Genetic Risks and Justice in the Workplace: The End of the Protection Paradigm?

Abstract

In recent years different groups and organizations have made a plea for the restriction of the opportunities for genetic testing of the susceptibility to occupational diseases of incoming employees. These pleas have led to laws and regulations which aspire to prevent new forms of discrimination and social exclusion, and express the undesirability of lifting the obligations of employers to maintain a healthy work environment. Specific and sensitive tests to determine the genetic susceptibility for health risks in the workplace are still not available and one can with good reason be sceptical of the promises that such tests will appear on the market at short notice (see Chapter 7).