By Dr Amweelo
CHEMICALS are essential to life and their benefits are widespread and well recognized. From pesticides that improve the extent and quality of food production,to pharmaceuticals that cure illnesses, and cleaning products that help establish hygienic living conditions, chemicals are key to healthy living and modern convenience.
Chemicals are also a critical part of many industrial processes to develop products that are important to global standards of living. However, controlling exposure to these chemicals in the workplace, as well as limiting emissions to the environment, are tasks that governments, employers and workers, continue to struggle to address (ILO report on safety and health in the use of chemicals at work 2014).
ILO Convention No. 170 and its accompying recommendation (No.177) represent international efforts to upgrade the national measures and harmonize regulatory standards. They emphasise the need to establish a coherent national policy of chemical safety ranging from the classification and labbelling of chemicals to the control in all aspects of the use of chemicals. The Namibian legislative framework, particularly chapter 5 of the government notice No 156: Regulations relating to
the health and safety of employees at work, recognizes the hazards and risks associated with the use of chemicals at work in Namibia, hence stipulates the duties of different role players to ensure the protection of the health and safety of humans at different stages of chemical handling. Considering that it is essential to prevent or reduce the incidence of chemically induced illnesses and injuries at workplace by: Ensuring that all chemicals are evaluated to determine their hazards;
Providing employers with a mechanism toobtain from suppliers information about the chemicals used at work so that they can implement effective programmes to protect employees from chemical hazards. Regulation 178 of the regulationrelating to the health and safety of employees at work made under the Labour Act, stipulate that: Suppliers of hazardous substances, whether manufacturers, importers or distributors of hazardous substances shall ensure thatthe containers of all hazardous substances are clearly marked to indicatethe contents of such containers in order to enable persons handling the containersor using the substances, to easily recognize the substances when receiving or using them. The containers of all hazardous substances are labelled in a uniform manner with a legible and durable label, easily understandable by employees and other persons, in a size that is clearly visible, and the label shall contain the following information relating to the substances: trade mark, identity of substance, identification of thebatch, the classification of substance, hazard symbol, nature of the special risksassociated with the use of the substance, safety precautions, first aid treatment, name, address and telephone number of the supplier, and a statement that a product or chemical safety data sheet, as the case may be, giving additional information, is available from the employer. Chemical safety data sheets for all hazardous chemical substances areprepared and provided to every employerusing such substances, provided that the chemical safety data sheets shall contain essential health and safety information.
Hazardous substances shall at any time be stored in such a manner that they do not create a risk to the health and safety of employees. The general strategy for keeping employees safe during work with chemicals or other workplace hazards is to use a hierarchy of controls that places emphasis on keeping hazards out of the workplace when possible. When the use of hazardous chemicals is necessary, the preferred controls are those which remove the hazard from the workplace such as a
barrier between the employee and the hazard, engineering controls followed by work practices and personal protective equipment, which require more effort on the part of the individual employee.
Engineering controls are designed to remove an air contaminant away from employees and to create a barrier between a hazard and the employee.
Some common types engineering controlsare: chemical fume hoods, which are the primary containment devices used to protect personnel and the laboratory environment from hazardous chemicals that may become airborne through volatilization or aerosolization.
In terms of Regulation 177 relating to the health and safety of employees at work, the supplier and transporter of hazardous substances shallensure that the marking, labelling and storage of hazardous substances for safe transport, especially the labelling of the transport vehicle and the storage of hazardous substances during transport, shall be in accordance with existing legislation, or if such legislation is not in place, in accordance with the recommendations on the transport of hazardous substances or dangerous goods made by the United Nations.
Employees and their representatives will find information that will help them understand how chemicals can affect them and what measures can be taken to afford protection. It provides an approach to problems and solutions concerning safety and health in the use of chemicals at work.
* Dr M Amweelo is a Member of Parliament and the chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee onInformation and Communication Technology.