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This guideline may be cited as a Manual of Recommended Practice on the Assessment of the Health Risks Arising from the Use of Chemicals Hazardous to Health at the Workplace 3rd Edition.

The manual provides practical guidance and advice for conducting an assessment of risk to health related to the use of chemicals hazardous to health (CHTH) at the workplace for compliance to the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health (Use and Standard of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health) Regulations 2000 or as amended hereinafter referred to as USECHH Regulations.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) wishes to thank and acknowledge the members of the Drafting Committee (Jawatankuasa Penggubalan bagi Semakan/ Pindaan ‘Assessment of the Health Risks Arising from the Use of Chemicals Hazardous to Health at the Workplace 3rd Edition’) for their contributions towards the preparation of this manual.

17. Suhaily binti Amran

DOSH (2009 – 2016)
Shell Malaysia Trading Sdn. Bhd.

We also wish to thank individuals who have directly or indirectly contributed in the preparation

of this manual.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 10

1.1 Scope

1.6 Select Assessor

1.7 Steps in CHRA

3.1 Categorisation of a Work Unit

3.2 Practical Steps to Identify Work Unit

CHAPTER 5: ASSESS EXPOSURE 37

5.1 Possible Routes of Exposure

6.1 Level of Risk for Inhalation Exposure

6.2 Level of Risk for Dermal Exposure

ABBREVIATION

Medical surveillance means assessment of the state of health of a worker, as related to exposure to chemicals hazardous to health, and includes biological monitoring;

Mixed exposure means exposure from multiple chemicals which affect the same target organ;

Respiratory sensitizer means chemicals that will lead to hypersensitivity of the airways following inhalation of the chemical;

Reversible effect means effects that subside once exposure ceases;

Skin sensitizer means chemicals that induce allergic response following skin contact;

Short term exposure limit (STEL) means a fifteen-minutes time-weighted average airborne concentration that shall not be exceeded at any time during a workday, even if the time- weighted average airborne concentration is within the time-weighted average limit;

Use in relation to a chemical hazardous to health means production, processing, handling, storage, transport, removal, disposal or treatment.

Under the USECHH Regulations, employers are not permitted to carry out any work which uses any CHTH unless the assessment has been conducted. Therefore, the employer has a duty to perform an assessment of the potential health risks arising from the use of CHTH at the place of work. The requirement is applicable to the production, processing, handling, storage, transport, removal, disposal or treatment of any CHTH at the place of work. An assessment of risk to health is the evaluation of how CHTH are used at work and the health risks involved. The decision about appropriate action to control workers’ exposure will depend on the degree of risk to health that arises from the use of CHTH in particular work activities.

This manual has been designed to provide guidance on procedure to conduct full assessment of risk to health using a Chemical Health Risk Assessment or in short, CHRA method by going through a step-by-step procedure and using prescribed techniques and format.

1.3 CONTENT OF ASSESSMENTOF RISK TO HEALTH

The USECHH Regulations stipulates that the assessment conducted must contain the following:

There are basically two approaches to conduct the assessment of risk to health, any one of which may be applied depending on the hazard classification of the chemical, chemical use situation and the complexity of the work process. These approaches are:

a) Full assessment; and
b) Simple assessment

Generic CHRA is done at representative locations which may be applied to all other locations in which the work activities are similar, with comparable levels of risk, and similar control measures. Detailed criteria and procedure on the conduct of a generic assessment can be referred to in the application guidance published by DOSH.

1.4.2 Simple assessment

YES

Develop action plan

Risk is the likelihood that a chemical will cause adverse health effects or illness in the conditions of its use. The risk to health usually increases with the severity of the hazard, the amount used, the duration and frequency of exposure. Risk has been defined as the probability of over exposure and the consequences of that exposure. This is so because a potentially toxic chemical may cause death or serious health effects if the exposure is substantial. Therefore, the risk equation can be defined as:

Risk = Hazard x Exposure

a) An experienced and knowledgeable member of the safety and health committee; b) An occupational health doctor;
c) An engineer in related field;
d) An industrial/occupational health nurse; or
e) Supervisor of the work area.

The appointed assessor is expected to:

a) Carry out assessment of health risks arising from the use of CHTH at the workplace;

The procedure in carrying out a CHRA consists of 10 steps and is summarized in Figure 2:

existing control measures

6 Assess adequacy of

Figure 2: Steps in conducting CHRA

An assessment will require all relevant information to be provided to the assessor. The assessor needs to gather all of this information which may include:

a) Information on CHTH used or released in the workplace;
b) Layout plan of work area;
c) Process flowchart;
d) Particulars on workers at risk;
e) Control equipment design parameter and maintenance record;
f) Occupational accident, dangerous occurrence, incidence, poisoning and diseases record as well as corrective and preventive action records (Refer to the forms used for reporting under the Occupational Safety And Health (Notification of Accident, Dangerous Occurrence, Occupational Poisoning and Occupational Disease) Regulations 2004 ;
g) Personal exposure monitoring programme;
h) Health or medical surveillance programme;
i) Training programme related with use of CHTH (at the minimum, chemical hazard communication and emergency response);
j)
PPE programme; k) Standard operating procedures; and
l) Safe work procedures.

Create an inventory of all CHTH used or released in each work area and obtain health hazard information on each. Use Form B to capture the necessary information.