Longford is now etched in our collective memory as a community, the gas disaster has directly affected 1.3 million Victorian and resulted in over 100,000 people being stood down from their jobs some without pay, in addition workers throughout Australia found themselves without work.  Also we must remember there was loss of life under the shadow of which the other affects pale into insignificance.  The management of risk is about knowing the risks that are faced by an entity and the cost of managing the events and the opportunity cost of not managing the identified risks.  It is too soon to know the full details of the disaster but when more facts are know it will be possible to examine the disaster further to see how the principles of risk management were adhered to before, during and after the occurrence.   More of this in a later issue when more information is available.

Now for this month, Bryan Trotman, a member of the Mines Rescue of NSW writes about the risks associated with the handling and use of hazardous substances within the industry.  This is the third in our series from Mines Rescue NSW.

A hazardous substance is any type of chemical that can harm human health.  Such a chemical can be liquid, solid, gas, vapour, mist or dust.  Some may be visible to the naked eye, others invisible.  

There are two main ways in which an individual can identify the potential of threat from a toxic substance:

1. The supplier is required to provide a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and label the container accordingly.

2. The checking of other reference material, eg. Worksafe "list of designated hazardous substances or chemical indexes of a commercial nature.

Almost everyday we are exposed to chemicals, cleaners, paint, petroleum soap and medicines.  Most chemicals are safe in the amounts normally recommended or used.  From a risk point of view it must be remembered that some chemicals are hazardous and may harm health even in small amounts.  To harm health a chemical must be able to contact with the body, enter the body and affect health at the dose received.

In the workplace there are three significant routes of entry, ingestion, skin contact and the most common inhalation.   It must also be considered that when receiving a dangerous dose of chemicals by what ever means the person may not feel sick straight away, indeed some chemical may take years of exposure to cause an illness.

Bryan identified a six-step process for managing chemical risk in the workplace as follows:

1. Policy and program: This aspect looks at the areas of commitment, accountability and co-operation. In addition a chemical safety program is planned managed under this area.

2. Joint consultation: This point is critical if procedures are introduced with the acceptance of management and workers there is a high probability of success.

3. Training: This is critical to the success of program that seeks to reduce the risk of exposure, the following areas are the key: a. how chemical exposure occurs, b. the possible results of exposure, c. how to read the labels and MSDS information, d. how to follow safe working procedures, e. how to use protective equipment, f. emergency and first aid procedures, and g. the acceptance of workplace monitoring and health check in relevant cases.

4. Identify and assess the risks: Aspects for consideration here are: labelling, MSDS, identification, information gathering, exposure identification, risk assessment on an individual basis and, action plan for risk control.

5. Use adequate risk control measures: Regulation requires implementation in the workplace of control measures to keep hazardous substances as low as practicable, when assessment has shown the need. The following are the measures that are identified in the Control code of practice, in order of priority, elimination, substitution, isolation, engineering controls, safe work practices, personal protective equipment, correct storage and, establishment of emergency plans

6. Promote and maintain improvement: This point joins the circle, as it must be implemented in conjunction with point one. It is essential to monitor and have an active program of surveillance to ensure both due diligence and compliance are within parameters defined in the policy.

The business community and entities within must develop a framework for managing hazardous substances and waste, this involves strategy development and implementation.  The strategy must discuss and contain at least three sections, namely, risk assessment and management, identification of the toxic substances and associated exposures and lastly the social and economic impact of the strategy. 

Failure to implement a policy that is slanted towards due diligence and compliance is the greatest risk an entity can encounter when dealing with toxic substances and waste.