Regulations - Page 1 of 3

Module 3: Toxicology - Section 6: General Administrative Regulations and the Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations

TOX 6.1: Overview

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this module

You should have an idea of what the General Administrative Regulations and the Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations cover in general.
You will be familiar in detail with those features of the General Administrative Regulations that apply to the reporting of incidents and occupational diseases and the provision of hazardous chemical information.
You will be familiar in detail with those features of the Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations that apply to biological monitoring and medical surveillance .

This introductory page contains links to other pages in this section. These are included for your convenience, both for reference and for revision purposes. It is strongly recommended, however, that you first access the material in its logical sequence, indicated by the "Next Page" link above.

ACTIVITIES

A lecture will provide the overview. Revise these notes.
Work through the exercise.

EXERCISE:

Question 1: You have been recently appointed as the occupational health and safety person in a nickel plating plant. The employer brings you a copy of the HCS Regulations and asks you to explain the difference between hazard and risk?
(Answer).
Question 2: What information on exposures will enable you to decide whether the nickel constitutes a risk to workers’ health in this plant? (Answer).
Question 3: You get an approved inspection authority to measure the environmental concentration of the workers during the work process (5 hours) since it would appear that workers are at high risk of inhaling the mists containing nickel compounds. The results indicate a level of 2-5 mg/m³. Is this abnormal? (Answer).
Question 5: What will you advise the employer? (Answer).
Question 5: During your medical surveillance you identify a worker with nasal perforation. What are your legal duties under the General Administrative Regulations as a medical practitioner? (Answer).

REFERENCES:

Review General Administrative Regulations (Open up the book on Regulations, and then the book on General Administrative Regulations).
Review Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations (Open up the book on Regulations, and then the book Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations).
Ehrlich RI. Occupational medical surveillance. S Afr J Cont Med Ed 1996;15:1301-10.
Go to the (DOL website) and access various guides and forms towards the bottom of this page
WCl 22 and 26 forms
Notification of occupational disease and WCl 15 forms

Answer to Question 1:

"HAZARD" refers to the capacity of a substance to do harm.
"RISK" introduces an element of likelihood or possibility that the harmful event may take place.

Therefore for there to be a risk, there has to be "EXPOSURE" (potential or actual) to the harmful agent (Back to main text).

Answer to Question 2:

Chemical properties;
Physical form eg. aerosol mists, powders;
Routes of exposure: skin and/or respiratory;
Nature of the work process and the controls present - is the process enclosed?
Frequency of exposure: every day or intermittent;
Level or concentration of exposure;

(Back to main text).

Answer to Question 3:

Yes, the levels are higher than both the OEL-control limit (1 mg/m³) and the OEL-recommended limit (0.5mg/m³)

(Back to main text).

Answer to Question 5:

Institute control measures (consult engineer - local exhaust ventilation/enclosure);

Immediate demarcation of respirator zone and provide PPE as an interim measure;

No food eating/smoking in the demarcated zones;

Review of control measures by an approved inspection authority;

Annual air monitoring ideally (or 2 yearly if limited resources);

Medical surveillance (at least 2 yearly) to assess for target organ effects eg. nasal perforations, occupational asthma;

(Back to main text).

Answer to Question 5:

Complete WCL 22 (First Medical Report in Respect of an Occupational Disease) and send to employer and a copy to the Department of Labour Inspector;

Advise the employer to complete WCL 1 (Employer’s Report of an Occupational Disease) and send to Compensation Commissioner.

(Back to main text).

Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Health (DOH) - Modules 3: Occupational Medicine & Toxicology (Basic) by Profs Mohamed Jeebhay and Rodney Ehrlich, Health Sciences UCT is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 South Africa License. Major contributors: Mohamed Jeebhay, Rodney Ehrlich, Jonny Myers, Leslie London, Sophie Kisting, Rajen Naidoo, Saloshni Naidoo. Source available from here. For any updates to the material, or more permissions beyond the scope of this license, please email healthoer@uct.ac.za or visit www.healthedu.uct.ac.za. Last updated Jan 2007.
Disclaimer note: Some resources and descriptions may be out-dated. For suggested updates and feedback, please contact healthoer@uct.ac.za.