CLEANING CHEMICALS & DOSING EQUIPMENT
Hidden hazards in cleaning chemicals
Max Smith, Solutions Consultant at EcoOnline, talks to us about why cleaning chemicals can be dangerous, and how to mitigate the risks.
Over 40% of employees across the UK and Ireland are exposed to hazardous chemicals in their workplace. However, unfortunately less than a third of workers believe that their organisations are not actively working to substitute hazardous chemicals. Chemical management should be a fundamental consideration in any health and safety strategy, and organisations are required to do as much as they can to protect their workers against harms caused by hazardous substances.
So, where do these hidden chemical risks come from? Surprisingly, they can often be found in the very products used to keep workspaces sanitary and safe.
The dangers associated with cleaning products have been researched for years. A study conducted between 1998 and 2012 found that there were approximately 1,106 work-related asthma cases linked to cleaning product exposure. The study found that most cleaning supplies that contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds) such as acetone, benzene and formaldehyde, along with other harmful chemicals like ammonia and bleach that can cause damage to the lungs and cause long-term damage if left untreated. Many of these substances remain widely available despite the obvious health dangers. This lack of alignment not only endangers workers’ safety, but allows for preventable health burdens to develop.
With the obvious dangers posed, businesses have a legal responsibility under COSHH to protect workers by ensuring that working conditions are safe, and that the chemicals workers are exposed to are compliant with health and safety standards. To start, employers first need to proactively conduct COSHH risk assessments to identify which hazards are present in the workplace that need to be controlled. From there, they can accurately calculate hazards, outline the severity of the risk and implement control measures to minimise health risks.
Employers also have a responsibility to regularly conduct chemical safety training for employees.
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This way, employees can know what chemicals they are working with and learn how to use and dispose of them in a safe manner. Training workers more frequently than once a year is a best practice and should be implemented consistently. This proactive approach to workplace safety protects workers, improves productivity and keeps employees informed of regulatory changes which can affect themselves and the business they work for.
To protect workers in their day-to-day roles and comprehensively fulfil their duty of care, business leaders must consider the benefits of embracing focused technology solutions. The first step should be to implement a chemical management inventory, facilitating visibility into chemical use across workflows.
To feed into this transparency, safety data sheets are pivotal. These sheets provide individuals who interact with chemicals insight into the potential hazards, and detail how they can be safely handled and disposed of.
Once information on the chemicals has been collected, corporations can use chemical substitution technology to switch out harmful substances for those safer for workers to handle. By taking these steps, organisations can reduce the risk of harm and ensure long-term compliance.
As studies continue to reveal the variety of risks associated with everyday cleaning products, public awareness will continue to grow. To proactively protect workers, organisations should embrace company-wide visibility by adopting a chemical management inventory and begin implementing chemical substitution. Without decisive action now, the impact will continue to be felt by employees, leading to long-term damage to health and, for companies, the potential of future litigation.
www.ecoonline.com
x.com/TomoCleaning
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