Occupational Health and Safety Procedure for Chemicals and Hazardous Substances

Below is an important workplace health and safety procedure related to COSHH, that details the requirements for the establishment and maintenance of local registers for the control of chemicals and hazardous substances.

Project head in coordination with all site staff and HSE team is overall responsible to implement this procedure on a project.

Project Managers shall appoint a designated person who should establish and maintain an inventory register in accordance with this procedure and be responsible for the control of MSDS / COSHH Register.

Sub contractors shall also provide a designate person from their organization who’s responsibility it will be to establish and to maintain a file of all MSDS/ COSHH inventory register in accordance with this procedure.

The designated person shall establish and maintain the inventory register of chemicals / hazardous substances in accordance with this procedure and any other applicable laws/regulations.

Definitions and Abbreviations

COSHH: Control of Substances Hazardous to Health

Chemicals/Hazardous Substances: Includes dangerous goods and other hazardous materials, which may be raw materials, finished goods, manufactured products or mixtures with the potential to cause adverse health effects due to a single or repeated exposure.

Dangerous Goods: Substances or articles classified by the United Nations based upon the characteristics they display.

Designated Person: Refers to a person made responsible by their manager to establish and maintain the local inventory register.

Hazardous Substances: Substances which appear on the National Health and Safety Commissions ‘List of Designated hazardous Substances’, or which meet the National Occupational Health & Safety Commissions ‘Approved Criteria for Classifying Hazardous Substances’.

Hazchem: Hazchem code refers to a code used to communicate acute hazards to emergency services.

Inventory Register: Refers to an indexed listing of chemicals/hazardous substances by product name, dangerous goods class, UN number, Hazchem code, storage location & maximum  quantities on hand.

MSDS: Material Safety Data Sheets.

UN Number: The UN number refers to the four-digit United Nations Number allocated to Dangerous Goods.

Maintaining the Inventory Register

a) An inventory register of stored and or used chemicals / hazardous substances should be established and maintained for the purposes of complying with the Project Health, Safety and Environmental Management Plan requirements and local legislation.

b) The inventory register should be an indexed listing of chemicals / hazardous substance detailing the Product name [Trade Name].

c) The designated person should undertake a review of the register at frequencies not exceeding three months.

Below is a sample register:

d) The inventory register should be signed by the designated person who will identify it with the date of revision and location [area of site it refers to].

The register should be legible and where possible maintained as an electronic database.

MSDS Control

a) Prior to the introduction of any new chemical/hazardous substance, an MSDS/COSHH Sheet should be provided to the Project HSE Coordinator for consideration and approval.

b) Subsequent to any approval and before the induction of a new chemical / hazardous substances, a copy of the MSDS should be placed in the local MSDS/COSHH file and an entry made in the inventory register.

c) The designated person should routinely monitor the local MSDS file to ensure that no MSDS is more than 5 years old. Suppliers of chemicals/hazardous substances must re-issue an MSDS that is more than 5 years old.

d) All superseded MSDS/COSHH Sheet should be marked as superseded and kept in the file behind the replacement MSDS.

e) Where chemical/hazardous substances are discontinued for use the corresponding MSDS should be marked so and the date of discontinuation recorded on the sheets as such ‘DISCOUNTINUED 5/4/07” with the MSDS to be held in the local MSDS file and a copy forwarded to the Project HSE Coordinator.

f) The Project HSE Coordinator should cause a site wide MSDS/COSHH Register to be created and maintained in the Safety Office and Logistics.

g) All dangerous goods and hazardous substances are to be clearly labelled.

h) All dangerous goods and hazardous substances are to be securely stored at all times.

MSDS Distribution

Distribution of all material safety datasheets will take place as follows:

• The ‘designated’ person should maintain a local file of MSDS from where distributed will take place to supervisors and employees as requested.
• Job tasks involving the use, production or release of chemicals/hazardous substances should be covered by a Method Statement /JSEA with any and all relevant Material Safety Data Sheets attached.
• Project HSE Coordinator should maintain a project COSHH Register of the use of such information in Health, Safety, Medical and Emergency situations.
• All project engineers/managers should provide to employees, adequate information related to chemical / hazardous substances Fire precautions and First Aid precautions so they may correctly use, handle, store or transport such materials. Managers and Supervisors are to access copies of the relevant MSDS from their local MSDS Register.
• The site store should provide MSDS for use by stores personnel so they may correctly handle, store and label chemicals / hazardous substances. Upon request they should allow persons at the counter to read an MSDS so they may obtain necessary information.
• MSDS Sheets must also be kept in clinic to assist Male Nurse with Diagnosis.

Training Related to Hazardous Substances

The importance of effective communication is reflected in Policies and Procedures, which requires employees to be provided information, instruction and training as may be necessary to ensure the health and safety of all employees.

Consistent with these requirements, Project Managers are to ensure that:

i. Induction training includes details of Chemical / Hazardous Substances and control practices.

ii. Employees are actively involved in the development of control measures e.g. Development of Job Safety Environment Analysis or risk assessments.

iii. Supervisors receive training in Chemical / Hazardous Substances Awareness and register of the training to be submitted to HSE department.

iv. COSHH Sheets to be utilized.

Records of training provided to employees should be maintained in accordance with the requirements of the site Project HSE Management Plan.

Relevant Records

Chemical/Hazardous Substances Inventory Register