Industrial development and increasing demand for diverse goods, products, and services to provide to the increasing needs of people have resulted in chemicals being used in many products and procedures. This has increased the chemical exposure for individuals, both at home and in the workplace.
A chemical hazard refers to the risks that might occur due to the use of chemicals. There are commonly two types of chemical hazards: health hazards and physicochemical hazards.
These chemical hazards expose workers to various health risks including chronic health issues, mishandling or misuse of chemical substances and materials.
This blog post will cover some of the major types of chemicals and chemical hazards that a worker may encounter during their day-to-day work operations.
What is a Chemical Health Hazard?
A chemical health hazard is a non-biological hazard that can produce harm to the health or life-long diseases. When workers are exposed to hazardous substances, it is considered a chemical hazard.
These chemical hazards can result in explosions, corrosions, fires, and exposure to hazardous gasses, fumes, or dust (asbestos, silica).
It is seen that nearly 11,000 facilities across the USA use and store extremely hazardous chemicals within their workplaces or industries such as chemical manufacturing, energy, or wastewater treatment sectors. The use of chemical substances in these work areas can harm the workers if they are unable to handle and use the substance correctly.
It is also reported that 41 US workers died at work due to the inhalation of chemicals and chemical products. This number ranged from 33 to 55 fatal injuries every year across the period of the past seven years.
Routes to Chemical Exposure
While the use of chemical processes, production, and goods has benefited individuals in different ways. The use of these substances and materials is also a cause of chemical hazards.
There are different ways chemical exposure can affect a worker’s health.
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Inhalation
One of the major routes to chemical exposure is the inhalation of hazardous substances such as toxin vapors, small chemical particles, deadly fiber like asbestos, or hazardous dust like silica dust.
Employers must take charge of any such health hazards and prevent the exposure as much as they possibly can.
They can offer different tools, equipment, guidance, and training such as silica dust awareness training, asbestos awareness training, welding fume control training, and more to their employees.
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Absorption
This type of chemical exposure occurs with direct contact with the skin. The chemicals may absorb into the skin and can result in skin irritation, inflammation, or other skin diseases.
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Injection
It occurs when sharp tools, equipment or objects, or needles accidentally enter the worker’s body. Employees need to be very careful while working with sharp equipment and so, employers must provide adequate sharps awareness training to the workers.
How Chemical Hazards Affect Health?
Chemical hazards are classified as either severe or long-lasting hazards. These hazards affect individuals immediately.
The health problems might include acid burns, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, asthma, liver damage, or cancer.
Types of Chemical Hazards in the Workplace
Below are some of the common types/examples of chemical hazards at the workplace:
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Ingestion of Poisons
One of the major risks that are linked to hazardous chemicals in a workplace is that workers are unfamiliar with what chemicals are they using and where are they located.
Employers need to take full charge of what chemicals are present within their workplace and how they might harm their employees.
The best way they can ensure safety is by properly labeling each chemical product. However, proper labeling is not a guaranteed way to mitigate the risk. Employers must also train their staff sufficiently so that they can identify, control, and reduce the risk.
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Exposure to Toxic Fumes
Another major reason for chemical hazards is exposure to toxic fumes or chemicals while at work. These toxic chemicals can directly affect the internal organs like the liver or lungs.
The problem may become worse due to inadequate knowledge or improper use of personal protective equipment, and lack of on-the-job training.
Employers must provide their employees and workers comprehensive induction training with adequate supervision to undertake the work safely.
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Long-term Exposure to Chemicals
Long-term exposure to hazardous chemicals and substances is also a common cause of various deadly diseases.
There is no safe or fixed level of exposure to carcinogenic substances that can lead to health issues like cancer.
Therefore, employers need to conduct a sufficient risk assessment for hazardous substances so that they can identify the materials at the most risk of causing harm.
Summary
There are numerous health hazards related to chemical exposure that can become serious over time if not taken care of on time.
Employers of the staff working around such chemicals, materials, gases, or substances must have practical approaches to identify the health risks and take vital steps to prevent their staff from exposure. This piece of content has covered a few of them.