If carrying out a risk assessment on all the chemicals used, stored, handled, and generated at your workplace seems like an overwhelming task, then this is the blog post for you. We’ll help you simplify the chemical risk assessment process by breaking it down into smaller, more manageable segments. This post will explain how to divide up your workplace, examine current work practices and source further material which will be valuable during your assessment. We’ll also touch on the importance of identifying both physical and health hazards when conducting your chemical risk assessment.
REMEMBER: Chemical risk assessments can be complex operations, with a high level of knowledge required to ensure that your workplace meets safety standards. If your team doesn’t have the expertise to conduct a risk assessment, make sure you enlist the assistance of a professional, such as a Dangerous Goods Consultant.
Step 1: Divide Up The Workplace
If you’re workplace is too large to be assessed as a whole, we suggest simplifying your risk assessment by dividing your physical workspace up into specific sections, whether that’s by location, work groups or chemical types.
Depending on the way your operations are managed this could be done by grouping the risk assessment by:
a) Physical Location
Carrying out a risk assessment at each physical location can be useful at work sites that have a very clear separation of work areas and generate unique departmental hazards. A generic example of this would be a flour milling plant that is divided into clear departmental areas with very little overlapping of staff outside their physical work zones. These would include:
-
Grain storage and raw materials intake
-
Milling production area with bulk distribution points
-
Warehouse for packing, storage, and distribution
-
Administration building and laboratory
-
Maintenance workshop and spare parts/supplies stores
-
Weighbridge and site entry points
Your chemical risk assessment could be conducted in each departmental area. Consider identifying each of the chemicals used or stored in that area, then move on to assessing how the workers in the area are exposed or affected by the hazardous substances.
Example: Warehouse staff are consistently exposed to diesel emissions as trucks enter the building for loading. Forklifts loading pallets also produce emissions. Other staff irregularly visit the warehouse and it’s only for short periods.
b) Work Groups
Workplaces that don’t have clear physical work zones or departmental areas might conduct risk assessments within similar work groups. Especially if it can be established that chemical exposure is representative of their entire work group. This would be especially useful for:
-
Cleaning or maintenance staff whose work takes them into all areas of the job site
-
Workgroups who rotate in different areas of the job site according to shift patterns
-
Seasonal, remote, and offshore workers
-
Workers using known carcinogens or other substances that require ongoing health monitoring
Example: The painting crew are consistently exposed to paints and solvents through both inhalation and skin contact. Many of the paints and solvents are also flammable, so there is always a risk of fire or explosion wherever they are working.
c) Chemical Groups
Risk assessments can also be conducted according to chemicals groups. Some examples include:
-
Hazard classes (eg, flammable liquids, compressed gases, explosives, toxic substances)
-
Usage (eg, spray paints, solvents, glues and adhesives, pesticides)
-
Storage/Handling (eg, bulk stores, package stores, decanting stations)
Example: Empty gas bottles are frequently left unattended in the work areas where they were used. It is often several days before they are returned to the gas bottle stores. Several holding straps in the main LPG store are broken and don’t hold the cylinders in place.
Step 2: Examine Work Practices and Conditions
Once you’ve segmented the workplace you’ll need to consult with the workers and contractors in who work in these areas to obtain a full list of substances and the way they are being used. This process also involves observing staff on the job and speaking with supervisors.
Example: Workers changing LPG tanks on the forklifts are only wearing cotton gloves (or none at all) instead of thermal protection gloves.
It’s important to note when workers aren’t strictly adhering to operating procedures when performing certain tasks. You may discover that the operating procedure itself is creating an additional hazard because it is inefficient or the PPE assigned for the task is difficult to use, bulky, or broken.
Chemical hazards can also arise during scheduled maintenance, equipment breakdowns, power outages, cleaning, and staff absences. These should also be factored into your risk assessment.
Example: Whenever Manager X is on days off or annual leave workers cannot access the Register of Hazardous Chemicals, First Aid kits, and some PPE. These items are kept in locked cabinets and they key is always with the manager.
Step 3: Sourcing Other Information
Your risk assessment should also take a wider look into the workplace by examining incident, accident, and sick leave reports that may have information about chemical spills, fires, illnesses, injuries, and near misses. Examples include:
-
Sick leave records can indicate a chemical accident, fire or exposure that was never officially reported.
-
Safety meeting minutes can expose a chemical hazard reported by a worker but never followed up.
-
Supplier invoices with out-of-sequence purchases of chemicals, first aid supplies, or fire protection equipment can indicate unreported chemical spills or accidental releases.
-
Recurring accidents involving the same employee (or the same department) can indicate training inadequacies or slack supervisors.
Including Health Hazards and Physical Hazards in your Risk Assessment
When structuring your onsite chemical risk assessment, it’s vital that you consider the hazards associated with your products. This includes both the health hazards, as well as the physical hazards associated with your chemical products.
