Canadian Occupational Safety

www.thesafetymag.com/ca 15 solutions designed for acidic chemicals are less efficient on basic chemicals. Most importantly, phosphate buffers can present the risk of corneal calcification." The most efficient active solution, he says, combines the mechanical removal effect, the reverse hypertonic draw through tissue cells, the rapid normalization of the tissue pH and is equally effective on chemicals in all classes. "When it comes to managing chemical exposure injuries in the workplace, having ESEW equipment is important, but just being compliant is not enough. Organizations across Canada and around the globe are ensuring their workers have access the right active decontamination solutions. There is a better method for managing chemical burn injures," says Wootten. As more and more chemicals enter the market, it is important to ensure that the equipment and solutions that we use are also updated so as to always ensure optimal worker safety. Educating workers As well as having the right equipment, educating workers and employers is paramount to worker safety. Because employees will bring this education home to their families. Hallsworth mentions that in some jurisdictions like the EU, regulators are looking into not only the hazards of individual products, but how products might interact. Furthermore, they are looking at PPE and equipment that can help to make the user experience safer. For example, suppliers and manufacturers are looking at potentially including the proper gloves alongside products that can be corrosive to your skin. "This is a smart approach," says Hallsworth, "because it tells you immediately that the product is hazardous and that [you] need to wear these gloves to use it safely." These initiatives aren't just valuable for workers and employers, they're valuable in the private sphere too because at the end of the day, we also use dozens of chemicals in our own homes on a regular basis, from nail polish remover to toilet cleaner. Case study: Rillea Technologies Hallsworth's company, Rillea Technologies, has a product called SDS RiskAssist which allows workers and employers to make informed decisions about the chemical products that they are using. "I spent 30 years helping to manage people's chemical exposure in the workplace — and it's hard. There are a lot of regulations, so reading all the safety data sheets are a great place to start," says Hallsworth. But workers and employers also need to do more research on ingredients or hazards that are not identified in the SDS. Every employer has to have a collection of SDSs. Rillea's technology reads through all of the SDSs, pulls out the hazard information and organizes it into prioritized groups to more quickly see what the hazards of a product are. While typical workplaces will have programs on how to correctly use PPE, or fire safety plans, they don't often have programs to know how to deal with something that's fatal if inhaled, or that is a carcinogen or reproductive toxicant, says Hallsworth. Rillea has also released a recent version which allows the user to compare chemicals by their hazard — something that has come in handy for COVID-19 disinfectants as there are so many of them. "It really allows people to make safer choices for their employees," says Hallsworth. "It's a huge amount of work to understand how chemicals can hurt you and how you, as an employer, are obligated to protect your employees against certain ingredients," she says. Rillea's software enables users to educate themselves in chunks — and in private. For example, women who are considering or think that they are expecting a child but don't want to let anybody know, can check hazard information discreetly through the software. In the same vein, employers who know that an employee is pregnant can build hazard groups (in this case, reproductive toxicants), to understand which products a pregnant woman should avoid handling. "The worker can access that inform- ation at any time; it's available on their mobile devices," says Hallsworth. "It's a huge amount of work to understand how chemicals can hurt you and how you, as an employer, are obligated to protect your employees against certain ingredients." Lisa Hallsworth, Rillea Technologies. CHEMICAL INDUSTRY KEY FACTS The Canadian chemical industry is worth around $58 billion It has the potential to attract up to $10 billion in new investment over the next decade The chemistry industry includes wind turbines, solar panels, vehicles, electronics, textiles, paper, pharmaceuticals, etc. It transforms raw materials into the building blocks needed to manufacture the 70,000 products that ensure our quality of life Source: Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC)

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