Safety Engineering

Applied Science & Computing 2008

Hazard & Risk

 Hazard
Potential to cause harm
 Risk
Likelihood of harm
Must treat relationship between risk & hazard
carefully
Highly hazardous but no risk

 Active ingredient in hand held police alcohol

monitor , Potassium Dichromate is highly
toxic & carcinogenic chemical
 However contained in a sealed tube , does
not become airborne when air is drawn over
therefore no risk
Non Hazardous but High Risk

 Flour not normally considered a hazardous

substance
 Bakers susceptible to dermatitis ,
conjunctivitis and asthma unless dust is
controlled
 Danger of Explosion
Risk Perception

 Personal Experience
 Information Available
 Background
 Control
Workplace Hazards

 Physical
Non Ionising Radiation- Microwaves IR UV
Ionising Radiation α β XRays Gamma radiation
Noise
Temperature
Ergonomics etc
Workplace Hazards

 Chemical
Inorganic – lead , arsenic silica
Organic – solvents , resins glues fumes
 Biological
Allergins – dust mites fungus
Infections – bacteria TB
Virus – Hepatitis B
Employers Responsibilities

 Mainly stem from Health & Safety at Work

Act 1974
Protection

 PPE
Air hoods, rubber gloves ,
safety shoes, skin protection
 Local Exhaust Systems
Prevention or Control of Risk

 Elimination of Hazards
 Substitution of Hazards
 Enclosure/segregation to reduce exposure
 Local exhaust ventilation(LEV)
 Suitable work organisation & practice
Occupational Diseases

 Effect of an agent on a workers health

depends on the exposure to that agent
 Must take into account the intensity and the
duration of exposure
 Health may be harmed by occupational
exposures in many different ways
 Any organ can be affected by chemical
agents
Occupational Diseases

Skin & Lungs

 Eczema
 Dermatitis
 Cancer
 Asthma
Occupational Diseases

 Musculoskeletal
Back pain – bad posture manual handling
 Nervous & Mental
Peripheral neuropathy- Pb poisoning
Nerve deafness – noize
Mental Health – stress or chemical ( Hg )
Occupational Diseases

 Blood / Marrow
Anaemia – Pb impairs haemoglobin
Aplastic Anaemia can be caused by benzene
Leukaemia
 Liver
Hepatitis causes liver failure
Cancer – Vinyl Chloride causing
angiosarcoma
Occupational Diseases

 Genitourinary & Endocrine

Kidney damage due to exposure to solvents or
Cadmium
Bladder cancer due to exposure to aromatic amines
Male Infertility due to chemical exposure to
Dibromochloropropane (DBCPs)
A wide range of chemicals implicated in the
disruption of the endocrine
Endocrine System

 Pineal gland
 Pituitary gland
 Thyroid gland
 Thymus
 Adrenal gland
 Pancreas
 Ovary
 Testis
Routes of Entry

 Route of entry of a toxic agent is how it is

transported to the site of absorption
 Areas of absorption
Outer surface of skin
Tissue covering the respiratory tract
Tissue covering the surface of the
gastrointestinal tract ( mouth to intestine)
Routes of Entry

 Four main of Entry

Inhalation – lungs absorb dust gas & fumes
Skin Contact – contact with solids, liquids &
Gases
Ingestion – swallowing toxic material
I njection or piercing skin
Toxicity- Factors

 Consider
 HCN – this compound is a well known poison
Contains one atom of carbon , one atom of
Hydrogen and one atom of nitrogen . None of
which are particularly toxic
 Chromium- trivalent compounds tend to be
less toxic than the hexavalent compounds
Physical Factors
 Size of airborne particles
<100 microns (µm) enter nose/sinuses
100 -10 µm filtered here
10 µm into trachea
7-5 µm may pass into aveoli and be deposited
<0.5 µm may be exhaled (so small) or absorbed in aveoli
 Solubility of product
Insoluble materials may be harmless
Soluble materials may pass into blood stream
Concentration

 Concentration in air or solution (amount of

material ) is important
 Some materials are toxic at high levels –
vitamins
 Other materials are toxic at high level and
can cause deficiency diseases below a
minimum level
Defence & Detoxification
 Living organisms have defence mechanisms against
potential toxins
 Skin
Mucous membranes , cell membranes , blood –
brain barrier are all barriers against toxic materials
entering the body
Materials absorbed by the skin , or which cross these
barriers are more likely to reach vulnerable sites
Particles in air can be trapped in nose nasal hairs
Defence – Metabolic Breakdown

 Chemical transformations
Hydrolysis, oxidation or reduction produce
simpler or more polar substances
These substances are easier to eliminate
( more water soluble)
Processes often performed in liver
Liver can therefore be sensitive to attack by
various toxins
Defence – Elimination

 Elimination prevents accumulation of toxins

 Kidneys ( molecular filtration) – small water
particles pass through , larger molecules
retained
 Kidneys & Bladder can be come sensitive to
certain substances ( carcinogens)
 Other routes exhalation and through pores
Toxic Factors & Effects

