How Can Exposure To Chemical Fumes Be Prevented In The Workplace?

How Can Exposure to Chemical Fumes be Prevented in The Workplace?

If there is any potential for a worker to be injured or made ill by substances in the workplace, it is critical that a full and thorough risk assessment is put together to identify dangers and work out how to reduce the risks associated with them.

There are essentially three stages in the management of prevention of chemical fume exposure within the workplace:

• Primary – stopping it happening in the first place
• Secondary – managing and reducing risk
• Tertiary – dealing with effects

If the primary aspects are given sufficient planning, the secondary and tertiary can be reduced immensely.

Primary Prevention techniques:

Elimination

If it is possible, the best way to reduce risk is not to use any chemicals or substances that carry high risks of danger if fumes are inhaled.

If this is not possible then Substitution can involve using different chemicals or substances that have the same results but without the potential dangers.

Engineering controls to minimise exposure can include ensuring any dangerous occupations are carried out in a protected and ventilated environment so that risk can be reduced as far as possible.

Administrative controls include aspects such as managing the amount of time that any employee is exposed and ensuring that all employees are appropriately trained to know what they are dealing with and the risks that prevail.

Personal Protective Equipment can be crucial when reducing the risk of chemical fume exposure. Ensuring that it is properly maintained and used for the correct purpose is just as important as providing it in the first place.

Environmental and biological monitoring can help in assessing just how dangerous the levels of particular chemicals or fumes are in certain areas, and how the risks increase or decrease in areas closer to and further from the source.

Secondary prevention techniques:

Health Surveillance – by monitoring the health of employees before, during and after exposure to certain substances, it can help to identify potential issues before they arise, or before they develop into something that is more difficult to treat. By screening employees regularly, companies can significantly reduce time off due to illness and absence by keeping on top of their employees’ health and welfare.

Tertiary Prevention – dealing with the effects

No matter how much planning and assessment is put in place, accidents can still happen and if appropriate tertiary prevention is carried out after the event, including: medical treatment, rehabilitation and potentially compensation.

By ensuring that all employees are aware of potential dangers and suitably trained with how to deal with them, accidents and dangerous exposure to chemical fumes in the workplace can be reduced significantly, making working environments safer for everyone.

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