Welcome back again towards the last stages of our whiteboard series on managing hazardous chemicals. This one is talking about how to actually control and what sort of control measures you need to consider when you are using hazardous chemicals in the workplace.
I’m going to use a simple flow in the video to illustrate it.
We have a hazardous chemical and we have done our risk assessment, and from our risk assessment we have the term and the level of risk that workers and others may be exposed to.
We then decide what we need to do in relation to that hazardous chemical, we should be applying what is called the hierarchy of risk control. We need to be looking at whether or not we can control that hazardous chemical itself, or whether we need to actually manage it through some administrative or personal protective equipment process.
Obviously, it is far better to manage a hazardous substance within itself, in other words we try and create a safe workplace.
How do we do that? We consider the hazardous chemical, the energy path and the person.
Can I control that hazardous chemical at the source? Could I eliminate it? Can I get rid of it out of the workplace? Can I use a substance that is less hazardous?
For example, can I use a water-based paint rather than using a solvent based paint?
That then goes to substitute the hazard, can I substitute the hazard for one that is less hazardous? For example, I might have a hazardous chemical which is in powder form, could I use that in pellet form? Therefore, because it is pellet form there is less risk of dust being inhaled by workers, so, could I substitute the hazard?
As you can see with both of those we are actually starting to deal with the actual hazardous chemical and reduce the risk associated with that hazardous chemical.
If I can’t do that then I might need to look at how I can control that on the energy path, in other words how can I stop that substance entering or coming into contact with a worker, not by providing the PPE but by actually doing something in and around that hazardous chemical.
For example, could I isolate the hazard? If I am dipping a substance in a hazardous chemical, could I enclose that entirely and have it as a remote operation? So, we’re isolating the hazard away from the worker.
Could I engineer the hazard? Could I put in a ventilation system that is going to draw the chemical or the fume away from the workers breathing zone, using things like a fume cupboard? That will control the path.
Now one thing we should always consider, can we manage hazardous chemicals in this area and create a safe workplace. If we create a safe workplace we are actually looking after all of the workers or most of the workers, however, we must accept that there are times when we cannot control it at this level and we need to create a situation where we are making the worker safe.
We do that through administrative controls. An administrative control may be that we reduce the exposure of a person to that chemical. Administrative control might be providing a worker with training on how to use that substance and we will do another whiteboard session on training of workers.
Can we develop a standard operating procedure? Do we need to define exactly how the worker is going to use that hazardous chemical? They again, will be preferable to the last one which is personal protective equipment. In some instances, we may need to provide personal protective equipment but we must remember if we are going to provide personal protective equipment for managing the risk associated with hazardous chemicals that
- The personal protective equipment must be suitable for the substance that is being used or the chemical that is being used
- It must be maintained
- It must be clean
- It must be fit for purpose
- The worker must be trained in its use
- It must fit the worker
So, there are a number of things we need to consider if we look at using personal protective equipment as the form of control.
Wherever possible we should consider personal protective equipment as the last control, looking at dealing with it at the source, on the path or through administrative means rather than just depending on wearing personal protective equipment.
That’s all for this session, and we will come back and talk to you about training in the next whiteboard session.