PDC on Hazard and Risk Assessment Occucon 2014, Goa February 11, 2014

1. Hazard and Risk Assessment
PDC on Hazard and Risk Assessment
Occucon 2014, Goa
February 11, 2014
Maharshi Mehta, CSP, CIH
International Safety Systems, Inc.,
Washingtonville New York, USA
www.issehs.com

2. Agenda
 Introduction to Industrial Hygiene
 Hazards
– Chemical Physical and Biologcal Agents
 Hazards and Risk
 Exposure Limits
 Risk Assessment Tools
 Case Studies
 Demonstration of Risk Assessment tools
©International Safety Systems, Inc.
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3. Industrial Hygiene
Hazard Anticipation-Hazards likely to be present?
Hazard Recognition-What are health hazards?
Risk Evaluation-Exposed to health hazard? How much?
Risk Control-How can exposure be reduced?
So that.. Health risk is minimized
And potential for occupational illnesses, material loss are
reduced and the company liability minimized

4. The Need
 Prevent occupational illness and injury by
reducing/eliminating health risk
 Significant cost savings by reducing/recovering
particulate/vapor emissions
 Regulatory requirements
 Productivity increase
•In the Europe, 150 million workdays are lost each year due to work
accidents and illnesses and the insurance costs 20 billion Euros
•Annual cost of occupational illnesses and injuries in Latin America is
about $75 billion

5. Exposure Limits
 Airborne concentration of a substance
 Repeated exposure to the substance below exposure limit
day after day is unlikely to produce adverse health effects
in healthy workers
 High Health Hazard Chemicals have low exposure limits.
 Examples of exposure limits at Huntsman
– Hydrochloric acid 5 ppm ceiling limit
– Ammonia 25 ppm long term limit for 8 hours exposure
Exposure limits are not
a fine line between safe and
dangerous concentrations

6. Organizations Establishing
Occupational Exposure Limits
(OELs)
 American Conference of Governmental Industrial
Hygienists (ACGIH), USA
 Local Regulatory Agencies
– Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), USA
– Health and Safety Executive (HSE), UK
– Technical Rules for Hazardous Substances (TRGS), Germany
 GE Established OELs
– More stringent

7. Units of Exposure Limits
Expressed as concentration of the airborne substance in a volume of air
Vapor/gaseous airborne substances:
 ppm (parts per million)- the parts of airborne
substance per million parts of air
 ppb (parts per billion)- the parts of airborne
substance per billion parts of air
Particulate airborne substances:
 mg/m3 -milligrams of airborne
substance per cubic meter of air
 μg/m3 -micrograms of airborne
substance per cubic meter of air
Airborne fibers:
Fibers/cc -fibers per cubic
centimeter of air
. 1 mg
Concentration of
airborne substance is 1
mg/m3

8. What are Hazards and Risks
 Hazard – Chemical, Physical and or Biological agent that
can cause harm
 Risk - The likelihood that the potential for harm will be
caused by hazards
 Hazardous substances are present most of the time
 Risk is dependant on (a) human exposure to hazards and
(b) degree of exposures
 Degree of exposure is dependant on controls provided
and work practices followed
Industrial Hygiene Risk Assessment (IHRA) is process of
determining degree of health RISK based on degree of
HAZARDS and extent of EXPOSURE

9. The Need
 Assist in determining:
– the need for exposure controls
– respiratory protection and types of respirators
– if an illness is work related or not
 Assist in protecting company in occupational illness
litigations
 Targeted medical surveillance
– Medical surveillance focused on potentially exposed
individuals

10. Methodology - Planning
 Obtain and review process information, chemical
lists before hand
 Obtain and review past mentoring data and
historical assessment
 Review floor plan and mark areas CRA to ensure
all areas are covered
 Review applicable regulation and standards
 Obtain list of chemicals and ingredients

11. Where and When Should Chemical
Risk Assesment be Done
 Where:
– Include all operations and activities
– Include all non-routine operations and activities such
as, maintenance
– Include activities with no apparent health risk also
 E.g., Warehouse; potential risk from noise and
carbon monoxide (CO) from forklift may be present
 When
– Before any new process begins
– When change in process occurs
Required for Employees, Contract Employees, Temporary
Workers

12. Chemical Risk Assessment
 Degree of hazards
– Hydrochloric acid and ammonia
 Frequency and duration of handling/exposure
– How long tanker unloading is done
 The risk of the material becoming airborne
– % of HCl and does it become airborne
 Historical air monitoring results (if available)
 Existing engineering controls and work practices followed
– How do we collect QC sample
 Effectiveness of exposure control is determined or not
 Chemical properties: volatility, particle size, dryness
– Fly ash , coal dust
 Ingestion
 Skin contact

