Easier COSHH compliance
Chris Dyer reviews the HSC's plans to link exposure limits and control measures within the COSHH regime.
The HSC plans to make major changes to the regime that controls workers' exposure to chemicals so that it will be easier for firms to comply with their legal duties.
Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH) employers must prevent their workers being exposed to chemicals or, if that is not possible, they must ensure that exposure is adequately controlled so that their workers are protected from harmful effects.
Two types of occupational exposure limits (OELs) define adequate control for airborne hazardous substances: the Occupational Exposure Standard (OES) and the Maximum Exposure Limit (MEL). In recent years it has become clear that there are problems with the current system, the most significant being that OESs and MELs are not understood by much of industry, particularly small firms, with many employers not knowing how to determine whether exposure levels in their workplaces comply with the limits. In 2002, the HSC issued a discussion document seeking views on how this situation could be improved (Rethinking the limits), and has now published a consultation document setting out the changes it plans to make and asking for comments1.
Proposed changes
The HSC is proposing that there should be:
John Thompson, head of the HSE's chemical and flammables policy division, said the proposals contribute to the HSC/E's strategy for chemicals, which emphasises activities that have a direct impact in the workplace. "The aim is to ensure that the OEL system is simplified and set within a framework that makes a real contribution to health protection by providing practical, easy-to-use tools that help businesses improve standards of control. The proposals offer the opportunity to take advantage of electronic media to link OELs to practical advice on the steps employers have to take."
The HSC proposes retaining the existing approach to "adequate control" while broadening the definition. The COSHH Regulations will be amended to make explicit the duty to apply the principles of good practice in controlling exposure to hazardous substances (see box 1), as well as complying with any relevant OEL. The HSE will publish guidance on the application of these principles. For substances that cause cancer, hereditary damage or asthma, exposure will have to be reduced to the lowest level that is reasonably practicable.
Single limit
The OES and MEL will be replaced with a single type of limit - the WEL. Only one duty is attached to the WEL: it is a value that must not be exceeded (see table 1). The WEL is defined as the concentration of hazardous substances in the air that people breathe, averaged over a specified reference period (either eight hours or 15 minutes). This is the same definition as for the current OESs and MELs; there will be no change to the calculation method and OELs will continue to be published in a list approved by the HSC (EH40) and thereby become subject to the COSHH Regulations. OELs set by the EC (Indicative Occupational Exposure Limit Values and Binding Occupational Exposure Limit Values) will be implemented as WELs.
Good practice advice will be available from the HSE, trade unions, industry, suppliers and consultants for many substances, including those assigned a WEL. This will be either substance-specific advice or generic advice, ie advice related to particular hazard/risk combinations rather than a specific substance.
The good practice advice produced or endorsed by the HSE will, in most cases, bring exposure below the WEL.
It is impossible to guarantee that generic advice will be suitable for every substance/task combination, but it is expected that it will nearly always result in adequate control, enabling employers to comply with the COSHH Regulations by following the advice.
Employers will be free to follow guidance from any source, providing it is equally effective in ensuring compliance with the legal duty. If an employer finds that the measures used to control exposures are failing, it will need to take immediate steps to protect employees and implement remedial measures.
Essential link
Linking WELs into the COSHH Essentials system will provide generic good practice advice. Users are asked to input readily available information about the chemicals they use and the way in which they use them. The system then automatically identifies control approaches and produces easy-to-follow instructions on how to put the guidance into practice and carry out other duties required by COSHH. For the more hazardous substances, such as those causing asthma and some carcinogens, COSHH Essentials defaults to directing the user to seek specialist advice.
COSHH Essentials does not cover gases, some naturally occurring substances, for example grain dust, and process-generated dusts and fumes. The HSE is expanding the range of control guidance sheets to cover these areas. This guidance will be broken down into specific activities. For example, for ferrous foundry particulate, there will be control guidance sheets giving good practice advice for casting, knockout and fettling.
The HSC believes its proposals address the weakness of the present system where many employers, particularly in small businesses, do not know: what OELs mean in practical terms; how to assess whether they are complying with them; and what control measures they need (see table 2). It expects that many firms will have to spend a little time familiarising themselves with the new requirements but believes that, in most cases, the cost for each firm will be negligible. No changes to the COSHH Regulations will be made until 2004.
Chris Dyer is editor of HSB and a journalist specialising in health and safety matters.
TABLE 1: THE BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED WEL SYSTEM
|
Benefit |
Current System |
Proposed system |
|
"Position" of OELs in the COSHH Regulations |
Standalone - little practical advice on steps needed to comply with the OEL. |
OELs clearly linked to guidance on controls needed to keep exposure below the limit. |
|
OEL system |
OES and MEL system not understood by many employers. Concept of the OES as a "safe" limit is not sustainable. |
A single type of limit applicable to all substances is the simplest system possible. |
|
OEL compliance/enforcement |
OESs difficult to comply with and enforce in practice. |
Requirement to follow good practice easier for employers to comply with and HSE to enforce. Single requirement to not exceed the limit and a clear explanation of what that means. |
|
System for setting OELs |
Slow, cumbersome and resource-intensive, not fully compatible with new EC system. |
Simplified criteria for a single limit - this will make limit setting easier, compatible with EC. |
|
Role of OELs |
Legal limits. |
Legal limits also apply under the new system, which tells people how to apply them. OELs are set in context of other COSHH duties, by being linked to good practice. |
|
Electronic use/availability |
Not user-friendly. The current list of limits is published in priced hard-copy format only in EH40. |
The new list of limits will be available free of charge on the web and will link to the COSHH Essentials good practice advice. |
|
Substances covered by system |
Over 30,000 high-volume production chemicals are used in the UK. Of these, only 500 have OELs, some of which are no longer scientifically well-founded. |
There will be limits for about 150 substances, all of which will be scientifically well-founded. Employers will be able to apply the principles of good practice to these and all other substances. |
|
Innovative approach |
OESs and MELs stem from the work of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists begun in 1948. They are outdated and poorly understood. |
The system of good-practice control advice to accompany the limit would be the first of this kind in the world. |
Source: HSC.
TABLE 2: OES, MEL AND WEL DUTIES
|
OES |
MEL |
WEL |
|
Standard must be met. |
Limit must be met. |
Limit must not be exceeded. |
|
No requirement to reduce exposure further. |
Exposure must be reduced below the limit so far as is reasonably practicable. |
|
|
If the standard is exceeded, steps must be taken to meet it as soon as is reasonably practicable. |
Limit must not be exceeded. |
|
Source: HSC.
1"A consultative document on proposals to introduce a new OEL framework", CD189, HSE Books or www.hse.gov.uk/consult/live.htm, free. Comments should reach Tony Gissane, HSE, 7NW, Rose Court, 2 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HS, tony.gissane@hse.gsi.gov.uk, by 31 December 2003.
2"COSHH Essentials: easy steps to control chemicals", HSG193, HSE Books, ISBN 0 7176 2421 8, £25, or www.coshh-essentials.org.uk, free.
