Chemical Hazards and Your Risk Assessment

While the terms ‘hazard’ and ‘risk’ sometimes get used interchangeably, they are very different things when dealing with safety in the workplace. In this post, we look at chemical hazards and your risk assessment to help you understand how you can identify and assess the potential safety issues that may be present at your site.

Workplace Hazards

A hazard in the workplace is a situation or source that can harm people, property and/or the environment. Hazards may be due to the chemicals you have onsite, repetitive job tasks, heavy machinery, electrical systems and more.

HAZARD = DANGER

Hazards can impact your organisation, as well as the surrounding community and the natural environment. That is why the control of this workplace hazard is essential for maintaining chemical safety and compliance.

IMPORTANT: All workplaces will have hazards, however, sites that carry dangerous goods or hazardous chemicals are particularly vulnerable to safety issues such as fire, chemical reactions, environment contamination, unsafe air quality and adverse health effects on staff. Identifying hazards is an ongoing consideration which may change over time due to different work practices, new work groups and changes in chemical inventory.

Examples of Commonly Identified Hazards

Some general safety hazards that may be found in the work environment may include:

• Carcinogens – materials that have the potential to cause cancer in the staff that are exposed to them
• Hazardous chemicals – health effects and physical hazards associated with the particular hazardous substance
• Manual tasks – repetitive manual tasks, including ergonomic hazards, can affect the health of workers and cause serious injuries
• Excessive noise – the level of noise during operational hours can also be classed as a workplace hazard
• Working in hot conditions – adverse health effects on staff who are subject to work in hot conditions
• Unsafe work environment - sexual harrassment, workplace violence and bullying are recognised in Australia as examples of workplace hazards
• Biological hazards – illnesses such as COVID-19, as well as toxins (from biological sources), fungi and pathogenic micro-organisms are just some of the hazards that can be classed as biological
• Psychosocial hazards – the job itself may impact on the mental health of staff

There are a range of general risks that are present in the workplace, in addition to the chemical risks that are unique to your site.

Chemical Hazard Identification

Some hazards that are specific to businesses that have dangerous goods or hazardous substances onsite may include:

• Health hazards – inhalation, skin absorption, contact with the eyes, and ingestion of harmful substances may create health hazards or even fatalities
• Environmental hazards – spilled substances or the accidental release of gases can impact the natural environment, waterways and ecosystems
• Fire or explosion hazard – caused by flammable substances or incompatabilities between chemicals
• Compatibility hazards – when incompatible substances or materials aren’t controlled, they can react and cause damage to the organisation and its surrounds

Workplace Risk

So, what is a hazard and what is a risk? Risk is, quite simply, exposure to the hazard.

RISK = EXPOSURE TO DANGER

While hazards can include a broad range of issues that may impact the mental, physical and emotional health of staff — as well as affecting property, the community and the environment — risk is the danger that is particular to that specific situation in your workplace. Furthermore, there will be a specific level of risk that is apparent in your organisation. Your determined level of risk will consider both the likelihood of an unsafe incident occurring, as well as the consequences that could be the result of this event.

Your chemical risk assessment is the key tool in understanding the level of risk that is apparent in each area of your organisation. Assessing risks is part of the risk management methodology that will allow you to move forward and effectively control the risks that are present.

IMPORTANT: The level at which you identify an exposure to danger is directly related to the controls (or lack of) that you have implemented, maintained and reviewed at your worksite.

Chemical Risk Assessments

To successfully manage the health and safety risks that are in the workplace, you must conduct a risk assessment. This risk assessment must be done onsite (not remotely) by suitably qualified personnel, so that each and every hazard can be identified and the level of risk assessed.

While there are many types of risk assessments that you can conduct, from basic assessments to detailed chemical risk assessments, it’s important that these are done regularly to maintain health and safety in your workplace.

IMPORTANT: Your health and safety duties under WHS law requires you to consider every risk in your workplace. Referring to the WHS regulations and codes of practice is only one part of your overall risk management approach.

Key Points to Consider with Chemical Risk Assessments

When conducting an assessment of the chemical risks at your site, there are some key points to consider.

1. Complete a hazardous substance register so you can accurately identify and note all substances and their hazards.
2. Divide the workplace up in a systematic way so you can effectively conduct the assessment. This may include dividing the workplace up into areas, tasks or work groups.
3. Ensure you have the correct chemical labels and Safety Data Sheets (no older than 5 years) so you can identify the substances onsite.
4. Refer to the WHS Regulations that apply to your jurisdiction so you can ensure that you’re meeting your legal obligations and correctly identifying a safety hazard.
5. Create a chemical risk assessment template that you can use for your risk and hazard assessments.

REMEMBER: If your team are not equipped with the knowledge and experience to conduct an assessment, make sure you get in touch with a suitably qualified professional, such as a Dangerous Goods Consultant, who can provide you with an accurate chemical risk assessment.

Assessment Template

Within your risk assessment template, you should have the following sections:

• Chemical type and product name
• Date
• Description of use of substance
• Hazards that have been identified (refer to SDS)
• Compatibility hazards (when carrying multiple chemical classes)
• Existing control measures (labels, signs, storage, ventilation etc)
• Level of risk rated from low to extreme
• Reason for the risk level
• Action to be taken, based on the Hierarchy of Control

Controlling Hazards and Reducing Risk

Once you've completed hazard identification, and the risks have been assessed, you can then move into the stage of controlling these risks through the Hierarchy of Control, which includes provisions for the elimination of the hazard, substitution of the hazard, engineering controls to isolate people from the hazard, administrative controls to alter the way operations are conducted, and finally personal protective equipment to protect workers from chemical exposure.

The final step in the 4-step risk control methodology is sustaining the controls through regular reviews and adjustments to safety measures such as dangerous goods storage, handling equipment, work procedures and workplace ventilation.

This risk management methodology is cyclical in nature, meaning that new hazards may be identified as your workplace changes and evolves. Reviewing the current controls and conducting further risk assessments after the controls have been put in place is essential in maintaining a high level of chemical safety.

Safety Hazard Identification and Control

If you’d like to continue your learning journey regarding hazard identification and the assessment of risk, we have a template that can help. Our FREE template is the ideal basis for your next chemical risk assessment, helping you clearly identify safety hazards at your site and determine the level of risk. By understanding your hazards and risk, you’ll be able to improve occupational safety in the workplace and reduce the likelihood of serious injuries caused by unsafe working conditions.