91Èȱ¬

The range of hazardous substances we may come across is huge and includes, for example, fumes from soldering in our engineering workshops, chemicals in paints and adhesives when constructing sets, biological agents when gardening or on farms, laboratory chemicals in science shows, or dusts on makeover shows.

Some will come within purchased products, some will be created as bi-products of processes, and yet others will be naturally occurring. Some will have acute effects on health, some chronic, and some delayed effects. Thankfully, there are some general principles of control we can apply to all of these to help prevent or minimise personal exposures.

What Can Go Wrong?

• Acute ill-health or injury, for example, chemical burns, allergic reactions, neurological effects
• Chronic ill-health, for example, disease / infection, organ damage, cancer, dermatitis
• Harm to the environment
• Increased fire risk.

Legal/91Èȱ¬ Requirements

•  requires employers to assess the risks from exposures to hazardous substances, prevent or adequately control any exposure, monitor the control measures and, as necessary, arrange suitable health surveillance.

Control Measures

Understand the hazard

• Find out what it is your teams may be exposed to
• For purchased products, check for the danger symbols on their containers or packaging (typically an orange square with warning statement / pictogram, though some now display the international red diamond symbol) – these products are classed as ‘dangerous to supply’
• Products which are dangerous to supply must come with guidance on the hazards they present and how you should handle, use, store and dispose of them safely to minimise the personal exposure risks.  This information may be on the packaging (for simple products) or as a separate material safety data sheet (MSDS) (for the more hazardous / complex products)
• MSDS's can be hard to understand, but the key information you’ll want to know is:

1. what’s in it (chemical names)
2. which routes of entry into the body present the greatest risk (e.g. inhalation, skin absorption, ingestion)
3. what are the ill-health effects it causes
4. what first aid measures should be taken following exposure
5. does it present a fire risk
6. what harm might it do to the environment if released, including to drains and waterways
7. how do I dispose of it safely and legally.

• If the hazardous substance is not a purchased product but is, for example, either released as a by-product of a process (e.g. colophony fumes when soldering, combustion products from diesel generators, wood dust when cutting) or it is naturally occurring (e.g. fumerole outgassing on a volcano, bacterial infection from farmed animals), you’ll need to find out the 'key information' some other way. Your Safety Adviser may be able to help, but if the exposure risks are complex and/or expected to be significant, you will likely need to engage an expert to assess, monitor and report on these risks (e.g. air quality sampling in a sewer location, asbestos surveying when it is proposed to disturb building materials, etc.).

Prevent or Minimise Exposure

• Where you know a hazardous substance is going to be present, you need to assess the personal exposure risk - this will depend on a number of variables, including the nature and period of exposure, existing protective measures, and possibly the age / health condition of the individual (particularly if these pre-dispose them to the ill-effects) - an MSDS is not a risk assessment
• Before going into any detail with your assessment however, think about whether you can simply avoid using the substance, or if you can substitute it with an alternative product which is less harmful / toxic, for example, using a water-based paint instead of a solvent-based one, or use an adhesive which doesn’t contain a chemical with ‘irritant’ properties
• If avoiding the hazardous substance isn't practical, is there anything you can do to minimise personal exposure, for example, can you:

1. handle or use it in a way to minimise skin contact e.g. use a brush rather than a cloth to apply a liquid, use a more dilute concentration, mix in an enclosed container, decant it carefully to minimise splashes
2. minimise the risk of inhalation e.g. use a local extraction system to collect fumes at source, use a vacuum cleaner to collect dust rather than a brush, use water to damp down dust before sweeping up or when cutting masonry, increase general dilution effects by opening windows
3. ensure good housekeeping and hygiene practices e.g. clean and disinfect surfaces which may contain biological agents, mop up spills right away, ensure lids are kept on containers.

• The control option of last resort is to use personal protective equipment (PPE) to put a barrier between the person and the substance – this could include, for example, a mask to minimise the inhalation / ingestion risk, or gloves / goggles / overalls / boots to minimise the skin absorption risk. PPE type and quality varies enormously, so make sure you get good advice on what to use, that it is within any ‘use by’ date (some filters for example have an expiry date), they fit well and are compatible with other work equipment. Safety Equipment Stores can supply most forms of PPE. Check with your  if you have any queries
• For most substances, the severity of the ill-health effects will be directly related to the level of exposure, so the general principle is to control exposure to as low as reasonably achievable (the ALARA principle). However, for some hazardous substances, the ill-health effects can be grossly disproportionate to the level of exposure – these include sensitisers, carcinogens, infectious agents, asthma triggers, etc. - and in these cases, expert advice is likely to be required to advise on safe use (e.g. from environmental scientists, medical practitioners, industrial hygienists)
• Once ready, collate the information on hazards, exposures and control measures in your risk assessment form. Structured ‘Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) forms’ are available which some may find helpful (see Useful Documents)
• Whenever people are exposed to hazardous substances, there must be some form of management monitoring and user reporting to ensure that the control measures are working and ill-health is not resulting. Exposure to some hazardous substances may also require some form of 
• The risk assessment should identify the measures to take in the event of accidental release / personal exposure, including first aid treatment. Some occupational diseases and health conditions are reportable to the HSE under RIDDOR, and some regulations impose the keeping of exposure records for a proscribed period (e.g. 40 years following inhalation of asbestos fibres).

Division Specific Issues

• Incorporating Radio OB MS M025-09 CoSHH