Transcript No Slide Title

Louis Stokes Cleveland, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center
JCAHO Environment of Care Series
Fiscal Year 2009
Key Elements of the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard:
You must receive adequate training in working
with hazardous chemicals.
You must have access to the Written Program
of your host institution.
Material Safety Data Sheets must be made
available to you.
You must be informed of hazardous chemicals present
in your work area and of operations in which
they are involved.
You should know how to detect the presence or
release of a hazardous chemical.
You must be provided personal protective equipment
and engineering controls.
You must know the proper procedures for responding
to emergencies.
Hazardous Materials Are:
Health Hazards
 toxic
 harmful
 corrosive
 irritant
 cancer causing
 reproductive hazards
 birth defects
 sensitizing
Physical Hazards
 explosive
 oxidizing
 flammable
Environmental Hazards
Health Effects – Modes of Entry
No chemical substance can cause adverse effects without first entering the
body or coming to contact with it.
There are four main routes for chemical substances to enter the human
body:
Inhalation (breathing in)
Absorption (through the skin or eyes)
Ingestion (eating, swallowing)
Transfer across the placenta of a pregnant
woman to the unborn baby
The harmful effects of chemical substances depend on the toxicity and the
exposure to that chemical. Toxicity is a property of the chemical substance,
while the exposure depends on the concentration of the hazardous chemical
and on the period of contact time.
Many substances do not give any warning by odor, even though they may
be present at dangerous concentrations in the workplace air.
Acute effects occur immediately or
within hours. Effects can range from
mild irritation to death. Generally
speaking, if it doesn’t kill you, you will
recover completely.
Chronic effects, by contrast, may
develop over months or years and
may result in diseases such as
cancer or asbestosis.
Skin is the largest organ in the human body. It provides a protective cover to the body
but can fail if the load is overwhelming. A number of substances can penetrate healthy
intact skin and enter the blood circulation.
Phenol is a substance that may even result in death after exposure and penetration
through the skin.
Contact eczema, irritation and inflammation of the skin are the most common skin
reactions to chemical substances.
The capacity of different chemical
substances to penetrate the skin varies
considerably. Some substances pass
through it without creating any feeling.
Skin absorption is, after inhalation, the
second most common route through
which occupational exposure may take
place.
The lung is the major route through which toxic substances
enter the body in the workplace. It is also the first organ to be
affected by dusts, metal fumes, solvent vapors and corrosive
gases. Allergic reactions may result from exposure to
chemicals, bacteria or fungi.
When dust particles of a
certain size of some
substances are inhaled the
lungs are unable to remove
them. The particles become
embedded in the lungs
causing a condition called
pneumoconiosis.
Pneumoconiosis is a specific
problem for workers exposed
to the dust of silica (quartz)
and asbestos, and is the most
common non-malignant
occupational lung disease
throughout the world.
The nervous system is sensitive to the hazardous effects of
organic solvents. Some metals affect the nervous system,
especially heavy metals such as lead, mercury and manganese.
Organophosphate insecticides such as malathion and parathion
interfere severely with information transmission (chemical
neurotransmitter function) in the nervous system, leading to
weakness, paralysis and sometimes death.
The blood circulation is a target for the
adverse effects of solvents. Blood cells
are mainly produced in the bone
marrow.
Benzene affects the bone marrow; the
first sign is mutation in the blood cells
called lymphocytes.
Lead, in the form of the metal or its
compounds, is another classic example
of a chemical that may cause blood
problems. Chronic lead poisoning may
result in a reduced ability of the blood to
distribute oxygen throughout the body, a
condition known as anemia.
The liver, the largest of the internal
organs of the body, has several
important functions. It is a
purification plant which breaks
down unwanted substances in the
blood. The liver has a considerable
reserve capacity; symptoms of liver
disorder appear only in serious
diseases.
Solvents such as carbon
tetrachloride, chloroform and vinyl
chloride, as well as alcohol, are
hazardous to the liver.
The kidneys have the task of excreting waste
products that the blood has transported from
various organs of the body, of keeping the
fluids in balance and of ensuring that they
contain an adequate blend of necessary salts.
They also maintain the acidity of the blood at a
constant level. Solvents may irritate and impair
kidney function.
The most hazardous to the kidneys is carbon
tetrachloride.
Turpentine in large quantities is also harmful to
the kidneys: `painter's kidney' is a known
condition related to occupational exposure.
Lead and cadmium are also harmful to the
kidneys
Know the Symptoms of Overexposure to the
Chemicals You Work With
If you ever experience any of the following symptoms when
working with solvents, report to your supervisor, to to employee
health, and notify the safety office when you are able.
Rash
Dizziness
Nausea
Vomiting
Blurry Vision
Time-Weighted Average or TWA
TWA is the time-weighted
average concentration for a
conventional 8-hour workday
and 40-hour workweek.
This is the concentration to
which it is believed nearly all
workers may be repeatedly
exposed, day after day,
without adverse health effects.
