Occupational hygiene – what to consider?
As an important aspect of health and safety, occupational hygiene is a crucial element of a company's legal obligation to protect its employees. This is particularly true within the printing industry, where many common and daily hazards can be identified within the workplace. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) identifies many areas of cccupational hygiene as requiring attention and the need for detailed risk assessments. The HSE also produces guidelines as to how potential risks should be handled and what should be assessed and recorded.
Perhaps one of the most obvious elements of occupational hygiene risk within the printing industry is workplace noise. The printing environment can be noisy, whether this is from basic production processes such as the printing machines themselves, or from other processes such as folding machines, or even the use of fork lift trucks to move around materials. It's important to undertake the necessary noise level assessments to ensure that a business is compliant and that staff and operatives are not overly exposed to excessive noise. Long-term hearing damage can not only lead to employee sickness but also potential civil claims if obligations were not met.
Printers are also susceptible to the dangers of Occupational Exposure Monitoring, whereby employees could potentially be exposed to dangerous substances in the course of their job. This comes in the form of many VOC's such as the ink used in print machines or formaldehyde and isocyanates in adhesives. Additional risks could be ozone from UV lamps or dust from cutting or slitting materials. Occupational exposure monitoring is essential for checking the effectiveness of a printer's control measures, ensuring workplace exposure limits are not exceeded, and identifying health surveillance needs. Deterioration of controls could lead to serious health risks and the potential for both long-term sickness or future civil claims.
Another crucial area of monitoring within the printing industry is the extraction of dangerous fumes, vapour or dust from printing machines through Local Exhaust Ventilation Systems (LEV). Employers must abide by Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations, and a key component of this is ensuring that ventilation systems are sufficient to rid the workplace of potentially toxic fumes. Regular examination and testing of these systems (every 14 months to comply with COSHH) is compulsory to ensure that they function effectively and remove hazardous fumes. Without effective ventilation, employees could breathe in toxic fumes, potentially causing diseases, such as asthma, lung scarring and cancer.
Dependent on the processes within the printing business, issues such as whole body vibration and hand arm vibration could be potential risks that may require assessment, particularly if there is excessive use of fork lift trucks or power tools on site. Monitoring the length of time and exposure to vibrating tools requires expert assessment and also the necessary measures put in place to ensure that vibration does not pose long term health risks to employees.
The effects on both a printing business and its employees in failing to adhere to the legal obligations of occupational hygiene can be devastating. BOSS works with occupational hygiene partner to provide the industry with support and services. For more information contact us on 01924 203335.