13. Site Visit
 Determine frequency/duration of operation/personal
exposures
 Determine approximate quantities of materials used
 Observe controls - make subjective assessment of
effectiveness
 Interview workers and/or supervisors at each stage of
process
 Gather data on raw materials, finished products, by-products
 Collect relevant MSDSs
 Note specific PPE used
 Start to complete Risk Ranking

14. Rank
Frequency Duration
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Health Hazard
Airborne
Potential
Engineering
Control
Skin Exposure
Daily Weekly monthly Yearly
Chemicals API Skin Hazard
Exposure
Potential
1 Minimal
(under 30
minutes)
Any / Minimal
(under 5 hours)
Any /
Minimal
(under 20
hours)
Any /
Minimal
(under 250
hours)
OEL in range
3.1 to 10
mg/m3 or >
1000 ppm
OHC #1, OEL
>1000 μg/m3 Low
Total enclosure
validated by IH
monitoring
No skin hazard,
temporary effects
2 About 30
min to < 2
hour
5 to 15 hours
per week
20 to 60 hours
per month
250 to 500
hours per
year
OEL in range
0.51 to 3
mg/m3 or 101
to 1000 ppm
OHC# 2, OEL
100 μg/m3 - 1000
μg/m3
Medium
Total enclosure
NOT validated
3 About ½
Shift (2 to
4 hours)
15 to 25 hours
per week
60 to 80 hours
per month
Use More
Frequent
Basis
OEL in range
0.01 to 0.5
mg/m3 or 10 to
100 ppm
OHC# 2, OEL
100 μg/m3 - 1000
μg/m3
High
4 About ¾
Shift (4 to
7 hours)
25 to 30 hours
per week
Use More
Frequent
Basis
Use More
Frequent
Basis
OEL < 0.01
mg/m3 or < 10
ppm
OH Cat# 3, OEL
10 μg/m3 - 100
μg/m3
Moderate
(LEV)
validated
Probable skin
irritants, materials
may cause
dermatitis.
Short term
skin
exposure
5
(over 7
hours)
Use More
Frequent Basis
Use More
Frequent
Basis
Use More
Frequent
Basis
OH Cat# 4, OEL
1 μg/m3 - 10
μg/m3
6
Cat# 4, OEL 0.01
μg/m3 - 1 μg/m3
Moderate not
Validated
7
OH Cat# 4, OEL
< 0.01 μg/m3
Will cause skin
irritation, sensitizers,
corrosives (acids,
caustics, nickel).
Repeated-long
Skin
exposure
8
Non-fixed
controls
movable LEV
9
10 No controls
Materials toxic to
skin (ACGIH) Skin
Skin
exposure
certain

15. ©International Safety Systems, Inc.
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Final Risk Ranking Criteria
Description
Final
Risk
Ranki
ng
<50
Acceptable – process is well controlled and personal exposures are
obviously unlikely to become significant – no further action required
other than periodic review
1
50-200
Potentially acceptable but it may be possible to further reduce exposures
by adopting simple recommendations
2
200-
400
Further evaluation needed – the qualitative assessment has not provided
enough information to be confident that personal exposures are
acceptable; air monitoring may be required.
3
> 400 Very High Risk -Implement exposure controls immediately 4

16. Case Study-HCl unloading
 37% HCl, how hazardous the chemical is?
 Ceiling Limit of 2 ppm
 Unloading is done from tanker
 Closed piping
 Unloading is done for 2 hours/week
 Is it harmful through skin?
 Skin Contact likely?
 What is final risk
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17. Ranking
1. Frequency Duration Ranking?
2. Hazard Ranking?
3. Is it becoming easily airborne? Ranking?
4. Are exposure controls provided? Effective?
Ranking?
Inhalation ranking multiplication of 1x2x3x4
ranking
Now what is inhalation ranking?
©International Safety Systems, Inc.
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18. Skin Ranking
1. Is HCl very harmful to skin? What is ranking?
2. Is skin contact likely? What is ranking?
Skin Exposure ranking is 1x2
What is skin exposure risk?
Total Risk is Inhalation Ranking + Skin Ranking
What is Total Ranking?
Is risk acceptable? What needs to be done
©International Safety Systems, Inc.
www.issehs.com

19. Observations and
Recommendations
 Very important as observation based degree of risk is
more important than number based risk
 Provides bases for ranking used
 Obtain and enter as much of the pertinent information as
possible based on observations and interviews
 While making recommendations, consider
– “Quick Fix”
– Feasibility
– Cost effectiveness
 Mention PPEs used, if any

