Note: Control of occupational lead exposure

Human resources

• Top management commitment to programme
• Worker involvement via training programme, health and safety committees
• Doctor with DOH
• Occupational health nurse practitioner trained in lead control
• Occupational hygienist services
• Laboratory services

Engineering controls

• Substitution possible?
• Enclosure?
• Separation?
• Local extraction
• Special measures: e.g. post combustion reaction of lead oxide with sulphate, creating a filterable dust.

Housekeeping

• Floors kept clean - mechanical sweeper/vacuum or hose
• Selected collection points for sweepings
• Strict waste disposal procedures

Worker hygiene

• Time and facilities for workers to shower, change clothes end of shift
• No smoking or eating in workplace
• Workers wash hands and face before eating and smoking
• Drinking water taps foot controlled
• (Remove overalls before entering canteen?)

Training and education

• Managers and workers: hazards of lead, rationale for controls, including limitation of smoking, symptoms.
• During work hours
• On hiring, then periodically

Work organisation

• ?Rotate through high and low exposure jobs

Personal protective equipment

• Respirators, overalls, gloves
• Maintenance procedures
• Training!

Environmental monitoring

• Personal monitoring as per Regulations
• OEL: 0.15 mg/m³ (Note WHO: 0.05 mg/m³)

Pre-employment medical

• Exclusions: renal disease, blood disorders, neurological disease, moderate or severe hypertension
• ? Exclude women of childbearing age - legally contentious. But, need to get the blood level below 10 ug/dl for foetal protection in women intending to conceive
• Baseline history: reproductive history
• Baseline investigations: Pb, ZPP, haemoglobin, urinalysis, creatinine.

Periodic medicals

• ZPP and/or blood Pb
• Symptoms of lead toxicity
• Reproductive history
• Neurological history

Policy and procedures for medical removal

• As per Regulations
• Job protection
• Occupational disease under COIDA if adverse affects (not for raised blood lead alone)
• ?Other disability insurance if cannot return, i.e. permanent removal

Recording and notification

• Lifelong personal records (maintaining confidentiality)
• Management information system based on exceedances
• Recording under Lead Regulations
• Notification to Dept of Labour, i.e. under OHSA incident reporting regulation

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.