CB242E_Chemicals at Work Control Tool.pdfVIP

Preface 2 S T Scope 4 N Stage 1 Hazard classification 5 E T Stage 2 Scale of use 8 N O Stage 3 Ability to become airborne 9 C Stage 4 Selection of control approach 11 Stage 5 Selection of control guidance sheets 12 ANNEX 1 Checklist 14 ANNEX 2 Control guidance sheets 15 Chemicals at Work Control Tool Preface Chemicals are essential part of our daily life. In fact, the variety of chemicals introduced into our workplaces is quite diverse, such as solvents, cleaning agents, adhesives, lubricants etc. Chemicals can enter our body through inhalation, skin absorption or ingestion. Some of them might not cause adverse health effects even after day-to-day exposure, but some are hazardous to our health even after short-term exposure. It also leads to dangerous situations when chemicals are misused or spilt that may result in harm to people and damage to environment. In Hong Kong, the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance enacted in 1997 was a milestone to enhance our workplace safety and health standards. It defines the general duties of employers, employees and occupiers, so far as is reasonably practicable, in maintaining the workplaces safe and without being hazardous to employees health. It also advocates the use of risk assessment method to identify the hazards arising from the work processes, evaluate the risks and lead to adequate control measures to eliminate or reduce the associated risks. This book outlines a tool for chemicals control at work derived from the Draft Guidelines for INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL CONTROL TOOLKIT ICCK 1 produced by the International Labour Office ILO in which a generic risk assessment based on either the European Union Risk-phrases or Globally Harmonized System for the Classification and Labelling of Chemicals GHS defined exposure conditions is used to lead the user to an appropriate approach to control. GHS2 is an international initiative to promote common, consistent criteria for classifying chemicals accordi