 Heavy Metals
 Planar Aromatic Molecules
 Interface with Oxygen uptake
 Physical Agents
 Polarity
 Synergism
 Latency Period
Heavy Metals

 Lead Cadmium Mercury Cobalt

 Effect on central nervous system , gastro tract and
blood forming organs
 Affect on CNS can cause tremor , convulsion or
coma
 Can cause cancer , birth defects
 Organometallics will cross membranes easier than
ions, thus can transport toxic metals to vulnerable
sites
Planar Aromatic Compounds

 Benzene Napthalene
 Planer molecules bind fairly strongly to
proteins
 Binding to genetic type proteins can lead to
risk of cancer or birth defects
 Benzene isn't broken down in body and
accumulates causing blood disorder
Interference of Oxygen Uptake

 Inhibit O2 transport , CO binds to haemoglobin

preventing oxygen uptake. Haemoglobin
carries oxygen round body. Leads to
giddiness , unconsciousness and death
 Nitrate/Nitrite can oxidise the iron in
haemoglobin producing a molecule which
cant transport oxygen
 Nitrogen can also inhibit oxygen transport
Polarity

 Molecular polarity has an effect on toxicity

 Water is polar, dissolves ionic and polar molecules
 Cell membranes and fatty areas are non polar
 Non polar materials can therefore penetrate these
areas easier. Organic compounds
 This leads to the biuld up of concentration of toxic
materials in cells and body fat e.g. pesticides
Synergism- 2 Factors in combination

 Difficult to predict
December 1952 in London 3000 deaths
recorded.
Higher than expected for increases SO2
Moisture and Soot combined with the SO2 to
produce sulphuric acid which increases the
chance of death by respiratory problems
Latency period

 Often substantial periods of time between

exposure to toxic agent and the development
of symptoms
 Some cancers take 25-30 years to develop
after exposure
 Can be difficult to establish link
Asssessment of Toxicity

 Toxicity testing –acute/lethal

common test LD50 or LC50 – the lethal dose or
concentration required to kill 50% of the sample
 Rats used for testing new drugs to determine safe
levels and for new drugs to market to determine
toxicity
 Sometines measured over 24 hours or measured
over 14 days
 Due to ethical concerns some tests now carried out
on cells in petri dishes
Chronic or Sub lethal effects
 Death not only factor considered with relation to
toxicity
 Use of species with short life span can study effects
on generations to determine long term effects
 Carcinogens(cause cancers)
 Teratogens(cause birth defects)
 Mutagens(cause genetic damage)
 American legislation prohibits use of any foodstuff
additive that causes cancer in test species at any
level
Setting Standards

 Workplace standards
 Set based on BEST available toxicological
evidence
 Values approved by the HSC
 Only available for substances with know
toxicological background
Time Weighted Average (TWA)

 Basis on which air pollution standards (OES &

MEL) are quoted
 Takes into account the concentration of material
in air varies throughout the working day or week
 Obtain the average exposure time during the
time period
 TWA = the sum of xconcentration x time /sum of
time
Occupational Exposure Standards
(OES)

 Listed in EH40
 Exposure by inhalation in the workplace
should be reduced below the OES
 Control could still be adequate even if OES is
exceeded if
the employer has identified the source and
taken appropriate measures to comply with
the OES
Maximum Exposure Limits (MEL)

 Set for hazardous materials

 Employers should have monitoring programme to
show that MEL values are not exceeded
 Unlike OES continued operation above MEL not
acceptable unless the use of such substance is
justified because there is no practical safer
alternative and the level of exposure is reduced as
far as is reasonably practicable and in any case
below the MEL.
 HSE can issue a prohibition order if MEL exceeded
Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL)

 Some materials have short term limits

 10 minute reference period
 Used for materials with acute effects
 Short term limit should never be exceeded
Ambient Air Standard

 To calculate AAS we can use 1/40 th OES

 Factor of 10 used to take into account
greater vulnerability of the very young , old
and chronically sick
 Factor of 4 allows for 24 hour exposure
rather than working time exposure
COSHH Regulations

 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health

Regs 2002 – requires emploers to control
exposure to hazardous materials and states
 An employer shall not carry out any work
which is liable to expose any employee to
any substance hazardous to health unless
they have made a suitable and sufficient
assesssment of risk created by that work to
the health of those employees
COSHH Regulations

 Suitable procedures or equipment must be provided

to ensure acceptable exposure standards are
achieved
 Monitoring is essential if exposure to hazardous
materials is possible
 Use of personal or static monitors
 Routine health checks- blood urine or hair samples
 If monitoring equipment fitted must be in proper
working order
Health Surveillance

 Records of exposure and health symptoms

must be kept
 Long term surveillance if required
 Priority on detection and identification of
unpredicted health effects
 Records to be kept for minimum of 30 years
Health Surveillance

 Pequired information to include

 Record of people exposed
 A pre employment assesssment
 Routine assessment
 Cause of death
 Sickness absence >30 days
Labelling

 Directive 67/548/EEC
 Directive on the approximation of laws,
regulations and administrative provisions
relating to the classification, packaging and
labelling of dangerous substances
Labelling
Labelling