Good planning in the control of chemical hazards

The amount of chemicals in work life has grown exponentially in the past few years. The application of research knowledge and technical solutions to improve work processes are in key position in protecting workers against chemical hazards. Personal protectors are of secondary importance.

– In earlier times, if dust from substances floated in the air of a factory, that was an accepted part of the picture. Nowadays people are more aware of hazards, and efforts are made to protect employees from even mild harms, says Tiina Santonen, team leader at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

A broad spectrum of chemicals is in use in different kinds of workplaces. On the European level, 100,000 different chemicals are found. Within the past couple of decades, people’s awareness has grown tremendously. The development can be seen as lowered accepted threshold levels and by the fact that the harm due to exposure is still perceived to be as significant as before.

Research data form the basis in the use of chemicals. New knowledge is obtained constantly about different substances and their hazards, and official regulations are up-dated. There is knowledge about the hazards in enterprises, but its application varies.

– In big companies safety matters are usually in order, but in small enterprises the situation is worse. Seeking for information and assessing risks may be difficult for individual entrepreneurs, so the role of the occupational health service as an expert is crucial.

Santonen points out that in the protection of employees against exposure, personal protectors are the last resort. Above all, technical solutions should be considered: how could work processes be improved, and what kinds of working methods would reduce exposure? Telma describes these methods, and takes a look at the work of a graffiti remover, and also visits a site of fire with an insurance investigator.

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In its theme on work life risks, Telma 2/2010 sheds light on the service sector, where the new more flexible opening hours bring up the question of employees’ safety from a new angle. Telma also takes a plunge into sewers with a ‘sewer diver’, and wonders at occupational safety at a market parking work site in the city of Mikkeli. The list includes also the hazards of radiation, and a farm substitute’s work with dairy cows. In her column on the safety of work spaces, Mirja Salkinoja-Salonen claims that in the research on moisture problems, people are used as test subjects in Finland.

For more information contact:

The Finnish Work Environment Fund: communication manager Marja-Leena Jylhä, 040 548 8852
The Centre for Occupational Safety: communication specialist Eija Åback, 040 537 1822