Occupational Health Hazards In Chemical Laboratories

Types of Occupational Health Hazards

Write a short discussion on discussion about the occupational health hazards while working in any chemical laboratory.

This report provides a discussion about the occupational health hazards while working in any chemical laboratory. It provides a full description of the workplace where the workers work and also the duration of their stay in the workplace. The occupational health hazards chosen includes health problems like cancer, cardiovascular diseases and many other diseases involved while workers are working in the chemical laboratory. There are many risks like biological, potential and chemical hazards associated with working in chemical laboratories. It describes the measures taken by the management to control such hazards and the effects it has on minimizing the hazards. It explains a detailed care plan process developed for determining the patient’s health goals and outcomes of the program. Working in the chemical laboratory in any industry or factory serves to be very harmful in determining anyone’s health. Many of the workers are employed in laboratories all over the world. The environment of the laboratory can serve to be highly harmful to the workers working over there. Workers are always exposed to several kinds of toxic elements that can cause potential health hazards which may be due to chemicals, biological, physical and radioactive hazards. Additionally they can also lead to other factors such as musculoskeletal stress. Keeping these in mind, laboratory safety has been given muc importance by several local, state and federal regulations.

The type and extent of the hazard caused due to the chemicals depend on the duration of their exposure to the harmful environment and also the location of working (Armarego and Chai, 2013). The health hazards include the development of life-threatening diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases and much more. By identifying the associated hazards the potential problems and diseases caused by them can be highly regulated and minimized. The most common biological hazards include exposure of the worker to blood borne pathogens by the use of needle sticks, pipettes, glass slides or other equipments. It also involves exposure to airborne pathogens caused by direct contact with infectious patients (Ugranli et al, 2015). The pathogens are found in tissues as well as excretory materials like faeces, so the chances of exposure to them increase and hence the disease prevalence also increases.

The goal of the designed health program is to determine the hazardous chemicals and implementation of the ways to solve the potential risks faced by the workers due to these chemicals. The risk assessment is done to identify the workers who are at the risk of exposure, the sources that cause the risk, and the efficiencies of existing control measures. Risk assessment can be of various types and determination of the kinds too becomes necessary (Ugranli et al, 2015). A basic assessment contains all the information on the safety data sheets. It also contains information as to whether the hazardous chemicals are under control or not. While in the generic assessment, the assessment of a particular area is focused on. Risk assessment can be done by grouping the professionals in a group that performs similar work. The routes of entry of the chemicals should be determined for understanding the potential risks due to exposure. Determination of the workers who are directly or indirectly related to the developmental risks can even be helpful in finding the ways to solve the problems (Turgeon 2015).

Measures taken for Prevention of Occupational Hazards

The chemical laboratory is the most hazardous place to work for any human being. The laboratory which we are focusing upon being the laboratories using diacetyl as catalyst in manufacturing flavorings. The flavors need to be removed as they contribute in forming negative health effects. Though chemicals are found everywhere, laboratories are the place where they are stored, and most of the works are performed there. Many cases of severe lung diseases are found among workers in laboratories where diacetyl is manufactured (Magnavita 2016). The combination of more chemicals helps in increasing the harms. Chemicals may create various harmful elements in the form of dust, liquids, gases and others. Chemical laboratories are present in many institutions, colleges and big pharmaceutical and chemical companies. Chemicals are necessary for the preparation of various products which may be useful and harmful too. The useful products made out of chemicals include bleaching powder and chemical powders that benefit humans. Bleaching powder helps in purification of water and also helps in cleaning of floors. But handling those chemicals for manufacturing any product is the entirely different thing. As it can be seen that the chemical laboratories are the places where several people work together and perform their functions accordingly (Turgeon 2015). The laboratories are generally established in places which are far and distant from the normal workplaces. It comprises of employees who are above the age of 25 years. The working employees in laboratories are mainly males as males are more preferred for such activities which involve much risk. However, individuals with a prior knowledge in the field or with an experience of at least one or two years are chosen for handling such chemicals.

