Health and Safety G440033 foroccupational ...

1 This inf ormationwill helpemplo yer s (includingthese lf -e mployed)complywit h the Cont rol ofSubst anc es Haz ardoustoHea lth Regulations 2002(C OSHH),as ame nded,to control exposureand prot ect workers healt is als o us eful for tra de unionsa fety re pres ent she et des cribesspecialis tadvic e on healthsurveillance forocc upa tio nal skin dis ease,whichincludes dermatitis . It appliestocert ain processes , and wheneverapro duc t is labelledR43 Ma y caus ese nsit isa tion by skin contact .It sets out what you shouldex pectfrom a healt h surveillancepr ov ll yo ur occupationalhea lthpro fes sional,or if appropriate, yourde signate d res ponsiblepers on ifwo rke rs hav e any of the followingsym pto ms: skin re dnessor soreness; Itc hing; ra sh.

2 Or skin cra ckingor ck all skin likelyto com e int ocont ac t wit h chemicals, inc ludingha nds , fo rearms, legs,and surveillancefor occupationalder matitisControlapproach4 SpecialCOSHH essentials:GeneralguidanceG440033 Introduction Occ upati on al ski n d isease is i mpo rtant and a co mmon h ealth prob lem .Repeated ski n irri tati on or s kin sen si tisation can lead to d ermatitis. If you d etect the si gn s of d erm ati ti s early enou gh , an d redu ce workers exp os ure t o the s ub stan ces respon si ble, yo u w ill red uce or cu re th edi sease.

3 B ut i f l eft un treated, dermati tis can b ecome irreversible. If ski nbeco mes s ensi ti sed , a sm al l am oun t can trigger a b ad Ep oxy resi ns, l atex , ru bber chemical s, soaps an d cleaners,met alw orki ng flu ids, cem en t, w et work, enzymes and wood can allcaus e dermati ti s. Corrosi ve an d i rri tating chemicals also lead toderm ati ti s. S ol vents on th e ski n m ake o ther chemicals more likely tocaus e s kin dam Con st ructi on wo rk, h eal th servi ce work, rubber making, prin ting, pai ntsp rayi ng , agri cul ture, horti cu lture, el ectro platin g, cleaning, catering,hai rdres si ng and f lori sts are all ass ociated with Han d i mmers ion, part icu larl y m ul tiple sho rt-term immersion u sing soapor det ergent.

4 Is ass oci at ed w ith d and preparation Pl an what you are goi ng to d o i f a worker shows sign s of o ccup ati onalderm ati ti s and make sure your em ployees are aware of your p lan sWhat is Health surveillance? Hea lth s urveil lance is col lecti ng an d u sin g info rmat ion ab ou t workers heal th , relat ed t o t he sub stan ces t hey u se. It helps prevent t hedevel op ment o f dermati ti s b y d etecti ng th e early signs. Hea lth s urveil lance is neveran al ter native to th e p roper cont rol ofexp os ure.

5 It i s not t he s ame as h ealt h s creening or Health pro moti on. Yo u s hou ld cons ider s kin su rvei llan ce if workers: us e s ubst an ces or are in occu pat ions list ed ab ove; or are worki ng wi th prod uct s l abel led R 43 May cause sensitisation byski n co ntact , o r R 42/ 43 M ay cause s ensitisation b y in halation andski n co ntact .General Guidance G403 SpecialPub lis hed b y the H ea lth and Saf ety Ex ec utive 08/ 11 This document contains notes on good practice which are notcompulsory but which you may find helpful in considering what you need to do.

6 Cr own c opyright If you wis h t o reu se thi s i nformation visitww k/copyright .h tm for d etai ls. F irst pub lished 04 /0 6. Inv olve a h ealt h pr of essi onal (d octo r or nu rse ) in you r healthsurv ei llan ce prog ra mme , they wil l h el p de ve lop you r sch em e an d traina re sp on sible per son, or could pro vide a s er vi ce - see 'Useful links'. He alth su rve illa nc e could in clu de th e follo wing measures: Ass es s wor ker s' skin co ndi tio n as so on as p ossib le after they start arel evan t j ob to p rovide a b asel ine (e g wit hin six weeks).

7 Int rodu ce re gu lar te sting - e very few mo nt hs or ann ual ly - as ad visedby the he alth pro fe ssio nal. This cou ld invo lve a qu estionnai re an d skinins pec ti on (h an ds, f or ea rm s and , if t hes e ca n be cont am inated, lowerlegs ). You r h ea lth provider should i nte rp ret the re sult s an d id en tify any needto re vise th e risk a sse ssm ent. You sh ou ld appoint a res pon sib le per so n, sup po rted by t he h eal thpro fes siona l, t o repo rt a ny s ymp tom s t ha t occu r b etween tests.

8 Kee p a h ealt h rec ord, and en cou rage w orke rs to keep a copy of theirres ul ts i n c ase th ey c han ge j obs .What is it likely to cost? Skin s ur veillan ce at your workp lac e costs an estimated 20 to set upand 20 per person per te st u si ng a he alth pr ofess keeping Record : the ac ti vity th at c an c ause derm ati tis; worker s n ame , address and Nat ion al Ins ura nc e n umb er; pro duct s or pro cess the y wo rk on, and ho w often ; pro tec ti ve me asu res pr ovid ed; date o f s tar ting work with th e p rodu ct or pro cess.

9 And the res ult o f skin inspecti links Fo r inf or matio n about healt h an d s afet y, o r to rep ort incon sistencies orina ccur ac ies in this g uida nce, visi t .g k/ . You can viewHS E g ui dan ce online and ord er priced pub lic ations from the E p riced pu blica tions are a lso avai lab le fro m bo oksh ops . Lo ok in th e Y ellow Page s u nd er Health and safet y con sultants an d H eal th a ut ho ritie s and servi ces for occupa tion al Health . Also se e www . is doc ument is avail abl e at: www.

10 Hs ubn s/gu idan ce/ an dwww .hse . entials/