20. Quantitative Exposure Assessment
 Chemical exposure monitoring
– Direct reading instruments
– Detector tubes (Colorimetric tubes)
– Passive monitoring with Diffusion badges/tubes
– Active monitoring with sampling pumps
 Noise monitoring
– Area noise monitoring
– Personal noise exposure monitoring (Dosimetry)
 Heat stress monitoring
 Ionizing radiation monitoring
 Vibration monitoring
 Bio-aerosol monitoring

21. Active Air
Monitoring
Sampling media
Sampling pump
Sampling media

22. Active Air Monitoring
 Process:
– Air is drawn through a sampling media, kept in the
breathing zone of the person potentially exposed, with a
battery operated sampling pump
– The sampling media is analyzed and weight of
contaminant determined
– The weight is divided by the volume of air drawn
through the media to determine contaminant
concentration
 Substance-specific accurate identification of
exposure
 Corporate and regulatory requirements
 Acceptable in litigation
 Determines exposure during actual work. Not an
instantaneous concentration determination as in
direct reading instrument

23. Quality Assurance in Exposure Monitoring
 Health of working people depends on exposure monitoring results
 Ensure sampling duration is closed to the exposure duration.
– Do not miss beginning and ending of shifts as high exposure
may occur during this time (e.g., cleaning of work area)
– Exposure monitoring may have to begin at 6 am if shift starts at
6 am.
 Ensure calibration of sampling device before and after sampling
 Ensure sampling device is calibrated annually
 Ensure sampling time is exact. Ensure sampling time does not end
with 0 and 5 (e.g., 8:05 am, 8:10 am)

24. Demonstration of Risk
Assessment Tool and Discussions
 Control Of Substances hazardous to Health
(COSHH) Risk Assessment Tool
 Industrial Hygiene Risk Assessment Tool at one
of the largest corporations
– Process
– Computerized model
– Data Synthesis and analysis for 2000 + sites globally
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25. COSHH Assessment Tool-Part 1
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26. COSHH Assessment Part 2
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27. COSHH Assessment Part 3
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28. COSHH Assessment Part 4
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29. Enhanced IH Module
Assessment w/Risk Assessment integrated into IH module

30. Enhanced IH Module (Cont.)
Streamlined Add New Assessment form
Risk Assessment
Details section

31. Enhanced IH Module (Cont.)
Risk Assessment Details Pending for an Existing Assessment Record
Risk Assessment Details Completed

32. Enhanced IH Module (Cont.)
Streamlined Risk Assessment Details Form with Guidance Mouseovers

33. Enhanced IH Module (Cont)
Risk Assessment Workflow Option to Submit to Reviewer

34. Enhanced IH Module (Cont.)
Risk Assessment Review Option – Special Right Required

35. HSE (UK) COSHH Essentials
 Control banding tool for small to medium size
enterprises to do risk assessments for chemicals &
mixtures of chemicals
 Required information
– Type of task – shoveling, drilling
– Hazard classification (using risk & safety phrases
from MSDS )
– Volatility or dustiness (from guidance material)
– Amount used- kg,mg,litres,milliliters

36. HSE (UK) COSHH Essentials
(cont)
 System identifies
– Control band (control approach)
– Produces advice on controlling risk from the
chemical being used in the task
– Provides written guidance & documentation

37. ILO Chemical Control Tool kit
 Very similar to COSHH Essentials
 Does not apply to process dusts or fumes due to
the fact that these are not classified by the
supplier of individual chemicals
 Has general application to many situations in
developing countries but susceptible groups
(child workers & pregnant women) need to be
considered

38. Stages of the ILO Chemical
Control Toolkit

39. Stage 1 – Hazard Classification

40. Stage 1 – Hazard Classification
(cont)

41. Stage 2 – How Much is Used

42. Stage 3 - Dustiness

43. Stage 3 – Volatility
Source: ILO toolkit

44. Stage 4 – Control Approach
Source: ILO toolkit

45. Stage 5 – Task Specific Control Guidance
Sheet
Source: ILO
toolkit

46. Stage 5 – Task Specific Control Guidance
Sheet
Source: ILO toolkit

47. Stage 5 – Task Specific Control Guidance
Sheet
Source: ILO toolkit

48. Lessons Learned
 Understanding Hazard is prerequisite to risk
assessment
 Risk Assessment is essential to determine degree
exposure controls
 Comprehensive Risk Assessment reduces over
all cost of exposure monitoring and provides
opportunity to implement exposure controls
before monitoring
 Above all: Adds few days, months or years in to
life of working people. ©International Safety Systems, Inc.
www.issehs.com