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Chemical Agents

The following are useful when it comes to considering potential liability for the use of Chemical Agents at Wrok. This whole area is also subject to the 2005 Act and responsibilities under that Act also require consideration.

Regulations related to Classification, Packaging and Labelling of Dangerous Substances and Preparations (SI. 77 of 1994 and SI. 393 of 1992)

This legislation defines the intrinsic properties of chemicals as explosive, sensitising, oxidizing, carcinogenic, flammable, mutagenic, toxic, toxic for reproduction, harmful, dangerous for the environment, irritant, corrosive.

Based on these intrinsic properties, the label on any chemical must display information about the chemical reactivity and the health and environmental hazards of the product. The particular danger is illustrated by the use of a hazard symbol and the label also shows Risk phrases, which describe the hazard in greater detail and Safety Phrases that give appropriate handling advice to control the hazard.  A preparation is a chemical product, which contains a mixture of two or more chemicals, and the legislation (S.1-393 of 1992) lays down how suppliers of chemical preparations should classify and label their products according to the amount of the individual hazardous chemical substances contained in the preparation.

Under this legislation a material safety data sheet (MSDS) must be made available to any professional user of a dangerous substance or preparation. The MSDS contains more detailed Information on the chemical product. It must contain the name of the supplier or manufacturer, information about the identity of the substances In the product, their hazards, physical and chemical properties, stability and reactivity, toxicological and ecological Information, first aid information, fire-fighting measures, handling and storage, exposure controls and personal protective equipment, disposal considerations including accidental release measures and information on transport.

Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Chemical Agents) Regulations, S.L 445 of 1994

The Chemical Agents Regulations require employers to assess the risk of any chemical agent used at a place of work, to put in place measures to control the risks associated with those chemicals and to provide information and training to workers who are handling chemicals. The associated Code of Practice lays down Occupational Exposure Limits for over 700 chemicals used in the workplace. Employers must ensure that the level of any individual chemical does not exceed the level set out in the Code of Practice.

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