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Breathe easily
Page 35
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Revised regulations on hazardous substances require operators to take extra care to protect their employees. Patric Cunnane reports.
THE TRANSPORT INDUSTRY is awash with hazardous substances in its workshops, paintshops and depots. The onus is on the operator to ensure that exposure to these toxins is minimised, and that workers with health problems which could leave them particularly vulnerable by such exposure are monitored.
The regulations covering these workplace hazards were last updated in November 2002; they are now called The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (CoSHH 2002) and are partly driven by the EU 's Chemical Agents Directive.
The new rules define the measures an employer must take to prevent or control the exposure of employees to hazardous substances — a record of air monitoring must be kept where an employee's health needs monitoring. Employers must also adopt procedures, issue information and set up warning systems to deal with a workplace emergency related to hazardous substances.
Many operators may believe their workplaces are clean and hazard-free.but chemicals can be present in many forms including gases, vapours. fumes, aerosols, liquids, dusts, fibres and solids. The TUC has estimated that a third of the British workforce, seven million people, are exposed to toxic fumes and dust on a daily basis.
Wise operators will know that if any of their fitters suffer from dermatitis or asthma. it could be the workplace that's making them ill. Asbestos, still present in some old buildings, can cause fatal cancers. And how many transport workshops are free from the solvents that are found in everything from paint to cleaning fluids? •