Don’t Guess: Read the MSDS
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Workplace safety laws require companies to keep material safety data sheets (MSDSs) readily available for every chemical they use. Simply put, these sheets lay out the hazards associated with chemicals you are likely to encounter at work.
Read MorePopcorn Lung Victim Awarded $30 Million
A 45-year-old man who worked for 20 years in popcorn and popcorn-flavoring plants in the Chicago area has been awarded $30.4 million by a jury for a serious work-related lung condition. The award is believed to be the largest of its kind ever given to an individual.
Gerardo Solis has a condition called bronchiolitis obliterans or “popcorn lung” which has damaged his lungs so badly that he needs a lung transplant.
A Chicago jury found chemical company BASF responsible for Solis’ exposure to diacetyl, which gives foods a buttery flavor. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says its research suggests diacetyl is harmful to humans when heated and inhaled over a prolonged period.
Info to go: Read more about bronchiolitis obliterans by clicking on the Info to Go safety links at www.SafeSpervisor.com
Read MoreWash Your Hands of Chemical Exposures
People are so busy these days that a lunch “break” frequently comes down to gobbling a quick sandwich with one hand while continuing to work with the other hand.
Aside from the stress associated with not taking a proper lunch break away from your workstation, dropping a wrench or taking off your work gloves and then tucking into a sandwich can be hazardous to your health, for these reasons:
- If you have been handling toxic chemicals and they are on your hands, they can easily be transferred to any foods you touch.
- Food left out in the open can become contaminated with chemical fumes, vapors or dusts in the air.
Not only is it potentially hazardous to your health to eat anything without first washing your hands with hot soap and water, you also need to consider that chewing gum, drinking coffee or other beverages, smoking, touching your mouth, nose or eyes, handling contact lenses or applying make-up or lipstick in a chemically contaminated area can also harm you.
Few people would find it safe to place a hand in a chemical solution and touch it to their lips, but touching food after you’ve been handling chemicals isn’t any different.
If you have been handling chemicals while wearing gloves and you believe it’s fine to remove those gloves and eat, drink or smoke without first washing your hands, think again. Contamination on those gloves, whether from handling chemicals, laboratory agents or bloodborne pathogens in a medical setting, can easily be transferred to your hands while removing gloves.
No one needs to be told about the importance of washing their hands with soap and water after using a toilet, but if chemicals or biological agents have touched your hands, you also need to wash your hands before answering nature’s call.
Watch Where You Store Your Lunch
Another mistake workers often make is to store food or drink in refrigerators in which chemicals, drugs or biological agents are also stored. Doing so can easily contaminate food or beverage items. Food should only be kept cool in your lunchroom’s fridge.
Keep these additional chemical handling tips in mind:
- Many people have a habit of licking a finger before turning a page in a book or manual. If you have been handling chemicals you could be placing toxins straight into your mouth.
- Never bring a cup of coffee into an area where hazardous chemicals may be present.
- Chemicals can easily be absorbed through the skin, so it’s important to ensure you are wearing the appropriate gloves and other PPE to prevent such exposures. Wash your hands thoroughly after removing gloves and other PPE and work clothing.
- Never place chemicals in unlabeled containers, such as soda bottles. Unsuspecting workers have taken sips from such containers and suffered serious injuries or died as a result.
- Read the material safety data sheet (MSDS) for every chemical you handle. Learn about the hazards associated with exposure to these agents and know how to protect yourself.
Taking a minute to thoroughly wash your hands with warm, soapy water before eating isn’t just practicing good hygiene. It can prevent serious illness from chemical exposures.
Read MoreOil Spill Health Study Announced
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) says it will soon begin a multi-year study examining the potential health effects experienced by workers involved in the cleanup of the Gulf oil spill—the largest in US history.
The NIH says it will spend $10 million and an additional $10 million has been pledged by BP. The NIH will have full autonomy on how the BP money is spent, with input from external scientific experts in environmental health.
“It was clear to us that we need to begin immediately studying the health of the workers most directly involved in responding to this crisis,” says NIH Director Francis Collins.
The study will focus on workers’ exposure to oil and dispersant products and potential health consequences, including respiratory, neurobehavioral, carcinogenic and immunological conditions. It will also look into mental health concerns and oil spill related stressors such as job loss, family disruption and financial uncertainties.
“Clean up workers are likely to be the most heavily exposed of all population groups in the Gulf Coast region,” says Dale Sandler, chief of the Epidemiology Branch at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and lead researcher on the study.
“We plan to enroll workers with varying levels of exposure. For example, we hope to recruit workers involved in oil burning, skimming and booming, equipment decontamination, wildlife cleanup and those with lower exposure, such as shoreline clean-up workers,” he adds.
People who completed worker safety training but did not have the opportunity to do any clean-up work, will also be compared to their counterparts who went on to conduct clean-up work.
“What we learn from this study may help us prepare for future incidents that put clean-up workers at risk,” says Sandler.
Read MoreCharges Laid in Triple Fatality at BC Mushroom Farm
Charges have been laid against two companies and four people in connection with the deaths of three workers at a Canadian mushroom farm in September 2008.
Ut Tran, Jimmy Chan and Ham Pham died as a result of a gas leak, while two other workers, Phan and Thang Tchen, suffered severe and irreversible brain damage as a result of inhaling hydrogen sulfide and ammonia.
The men were working in a pump house built above a mushroom composting waste water pit at a mushroom farm in Langley, BC, near Vancouver.
The 20-month investigation by 25 investigators was the most exhaustive ever undertaken by WorkSafeBC, according to spokeswoman Donna Freeman. As a result, 29 counts under British Columbia’s Workers’ Compensation Act and Occupational Health and Safety Regulations have been levied against A-1 Mushroom Substratum Ltd. and HV Truong Ltd. and four company employees.
Charged are company owners Ha Quan Truong and Van Thi Truong, director Vy Tri Truong and supervisor Thinh Huu Doan. The maximum penalty that could be imposed for a first offence is six months in jail and a fine of nearly $620,000.
Several of the charges allege failure to protect the health and safety of workers and also failure to address hazardous workplace conditions. They also allege failure to identify a confined space by a sign or other effective means to identify a hazard and prevent entry by unauthorized workers.
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