Module 3: Toxicology - Section 6: General Administrative Regulations and the Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations Revisited
TOX 6.3: HCS Regulations

B) THE REGULATIONS FOR HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES (HCSS):

(Regulation No. 5559, August 1995; Government Gazette 16596, vol. 362). (Click on the "Book" Regulations, and then open the "Book" Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations.)

Aim:
Scope:
INFORMATION AND TRAINING: Employer's duty to train and the worker's right to know:

Obligation on employer to provide training on:

Includes those transporting HCSs (eg. drivers).

Responsibilities on both employer to provide, and worker to accept training.

Obligation on workers:

Places obligation on exposed worker to obey lawful instructions relating to:

EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT:

Introduces mandatory Risk Assessment process for Employers. Have to identify:

Risk Assessment must be done in consultation with health and safety reps or committee.

Repeat at least every 2 years, or more frequently if change in process or inputs.

Triggers both environmental monitoring and medical surveillance.

AIR MONITORING:
RESPIRATOR ZONE:
MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE:

Follows from Risk Assessment.

Prompted if:

Includes:

Practitioner can remove worker from exposure based on medical monitoring results (declare worker unfit to work).

Forms of medical surveillance:

Biological Exposure Indices (Table 3 of HCS Regulations):

RECORDS AND CONFIDENTIALITY:
CONTROL OF HCSS:

Establishes hierarchy of control measures - PPE is a last resort:

HIERARCHY OF CONTROLS SPECIFIED IN HAZARDOUS CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES REGULATIONS:

ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROLS:

  1. Substitute.
  2. Limit amount used.
  3. Limit number of employees exposed.
  4. Limit period of exposure.

ENGINEERING CONTROLS:

  1. Enclose, automate or separate process.
  2. Install local extraction ventilation.
  3. Use wet methods.

WORK PROCEDURES:

  1. Safe handling and disposal.
  2. Maintain equipment.
  3. Clean working areas.
  4. Take early corrective action.

IF CONTROL IS NOT REASONABLY PRACTICABLE BY THE ABOVE METHODS:

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND CLOTHING:

  1. Appropriate to hazard.
  2. Employees trained and supervised in use.
  3. Careful maintenance, storage, cleaning and disposal.
  4. Washing facilities, dual lockers and change rooms.

(Section 12 deals with adequacy of control equipment and need for audit of control measures every 25 months by an approved inspection authority).

Two types of HCSs:

For substances with Recommended OELs (R-OELs), employer must aim to achieve levels below OEL as far as possible. Temporary excursions can be tolerated if without significant risk of exposure and does not signify failure of control mechanisms.

For substances with Control OELs (C-OELs), employer HAS to keep levels below OEL. If cannot do so by engineering controls, etc, can declare a Respirator Zone and use respiratory PPE to protect workers (last resort). No excursions tolerated due to presence of residual risk. Usually for known carcinogens and where no threshold of effect identified.

STEL (Short-term exposure limit) vs TWA (time-weighted average):

To differentiate between acute and chronic effects of HCSs:

Dusts:

Not all dusts have been assigned an exposure limit. In such cases personal exposure limits assigned for:

Skin:

Sensitizers:

Mixed exposures:

SUMMARY OF THE ASSESSMENT CYCLE:

Timetable of Actions Required by Hazardous Chemical Substances Regulations:

BASELINE THEREAFTER
1. Exposure risk assessment Immediate 1 2-yearly
2. Air monitoring 2, 3
    Control limit substances
    Recommended limit substances

Immediate
Immediate

Annual
2-yearly
3. Review of control measures by approved inspection authority Immediate 2-yearly
5. Medical surveillance 2 Immediate 2-yearly 5
Notes:
1. And at change in use or breakdown of controls.
2. Contingent on findings of exposure assessment.
3. Carried out or verified by an Approved Inspection Authority.
5. Or otherwise at the discretion of the occupational medicine practitioner.
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE):

PPE is clearly last resort after engineering, administrative and other controls. Obligation placed on employers to:

(Section 5 places obligation on worker to use the PPE).

OTHER: PROHIBITIONS, LABELLING OF HCSs:

Smaller section of the Regulations deal with specific prohibitions (ban use of compress air, control of smoking and eating by workers, etc.). Labeling, packaging and transport of HCS dealt with by referring to SABS codes. Environmental emissions and disposal of HCSs in terms of environmental legislation.

ISSUES AND PROBLEMS:
  1. No statutory protection against job loss on medical grounds - left to general labour legislation and section 26(2) of OHSA, which prevents victimisation.
  2. Does not address mixtures of HCSs well. Assumes either additive or no interaction. Schedules do not list whole formulation.
  3. Not well suited to HCS whose main route of absorption is dermal. Relies on air levels. Not suited for working in an open environment.
  4. Not explicit on Risk Assessment process.
  5. Confusion around definition of occupational health practitioner.
  6. Shortage of skills to provide sufficient "approved inspection authorities".
  7. Shortage of enforcement personnel.



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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.