were registered, which is approximately 700 more than in 2023. Work process including substances generated in the combustion process was the carcinogenic agent reported for rescuers. The second largest occupational group exposed to a single substance was building construction workers, with about 3,700 submitted reports related to exposure to quartz. Approximately 3,400 reports regarding exposure to stainless steel welding and thermal cutting fumes of welders and oxygen cutters were submitted.
There was exposure to diesel engine exhaust fumes in several occupations, with the largest groups being mechanics and repairers of motor vehicles and agricultural and industrial machinery.
By industrial sector, the most exposure reports, about 6,400 were submitted from the residential and other building construction sector, where exposure to quartz, deciduous wood dust, asbestos, stainless steel welding fumes and diesel engine exhaust fumes were common, for instance.
Submit an ASA report
- ASA reports must be submitted annually via the electronic ASA notification system: Tee ASA-ilmoitus verkossa | Työterveyslaitos (in Finnish)
- The report for the previous year must be submitted by 31 March of the current year.
- The website also includes a guide and instructional video on how to submit the report.
- If the reporting obligation of a work unit or the entire workplace has ended, notification of this must be made by sending a message to asa [at] ttl.fi.
Further information
- Sanni Uuksulainen, Senior Specialist, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Sanni.Uuksulainen [at] ttl.fi, tel. +358 46 850 5132
