10 Point OSHA Check List to Protect You during Chemical Exposure OSHA has been putting a lot of effort in making people realize the importance of safety at workplaces. What started off as a small practice is not a big movement and slowly spreading in several sectors making OSHA a widely accepted norm. Here, we are going to look at 10 point OSHA check list that must be followed whenever you find someone exposed to chemicals. General Industry Osha Training covers chemical exposure in the 10 hour training courses and the 30 hour training courses in Jacksonville Florida. Here is a sample of what you will be taught during each course. 1. Do employees wear safety equipment while handling the chemicals? Chemicals can be dangerous for the skin and overall health. Do the employees working around the chemicals wear personal safety equipment? Is the safety equipment certified and easy to handle and use? 2. In case of chemical spills, are there any established protocols and procedures that are followed? What happens if the chemical is spilled on a machine or the floor? Who takes care of the spills and leakages? Does your workplace have an instruction manual or a subject matter expert to handle tensed situations? 3. Where are the toxic and inflammable chemicals kept? Are they in closed containers? How does your workplace handle chemicals that can catch fire? Do you have enough safety procedures in place to protect man and machine from sudden chemical fires? How far is the chemical from heat and flame? In case of leakage of toxic chemicals, what security measures do you have in place? 4. Do employees have lunch or food in the area of work? Presence of chemical fumes in the air at the workplace make it unfit for several purposes. Having lunch or snacks is one such thing that should be avoided. Does your workplace policies have any such rules in place? Where do most of the employees eat food? How far and secure is the dining area from the area of work? 5. Do all the employees know the use of respirators and their limitations? Respirators can come in handy in case of toxic chemicals release. These mechanical things can give a stuck employee some time to run to safer place while ensuring safety. However, the respirators come with a limitation. In an emergency, while the respirators can come handy, one should be aware of the limitations to prevent unpleasant surprises. 6. Are the respirators, cleaned and maintained like new? A respirator can only be used if it kept clean. Does your company keep them clean? What is the maintenance schedule for the respirators? How well maintained are they? Are these replaced every
time their life span expires? Are their enough respirators for all the employees working in a shift? Do the employees know how and when to use a respirator? 7. Would the employees have quick access to respirators in the case of an emergency? Where are the respirators located? Given the fact that, in case of a leakage, employees might not have enough time to run out of the building, the respirators should be in a quickly accessible area and close to the site of operations. The location should be known to the employees and under no circumstance should the path or area around the respirators be occupied, blocked or jammed. 8. In case of usage of Internal Combustion engines, what is the acceptable level of Carbon Monoxide? Carbon Monoxide is a common and a fatal gas that can cause death in a matter of time. If inhaled, it causes a lot of pain and uneasiness which should be treated quickly. Sadly, it is not possible to eliminate carbon monoxide from the plants that use internal combustion engines. However, what is possible is to control these levels and keep them under a check and maintain under the maximum permissible level. 9. Do employees know the closest eye safety fountains and safety showers? Chemicals can spill and drops can go into anyone’s eye who is handling the chemicals closely. Eye is one part of the body which is very sensitive to the chemicals. Moreover, a toxic chemical can take away the eye sight and hence incidents of chemical going in the eyes should be taken very seriously. As the very first step of fist aid, the sufferer should wash their eye thoroughly. Therefore, it is important to have eye safety fountain in and around the working area. Like respirators, these should be located in easily accessible areas and should be known to everyone working with chemicals. 10. Are employees being exposed to more than acceptable levels of radiations? Some elements like radioactive ones emit radiations that can be radioactive and harmful. It is important to minimize these radiations. As a precautionary measure, a permissible level of radiations has been set which is considered safe for working. Does your workplace ensure that the radiation levels are strictly within this range? If not, you might want to focus on implementing such a practice and save lives.