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Learn about harmful substances, hazards they pose, related regulations, and safety measures to protect against risks in the workplace. Understand legislation like COSHH Regulations and procedures for handling emergencies.
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Course Administration Time table Emergency procedures Safety & comfort Mobile phones Questions
Harmful Substances • Any material or substance with the potential to cause illness or injury to people who come into contact with it • A substance may be hazardous because it is explosive, flammable, harmful, irritant, corrosive, toxic, produces a chemical reaction or an allergic reaction
Harmful Substances In the UK every year: • 2.2 million people suffer work related ill health • 6,000 die as a result of work related cancer • 500 die from other work related diseases • 39 million working days lost • Costs £4 - £6 billion Figures from HSE
Harmful Substances • Used directly in the work process Paints & thinners, solvents, cleaning agents • Generated during the work process Dust, gases, fumes • Naturally occurring substances Grain dust, silica, asbestos, flour • Biological Agents Spores, bacteria, viruses, moulds, fungus
Acute – Chronic Cancer Asthma Lung disease Skin disease - dermatitis Burns Irritation – skin, eyes, lungs Sensitisation Infectious diseases - hepatitis Neurological damage – lead, mercury Birth defects Impaired fertility Harmful Effects
Harmful Effects Burns caused by lime powder Cancer causing asbestos dust Dermatitis from contact with harmful chemicals
Second woman dies after drinks mix-up Ten elderly residents drank some of the rinsing fluid A second pensioner has died six days after drinking a detergent liquid she was given instead of blackcurrant cordial. The elderly woman, who has not been named, was one of 10 people given dishwasher rinse to drink by mistake at a private care home in Slough, Berkshire. Joan Walters, 80, died earlier in the week after being taken to Wrexham Park Hospital, Slough. Eight other residents of the Lady Astor Court nursing home were treated after drinking the purple detergent liquid. A care assistant is believed to have confused two similarly packaged bottles
Hallmark Healthcare fined £40,000 + £6,000 costs. Elderly resident with Alzheimer's drank from a jug containing sodium hydroxide-based liquid. Jug left unattended in an office accessible to residents. Lack of competence and poor management. Romney Marsh Potato Co fined £3,000 + £2,100 costs and director N Winmill fined £750 + £528 costs. Pesticide decanted into a milk carton and stored in an eating area. Worker injured after assuming carton contained orange juice. No safe system of work or training. Director failed to act
Legislation The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations 2002 The Chemicals (Hazard Information & Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2002 (CHIPS)
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of all employees”: • Safe plant and systems of work • Safe use, handling, transport, storage of substances and articles • Provision of information, instruction & training • Safe place of work including access and egress • Safe working environment with adequate welfare facilities • A written safety policy if more than four employees Further duties extend this requirement to include non employees who may still be affected by the work undertaking
The COSHH Regulations 2002 • Designed to protect employees and others from the effects of harmful substances • Provides more specific guidance than the general arrangements • Outlines an 8 step approach to managing harmful substances in the workplace
The COSHH Regulations 2002 Not included under the COSHH regulations: • Biological agents outside the employers control (flu, colds, measles etc) • Asbestos & Lead • Substances that are hazardous only because they are: • Radioactive • At high pressure • At extreme temperatures
The CHIPS Regulations 2002 CHIP requires the supplier of a dangerous chemical to: • Identify the hazards (dangers) of the chemical, this is known as ‘classification’; • Give information about the hazards to their customers. Suppliers usually provide this information on the package itself (eg a label) and, if supplied for use at work, in a material safety data sheet (MSDS); • Package the chemical safely
The 8 Steps to Reducing Risk Step 1 Assess the risk Step 2 Decide what precautions are needed Step 3 Prevent or control exposure Step 4 Ensure control measures are used Step 5 Monitor the exposure Step 6 Carry out health appropriate surveillance Step 7 Plan for accidents and emergencies Step 8 Provide employees with information, training and supervision
Step 1- Assess the Risks Identify the hazardous substances present in the workplace: • Warning labels • Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) • HSE website – EH40/2005 • Dept of Health • Trade Associations • Specialist agencies
Chemical Hazard Symbols • Oxidising Agent Corrosive Explosive Harmful Toxic Harmful to the environment Flammable Biohazard Radioactive
Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) • Legal requirement placed on commercial suppliers of chemicals and products • 16 Headings • Updated as appropriate • Not designed as a risk assessment • Use of Risk Phrases • Not all harmful substances will have a MSDS
Difficulties With Identification • Unlabelled containers • Substance cannot be detected by our senses • Hazard results from reactions between chemicals • Gradual increases in concentration • Specialist competence required
Nursing home faces chemical alert Thirteen residents had to be evacuated from a nursing home after chlorine-based chemicals were accidentally mixed together. Firefighters were called to the Nyton House Nursing Home, in Aldingbourne, West Sussex, on Wednesday morning to a strong smell of chlorine fumes. The chemicals had been placed in a bucket, but were removed by fire crews to a sealed container. Four people were treated in hospital for the effects of the fumes. West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said it seemed two chlorine-based chemicals used for the swimming pool at the nursing home had been mistakenly mixed together by a workman, causing the release of the fumes
Assessing The Risk Describes the likelihood of harm occurring: Risk = Severity of Harm x Extent of Exposure
Exposure - Dose • Amount Of Substance • Method Of Use • Form Of Substance • Routes Of Entry • Length Of Exposure • Existing Controls • Consider everyone who may be exposed • Working environment
Amount Of Substance • Can be difficult to determine • Factors to consider include: • Varying concentrations over time • Duration of exposure • Accurate measuring of quantities • Changes to form of substance
Form Of The Substance Solid – Liquid – Gas • Dust The term used for small particles of a solid suspended in the air • VapourThe term used to describe the gaseous state of solids or liquids • FumesFormed when solid vapours condense in the atmosphere • MistsSmall liquid droplets that form when a liquid is atomised
Changes Of Physical Form • Solid To Dust – Asbestos & Hardwood Dust • Liquid To Vapour – Petrol • Solid To Fumes – Lead Oxide, Chlorine gas • Liquid To Mist –Paint Spray, Pesticides
Fumes poison workers at animal charity premises Norfolk animal charity and two of its managers were fined a total of £30,100 and ordered to pay £21,120 costs by Norwich magistrates after three workers were badly affected by inhaling toxic fumes from rat poison. All parties pleaded guilty to all charges.
