제 목 : Has COSHH failed?
일 자 : 1996년 01월
제공처 : SAFETY management
The health of workers is still seriously at risk despite nearly seven
years of regulations designed to reduce exposure to hazardous
substances, according to a professional body of respiratory specialists.
Research from the British Thoracic Society suggests there is 'no
significant difference between the lung health of workers before and
after the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations
were introduced in October 1989.'
By the society's reckoning, almost half of the workers it surveyed
(47 per cent) had not had any health surveillance.
'No significant difference between the lung health of workers before
and after the COSHH Regulations were introduced in October 1989.'
Worryingly, the findings are supported by figures from the Department
of Social Security which show a 130 per cent increase in occupational
asthma since 1989.
The society also claims that 70 per cent of those in its survey had
never seen the safety data sheets of the dangerous substances they were
exposed to.
Under COSHH employers must supply protective equipment where there is
no other method of controlling a hazardous substance. Yet, says the
society, of the 40 per cent of those supplied with PPE, only one third
had been told about it and less than one in five had been trained how to
use it.
The Health and Safety Executive said : 'The study seems to be confined
to those who were suffering from occupational asthma but took no account
of the proportion of workers who had been protected from the health
risks.
'Industry has made some progress in protecting workers against health
risks since the COSHH Regulations came into force but much remains to be
done and the need for firm action now is in no way diminished.'
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