Resources on Industrial Process Health Hazards

Regulatory Agencies UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Irish Health and Safety Authority (HSA) Safe Work Australia USA Occuaptional Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) USA NIOSH – Industries and Occupations International Labour Organisation ILO Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety Campaigns BOHS – Breathefreely Breathefreely Australia Industry Organisations TWI (Welding) ECFIA (Ceramic fibre) CONCAWE (Petroleum

Resources – Effects of Hazardous Substances

  European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) for information on the classification and labelling requirements for substances on the market in the European Union The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have extensive information on hazardous substances including: Pocket Guide Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) Values GESTIS – A series of  very

Risk Management Measures in the real world

At the end of October, I travelled over to Helsinki for a few days. I’d been invited to deliver a short course on “Risk management measures in a REACH context”  to personnel working for the European Chemicals Agency* (ECHA) who are responsible for evaluating the dossiers chemical manufacturers have to submit under the European REACH

Reconsidering the “hierarchy of control”– Part 1

We normally take a break from running courses over the summer – most people are more interested in enjoying some time off than attending an intensive week of study. But it was back to business as usual last week delivering the BOHS module M103 “Control of hazardous substances” in Chester. I’ll also be running the

BOHS North West meeting on Managing Chemicals

Companies that manufacture, sell and use chemicals are currently facing new challenges presented by the requirements on the management of chemicals in the workplace introduced by the REACH and CLP (Classification, Labelling and Packaging) Regulations. It’s important for anyone involved with the use of chemicals to make sure they’re aware of the legislation and how

Listing ingredients on safety data sheets

I received the following query from a client recently: “At what point does a chemical have to be named as an ingredient on a safety data sheet (SDS)?” It’s a simple question but it requires a complicated answer!! Users of substances and products that are mixtures of several different substances need to know what they

Monitoring skin exposure to chemicals

Inhalation is normally considered to be the main route by which chemicals can enter the body. Most industrial processes where chemicals are used will create airborne dust clouds or lead to the evolution of vapours and gases which are readily inhaled and then absorbed into the bloodstream via the respiratory system. However, in some cases

Testing walk-in spray booths

We recently received a query from a client who carry out paint spraying of isocyanate based two pack paints in a large walk-in type spray booth. They wanted us to carry out sampling to help them to decide when it was safe to enter the booth without their workers wearing their air fed masks. This

Glove boxes

Glove boxes are often used in the pharmaceutical industry to control highly toxic “active” agents used in drug formulations. In principle they should provide a high degree of protection for the user. The contaminant is completely contained inside an extracted enclosure while the worker is outside. So when we’re carrying out a risk assessment and

The mysteries of chemistry

In the early days of our profession, most occupational hygienists were probably originally analytical chemists. They would carry out sampling and then analyse the samples they’d collected. Their background meant that they had an in-depth knowledge of chemical principles. These days things have changed. In my experience a large proportion of people moving into the