Routes of Entry Into Body • Inhalation • Ingestion – Food/Drink • Absorption – Skin/Cuts • Injection
Step 2 - Decide What Precautions are Needed Compare existing control measures against recognised management standards: • www.hse.gov.uk/coshhessentials • Industry sector best practice • Information on Material Safety Data Sheets • Information on labels • In house policy and guidance • Specialist advise and guidance • Government advice (Dept of Health, HSE etc)
Step 3 – Prevent or Control Exposure Hierarchy of Controls • Eliminate • Substitute • Isolation • Reduce Exposure – Engineering Controls • Reduce Exposure – Procedural Controls • Personal Protective Equipment • Welfare Facilities
Reduce Exposure – Procedural Controls • Reduce numbers exposed to the hazard • Reduce duration of exposure • Prohibit eating-drinking-smoking • Provide welfare facilities • Good personal hygiene • Safe storage of harmful substances • Safe systems of work for routine and non routine activities
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) • Use as a last resort if only control measure • The hazard remains unaffected • It’s effectiveness relies on correct use • Only the wearer is protected • Effectiveness may be reduced over time • Supplied, maintained, cleaned, stored and replaced free of charge • May require specialist fit testing etc • May require specialist disposal • Can be uncomfortable to wear
Step 4 – Ensure That Control Measures Are Used And Maintained • Testing of equipment including PPE • Review of Safe Systems of Work • Review of Risk Assessments • Systems for reporting defects • Accident and incident reporting • Refresher-Update training
Step 5 – Monitor Exposure Mainly concerned with measuring the concentration of hazardous substances in the air likely to be breathed by employees or others May not be required if other methods of adequately controlling employees exposure can be demonstrated
Step 6 – Health Surveillance This is usually only undertaken in specific instances where: • There is an identifiable disease or other identifiable adverse health outcome linked to the work • The disease or health effect may be related to exposure • There is a likelihood that the disease or health effect may occur • There are valid techniques for detecting indications of the disease or health effects exposure to a substance linked to a particular disease or adverse health effects
Step 7 – Plan for Accidents and Emergencies Applies to circumstances where the risk of an accident or emergency involving exposure to a hazardous substance goes beyond the risks associated with normal day to day work
Step 8 – Provide Employees with Suitable Information- Instruction - Training • Legal requirement to provide in a format likely to be understood • Updated as required • Based on required level of competency • General Approach – Low Level • Hazard specific – WELs • Provided by a competent person
Information-Instruction-Training • Details of the hazards associated with work • Risks created by exposure • Significant findings of risk assessments • Access to MSDSs • Appropriate safety precautions • PPE requirements • Findings of any health surveillance • First aid/emergency arrangements • Arrangements for reporting of defects or faults
Golden Rules for Safety • Always check labels before use • Only store in suitable and labelled containers • Store chemicals in a secure area • Never mix chemicals without appropriate advice & guidance • Always wear appropriate PPE correctly • Clear up spillages immediately • Follow Safe Systems of Work • Report any symptoms of ill health immediately • Report any operational or equipment failures
Chemicals mix-up could have ended in disasterA chemical distribution company in Leicestershire found itself in the dock after an employee unwittingly mixed two chemicals together during a routine tidy-up, causing toxic and potentially explosive fumes to billow around the company’s yard, close to the M1 Worker severely burned by chemical spillLack of protective clothing and bad practice led to a broken bottle containing corrosive chemicals severely burning an employee of Wellingborough chemical manufacturer, Mining and Chemical Products.