The workers in the chemical laboratories have to work for more than 10 hours a day in under difficult conditions. But in big companies, they need to work for more than 10 hours, and this is the only reasons why the hazards are more prevalent in their cases. Exposure to different chemicals on a regular basis and for a longer duration will surely affect the health conditions of employees exposed to such environment. Frequent exposure to chemicals which are potentially more dangerous can even lead to mutation of the skin which ultimately causes cancer (Scott et al, 2015). In big companies, more number of workers indulges as laboratory technicians. They have to deal with varieties of chemicals in a day.
Review and literature

The Australian National OHS Strategy 2002- 2012 focused on prevention of occupational diseases more efficiently and was among one of their priorities. They identified eight hazards which can be potentially more dangerous. Additionally they also point out that chemical hazards are the prime causes of most deadly diseases like cancer, respiratory diseases and contact dermatitis. It was found that between the years 2000-2001 to 2006-2007 the rates of respiratory diseases increased along with the rates of occupational cancers. The international labor organization in 1996, reported that chemicals are part of our daily life and are unavoidable (Scott et al, 2015). A report published by World health organization in 2004 states that about 4.9 millions of deaths and 86 million disability-adjusted life years were recognized due to their exposure to selected chemicals.

As per an analysis by Safe Work Australia for the session 2006- 2007, it was observed that the 1350 people were found to be influenced by their exposure to chemicals. Out of these, 880 people were affected due to their single contact exposures, 400 were affected due to long-term exposure, and 70 were not designated to any kind of exposure. The major health and safety problems faced by laboratory technicians are due to exposure to toxic, corrosive and flammable chemicals which catch fire easily, using compressed gases, handling blood samples and body fluids that contain infectious agents (Driscoll et al, 2016). Some physical hazards and also recognized as a use of radioactive materials, lasers, and others (da Silva 2016). The use of cryopreservative agents likes liquid nitrogen and solid carbon dioxide. Working in the same environment and in the same position can also cause problems like back and arm pain. Electrical dangers are also felt while working with electrical instruments and devices. Cutting and itching of skin by exposure to chemicals and by broken glasses. The use of chemical agents in laboratories not only imparts these problems, but it also offers some of the potential dangers to human life (Simoneti et al, 2015). Exposure of a person to pesticides, mercury, carbon monoxide and other chemicals can affect the brain and nervous system. Exposure to mists, welding fumes can affect the regions of eye, nose and throat (Scott et al, 2015). Lungs get damaged due to exposure to acids and welding fumes. Liver damage can also be observed with exposure to vinyl chloride. Bladder harms are caused by exposure to azo dyes.

Risk assessment

The risks associated while working in laboratories can be assessed by monitoring or conducting surveys in any particular area. The risks can be assessed by observing the primary sources of information which are in the form of Chemical Hygiene Plan in any laboratory. CHP contains the standard procedures for working with specific hazardous chemicals (Magnavita 2016). Material safety data sheets often serve as sources for assessing the risks and evaluation of hazards. These are technical documents that contain basic information regarding any chemical and potential risks. The sheets also explain the toxicity levels and health hazards, including storage and handling procedures.
Ethical regulations
The University of Western Australia has implemented codes that should be followed by all the laboratory workers and are introduced to minimize the chances of development of health hazards to human health. The University of Australia has several codes. According to this, the people working in laboratories should have to be perfectly trained, informed and supervised. The Western Australian Occupational Safety and Health Act 1984, aims to promote and secure the safety and health of every individual working in any workplace (Mann et al, 2014).
Health occupational plan

The health occupational health plan for the workers in chemical laboratories includes- identification of the various hazardous chemicals of concern, methods adopted for managing the risks associated with the hazardous chemicals, and determination of the exposure time to that particular chemical. It also involves preparation of a list of dangerous chemicals, maintenance of safety data sheets, assessment of the risks, controlling risks by eliminating hazards by substitution, isolation or using personal protective equipment, enhancing the controlling measures and lastly monitoring the outcomes of the methods implemented (Magnavita 2016).

By observing and consulting workers, it can be understood as to whether the standard procedures which are implemented on the workers are efficient or not. The employees are advised to fill up the self- evaluation form so that their working process and duration of exposure can be known. The investigation process is done by determining the rate of hazardous chemicals. It also helps in ascertaining the rate of harm the chemicals might have caused to the workers. The data regarding the accumulation level of the airborne pathogen are determined by a simple static area sampling. The amount of exposure can sometimes be determined by observing the workers. Biological methods of monitoring can be significantly useful for determining the level of absorbance of the chemicals through the skin.

