The Health and safety of employees are paramount in any workplace. Suppose appropriate measures are taken to safeguard the health and safety of employees, production, and workplace motivation increase. In the United States, workplace health and safety issues are regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration defines workplace operations as hazardous to the employees and suggests possible countermeasures to control them (OSHA Archive, 2003). An example of a workplace operation that is hazardous involves the use of toxic substances. The chemical hazards present in workplace operations that involve toxic substances include Hydrochloric acid, Bromine, and Mercury. Uncontrolled interaction with toxic substances might lead to skin burns, skin irritation, respiratory defects due to inhalation of poisonous gases, and eye irritation. The most-reported hazards with the use of Hydrochloric acid and mercury are skin burns and eye irritation. Most employees are likely to experience severe skin burns from Hydrochloric acid, which is highly reactive. On the other hand, inhalation of mercury vapor has severe effects on the nervous and the digestive system. In its adversity, inhalation of mercury might lead to death or permanent distortion of the nervous and digestive systems.
Use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
According to the OSHA regulations, personal protective equipment should not be the only option to protect employees from hazardous chemicals. Instead, companies should prioritize eliminating or minimizing operations that involve hazardous chemicals to protect their employees. However, workplace risks cannot be destroyed; thus, PPE's becomes an option for most companies. Generally, there are six types of PPE's recommended for use in hazardous operations; suits to guard against chemicals, suits to guard against solid chemicals, protection suits from pressurized liquids, protection suits against sprayed chemicals, non-gas-tight-suits, and gas-tight suits (Makela & Makinen, 2020). Among the six categories of PPE’s, suits to guard against chemicals, non-gas-tight-suits, and gas-tight suits are the most reliable to protect employees against the effects of Hydrochloric acid, Bromine, and Mercury. The suits made to guard employees against chemicals can minimize skin burns and eye irritation. Besides, both suits against inhalation of gases can protect employees against harmful gases produced by Hydrochloric acid, Bromine, and Mercury.
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A sampling of Skin-Burn Cases from Use of Toxic Substances
While using toxic substances like Hydrochloric acid, Mercury, and Bromine, the most prevalent risks are skin burns. Despite using Personal Protective Equipment and implementing other protective measures, the entire elimination of skin-burn cases is impossible. In evaluating the prevalence of skin-burn cases among employees, the simple random sampling data collection method would most appropriate. Simple random sampling accords every research participant an equal opportunity to participate in the data collection process. Every employee would be expected to indicate whether they have ever suffered a skin burn and its intensity. Data would be collected from a personal level to ensure privacy and equal participation opportunity for each employee. The data collected would suggest whether PPE's is adequate or whether alternative protective measures are required.
OSHA’s Hierarchy of Controls
The OSHA's hierarchy of controls proposes control measures that companies and workplaces should take to protect their employees from hazards. The proposed protective measures are ranked in the order of their efficacy, beginning with the most effective control measure to the least effective.
Elimination
By elimination, OSHA suggests that any chemical or substance that poses a danger to the Health and safety of employees should not be used (OSHA Archive, 2003). Although the control measure of elimination is the most effective, it might be impossible to implement in most cases. For instance, a company that relies on a particular chemical to manufacture products cannot possibly eliminate the chemical it uses. Alternatively, the company will suggest other protective measures rather than eliminating its chemicals of production.
Substitution
Substitution entails replacing a hazardous chemical with a less hazardous one to safeguard the health and safety of employees. Substitution only works when an alternative chemical is available, is less harmful, and is relatively cheap to acquire. However, when an alternative chemical that is less harmful is not available, a workplace is compelled to devise alternative protective measures.
Engineering Controls
Engineering controls involve the acts of isolating employees from workstations where chemical hazards are eminent. The implementation of engineering controls is less reliable in situations where manpower is required to accomplish tasks involving chemicals. Engineering controls can only be effected where automated operations are used.
Administrative Controls
Administrative controls refer to changing the way employees work in a particular hazardous workstation. Although administrative controls might work well towards protecting employees, productivity might be negatively affected. Therefore, administrative controls should be thoroughly evaluated before implementation.
Personal Protective Equipment
The use of PPE’s is the least effective protective measure because it is implemented after all other protective measures have failed to yield positive results. The use of PPE’s only offers limited protection and might become unreliable in some situations.
Effectiveness of the OSHA’s Control Methods
Among the five control methods suggested by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the use of PPE's is the only effective method that can yield positive results in both the short-term and in the next five years. The use of PPE's reduces the risks of injuries among employees by a substantial percentage. In addition, their continued use does not have any side effects on the employees. Other control measures like substitution and administrative controls can only be instituted in circumstances where alternative ways are available. For workplaces where substitution, administrative controls, engineering tools, and elimination are possible, the best short-term and long-term results are realized concerning employees' protection.
References
Makela, E., & Makinen, H. (2020). Protective Clothing Against Chemical and Biological Hazards. https://oshwiki.eu/wiki/Protective_clothing_against_chemical_and_biological_hazards
OSHA Archive. (2003). All About Occupational Safety and Health Administration U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/archive/Publications/osha2056.html