TLV-TWA (Threshold Limit Value - Time
Weighted Average) is a time-weighted
average concentration for an eight hour
working day or 40 hours a week to which
nearly all workers may be repeatedly exposed
without adverse effect.
TLV-STEL (Threshold Limit Value - Short Term Exposure
Limit) is the concentration to which workers may be exposed
for a short time (usually 15 minutes) without suffering from
irritation, long-term or irreversible tissue damage or
impairment likely to increase accidental injury, affect selfrescue or reduce work efficiency. Daily TLV-TWA values
should not be exceeded.
TLV-C (Threshold Limit Value - Ceiling) is a
concentration that should not be exceeded at all
during work exposure.
An effective control method for any hazardous chemical is
substitution: a hazardous chemical is replaced with a less
hazardous one. This is especially important when the
chemicals in question can cause: cancer, damage to the
reproductive functions, or create allergic reactions.
Choosing a safer process or changing an old and hazardous
process to a less dangerous one effectively reduces the risks.
Examples of safer choices:
Pellets or paste instead of powdered substances which readily
produce high levels of dangerous dusts.
Water-based paints and adhesives instead of harmful products
containing solvents.
Safe sterilizing agents instead of ethylene oxide.
Using Pellets instead of powdered substances reduces your
exposure to dangerous dusts.
Material Safety Data Sheets
An important reference for health and safety information is
the Material Safety Data Sheet, or MSDS. A Material Safety
Data Sheet is prepared for each chemical by its
manufacturer. It describes the physical and chemical
properties of the product, the health hazards, and
appropriate emergency response procedures.
Not all MSDS look alike, but they all contain the same
basic information.
Container Labels
Labels are another good reference
for information on chemical
hazards. Labels on containers of
purchased chemicals include:
The common name of the substance.
An appropriate hazard warning.
Other label information may include
procedures for:
•Proper handling.
•Storage.
•Emergency response.
DOT Labels
Department of Transportation
labels, which are typically found on
the outside of shipping cartons,
provide hazard information in an
easy-to-read format.
The labels are color-coded with
the hazards depicted by readily
identifiable symbols. These
universal symbols are sometimes
found on a container's label as
well.
NFPA Labels
Also valuable is the National Fire Protection Association's labeling system that shows
the type and the degree of a chemical hazard. It is used on some chemical containers,
but is most often found at the entrances to labs and chemical storage areas. The
labels are diamond-shaped and color-coded.
In each field, the degree of the hazard is rated from 0 to 4.
Blue
indicates
the health
hazard.
White gives
special
information
such as water or
oxidizer
incompatibility
Red
indicates
the fire
hazard.
Yellow
indicates
the
reactivity
hazard.
Working with Radioactive Materials
If you are working in a laboratory that uses
radioactive materials, you should:
Recognize the warning or caution signs
indicating the presence of radioactive
materials such as those shown here.
Be trained in specific safe work practices for
your laboratory or workplace.
Know and follow meticulously the safe work
practices of your host institution.
If you have concern about entering a
laboratory where radioactive materials are
handled, talk with your supervisor or the
principal investigator.
Less than two of ten persons know how to protect oneself
in handling of dangerous chemicals.
Read the label and the MSDS!
Personal Protective Equipment
You can do a lot to protect yourself while
working with detergents and hazardous
chemicals. Wear long pants, a longsleeved shirt or blouse, closed-toe shoes,
a laboratory coat, eye protection, and
gloves.
When handling acids wear a rubberized
apron for added protection.
Personal Protective Equipment
Always Protect Your Eyes
Safety glasses with side eye shields,
splash goggles, and full face shields
offer varying degrees of protection
against splattering chemicals and
airborne objects.
Choose safety glasses with side eye
shields when there is a splash hazard
with a small quantity of a hazardous
chemical, for instance, when opening or
closing a bottle or popping open a
microfuge tube.
Personal Protective Equipment
Goggles
Wear goggles when you are handling
a chemical that is highly caustic or in a
larger volume, perhaps a liter or more.
Face shields
Wear a face shield when you are
handling a very large volume of a
hazardous chemical, or when you
need to protect your face and your
eyes. For example, wear a face
shield when you are removing a
closed container from liquid nitrogen.
Personal Protective Equipment
Gloves
Wearing gloves is a simple and
effective way to protect yourself from
chemical contact, but the gloves must
be resistant to the specific chemical
with which you are working.
No glove material is impermeable to all
chemicals, therefore, the most effective
practice in using protective gloves is to
change them frequently and whenever
they are contaminated.
Persons in Environmental Management Service, Nutrition and Food Service,
Engineering Service should not wear latex exams gloves for protection. Many
persons are allergic to latex.
Pipe
Asbestos
lagging cloth
Insulation
The most
common
uses of
asbestos
in our
buildings
are pipe
lagging
and pipe
insulation.
Asbestos cement and lagging is used around pipe elbows and T’s. Asbestoscontaining materials are replaced as areas undergo renovation with nonasbestos material. Asbestos insulation is not a health hazard unless is reduced
to a powder.