Consider health and physical hazards when you are conducting your risk assessment.
Assessing Chemical Health Hazards
When assessing chemical health hazards, the main consideration is understanding the different situations where people could come into contact with the chemicals. You need to identify which of your workers is potentially at risk (plus other contractors, visitors or customers) and the extent of the exposure.
You will need to take into consideration:
- Physical form and concentration of the substance (eg, liquid solvent 60% Toluene).
- How the chemical could get into the body and affect human health (eg, inhalation).
- The chemical and physical makeup of the substance (eg, toxicology).
- Duration of exposure (eg, length of shift).
- Other chemicals being used (eg, chlorine and ammonia together can create a toxic gas).
- Individual health factors (eg, age, weight, allergies of individual workers).
REMEMBER: When chemicals are a health hazard they are often toxic to animals, plants, fish, and the environment. You’ll also need to consider this in your risk assessment.
Physical Hazards
A chemical is a physical hazard if the chemical can burn (or support a fire), explode, or react dangerously (by itself or) when in contact with another substance. While chemical health hazards are primarily assessed on how they will impact human workers, physical hazards are assessed by how they are impacted by other materials and ignition sources.
Let’s take a look at each of them below.
Fire Hazards
When a chemical is identified as flammable, combustible or an oxidiser you’ll need to assess how the chemical could create a fire.
This will include identifying and considering:
- Flashpoint of flammable liquids
- Location of existing chemical stores(are they away from heat, ignition sources, combustibles, vegetation, refuse and hazardous waste)
- Correct segregation of Dangerous Goods by hazard class
- Work practices and machines that generate heat, sparks, require a naked flame/burner
Explosion Hazards
For explosion hazards, identify whether the explosive is an unstable material that can detonate, or a compressed gas.
You’ll need to know the ways an explosion could occur:
- If a chemical comes within its explosive limits
- When you’re carrying any chemical product that is capable of causing an explosion, such as Class 3 Flammable Liquids or lithium-ion batteries.
- Decomposition after a dropping a cylinder.
- The detonation of nitroglycerine and TNT.
Reactive Hazards
When using or storing reactive chemicals you’ll need to know how they could react and the consequences of the reaction.
This will include:
- Temperatures, climate or conditions that could cause a spontaneous reaction.
- Incompatible substances or materials.
- Handling and storage hazards.
Chemical hazards can be increased (or even created) through incorrect handling, poor housekeeping, and storage. A worker falls over while carrying an acetylene cylinder, a container of acid left on a benchtop, a worker mixing paint and solvent drops the tin, a gas bottle left unchained in the workshop: your risk assessment should evaluate your operating procedures, staff training program, and overall supervision.
Handling and Storage Hazards
Physical hazards don’t just have to be fires and reactions. Here are some handling and storage hazards to consider in your risk assessment:
Manual Handling
- Dropping gas cylinders over the side of a truck or rolling them along the ground
- Attempting to carry gas bottles by the valve or cap instead of using a mechanical lifting device/trolley
- Trying to manoeuvre or carry heavy chemical drums
- Carrying chemicals in a glass (or other breakable container) and an unexpected door opening knocks the container from the hands of a worker
Decanting Packaged Chemicals
- Pouring chemicals from larger containers into smaller containers by hand
- Decanting chemicals into unlabelled containers
- Mixing and measuring of chemicals carried out by an experienced or untrained worker
Chemical Storage
- Stacking cardboard cartons of aerosol cans without anything to protect the stacks from collapsing.
- Leaving gas cylinders free-standing without restraining them with a strap or safety chain
- Storing empty and full gas cylinders in the same area.
- Segregating chemicals incorrectly and allowing incompatible substances and materials to be stored together eg,storing acids and alkalis
Housekeeping
- Leaving open containers of chemicals on sinks or benchtops.
- Failing to train (or adequately supervise) workersto only use chemicals for their intended purpose eg, using solvents as hand cleaner, using petrol to wipe down benchtops or equipment, using oxygen as a substitute for compressed air.
- Allowing staff to handle chemicals and then eat/smoke/take a break without washing hands or changing out of protective clothing.
IMPORTANT: Housekeeping, storage, and handling hazards are generally created because staff don’t follow procedures, haven’t been trained properly, or don’t have sufficient supervision. All of this needs to be factored into your chemical risk assessment.
Risk Assessments for your Workplace
Conducting a chemical risk assessment is only one step in the entire risk management process. In the eBook, How To Manage The Risk Of Hazardous Chemicals In The Workplace, we offer expert advice that can help you better controls the risks associated with chemical products. This free guide will give you a better understanding of chemical hazards —and the way they need to be managed.