One of the ways in which a plan can be implemented is by designing less hazardous laboratory processes and reaction conditions. Use of safer solvents and non- hazardous chemicals will cause less harm. Moreover degradation of the hazardous products and by-products which are formed after the completion of any kind of chemical reaction may also beneficial (da Silva 2016). Another advantageous technique may be designing of the experimental setups in a way that can help in reducing cases of injuries, accidents and exposures to laboratory. Additionally, checking the hazardous properties of any substance before its use in any chemical reactions may also be profitable (Lu et al, 2016).
The associated risks can be controlled by following the hierarchy of control. The risk can be minimized by methods like substitution, separation and by implementation of engineering controls (Galante et al, 2016). Elimination of the hazard is the first and basic step which will be considered. This can be done by using nails inspite of using chemical based adhesives. Substitution is another method of resolving problems as replacing the hazardous chemical with non- hazardous ones will assist in resolving problems (Connor et al, 2016). It can be done by using less combustible liquids and solvents in place of highly inflammable ones. Isolating the more hazardous chemicals from the less hazardous ones can be an efficient practice for minimizing the exposures to hazardous chemicals (Lee et al, 2016).

Methods to minimize the risks of occupational health hazards

The engineering control methods can also be implemented in the program for minimizing the risks of development of hazards from chemicals. The engineering control process that can be used includes using intrinsically safe electrical equipment in hazardous areas. Local exhaust ventilations can be used to capture airborne contaminants close to the source of generation. Personal protective equipments if used in the workplace can help in minimizing the hazards (Bahr 2014). The equipment includes aprons, footwear, gloves, chemical resistant glass, face shields, and respirators. The more specific control measures include the use of labels and data sheets (Bahr 2014). The fire and explosion risks can be controlled by designing buildings in a way that ventilation is present, which can avoid the creation of hazardous atmospheres (Lee et al, 2016).
The workers should be advised to follow the programs and ways to minimize the hazards of working in chemical laboratories. The workers should be told to handle the equipment more carefully and using them with more care and attention (Lim 2016). The workers should be reminded every time to use the chemicals very carefully and in proper way avoiding harms.

Some measures are adopted as protection against the biological hazards. The methods includes use of own protective equipments such as gloves, respiratory defense, and eye defense which are to be employed depending upon the situation (Connor et al, 2016). Personal Protective Equipments is generally used in association with other protections (engineering and administrative) to provide more defenses to employees. The major forms of Personal Protective Equipments are constructed to protect the employees against infectious disease by cracking the groups of infection at the “point of entrance or escape” of the pathogens (Bahr 2014). This means that all Personal Protective Equipments is framed to minimize exposure by the unique ways of transmission. Exposure through the skin contact route can be minimized by using gloves, gowns, and other protective clothing and help contain the pathogens in the workplace (Driscoll et al, 2016).

Implementation of the plan

Once the whole occupational program is planned out, it is to be implemented and monitored for evaluating the associated risks. Regular checkups and follow ups of the workers are conducted to ascertain the instructions are followed by the employers are not. This should be done on a monthly basis by having the employees fill the self- evaluation form which asks about the problems faced by the employees and the work habitants. In this way, the employees will also be able to feel the change brought about by an implementation of the programs and plans.

Risk Assessment in Chemical Laboratories

Conclusion

As seen from the discussion, the employees working in chemical laboratories face a lot of health issues. The main health issues are- cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and skin problems, such as dermatitis and many others. This issue needs to be considered as the rules and methods set out in the country are not set well. In the recent strategies followed many changes are still there which are to be incorporated. The methods adopted like personal protective equipment, engineering controlled methods, and other methods are playing important roles in eliminating or minimizing the hazards. The employees should be well informed about the ill- effects of using chemicals in laboratories. They should be trained on the correct use of chemicals. The occupational program set out for the observed risk will be regularly monitored by assessing the employees through questionnaires and by assessing the duration of their exposure to chemicals. This would help in minimizing the risks faced by workers working in chemical laboratories to a great extent.

Reference

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