Employers must tell employees about the health problems and risks linked with chemical exposure. The duty, however, does not end with hazard communication. To manage chemical dangers, strong chemical safety training courses are also essential.

This blog post highlights five critical components to include in your safety training programme to ensure that your staff are aware of the potential effects chemicals may impose on their health and wellness, as well as how to safely handle and utilise them.

1. Chemical hazard awareness

Your chemical safety training course should begin by assisting employees and contractors in understanding the chemical properties of the products and chemicals with which they work.

  • Your training should cover each individual’s duties as well as the actual risks of chemical exposure.
  • By the end of the session, the workers should be informed of all the physical and health dangers posed by the chemicals, as well as how those risks may affect their personal safety and health.
  • How to quickly read safety data sheets (SDSs), chemical labels, and placards
  • Identify risk factors, personal protective equipment (PPE), handling, first aid, and emergency procedures.
  • Which materials and substances are incompatible with the chemicals being used, and what kind of harmful reactions could occur.
  • Specific handling and storage precautions mandated by law.

2. Safety control measures including PPE

Each piece of safety equipment that employees will be expected to use or wear must also be fully understood by them. The instruction should include:

  • Selecting the proper PPE for the job (eg, using thermal protection gloves vs cotton gloves when changing LPG cylinders).
  • The importance of wearing PPE as directed (e.g., never lend or borrow PPE; chemical goggles that are too loose could allow corrosive chemicals to spray into their eyes).
  • How to properly use personal protective equipment (PPE), such as donning a fully encased chemical suit over gloves, boots, and face protection.
  • Keeping their own PPE clean (eg, laundering protective clothing after a chemical spill).
  • When to Replace PPE (eg, with repeated immersion in chemicals, gloves will eventually deteriorate).
  • How to store PPE and the significance of security (eg, keeping PPE in a dedicated cabinet to protect it from dust, theft, moisture, vermin).

3. Chemical Storage Instructions

Make the training session on how to store chemical containers and not leave them uncapped on workbenches sound important and desirable rather than like a nag session by using your creativity. Considering that the subject matter is simple, you could inspire your team to complete the task well by utilising real-world examples. Here are some recommendations:

  • Containers should be recapped
  • Gas cylinders should be restrained
  • An appropriate spill response kit should be used
  • Portable containers should be labelled.

4. Responding to a chemical emergency

It is critical to separate personnel training into these three categories for a chemical emergency:

  • The focus of personal emergency training is a chemical incident, accident, or emergency that directly affects the worker, such as when caustic chemicals spill on their garments and penetrate into their boots and gloves. Employees must be trained on how to alert managers, supervisors, and emergency services as well as how to use eyewash stations, safety showers, and first aid kits.
  • Reacting to a chemical incident or industrial mishap where another employee has been wounded. They could be doing it in their own workspace or somewhere else on the job site. The emphasis of the training will be on informing emergency personnel, working with them, and using emergency supplies (showers, eye-wash, etc.) to treat a co-worker or contractor.
  • Responsibilities of workers in the event of a chemical emergency that affects a substantial area or the entire site. This kind of training includes drills for emergency response, fire protection, and evacuation. Employees might need to use emergency PPE to turn off operational machinery and plant. (breathing apparatus). The tutorial should go through all of this.

5. Chemical spill response

Last but not least, everyone on your team needs to know what to do in the event of a spill or an inadvertent chemical release. Risks of exposure and imminent risk to the environment, the workplace, the property, and the health of employees and visitors should be discussed during the session.

  • PPE to put on while near a spill.
  • The isolation and containment of the spill site (including signage).
  • Informing supervisors and management.
  • Safely cleaning up the spill.
  • Eliminating spent chemical waste and broken container trash.

Chemical safety training is regarded as a crucial administrative measure that is included in a legal risk management strategy. We at NIST, India’s top safety organization, highly recommend chemical safety training. We also provide NEBOSH Process Safety Management Training, one of the most prestigious worldwide safety programmes that is respected by businesses around the world. This programme emphasises chemical safety as well. We have qualified specialists who go above and above to provide world-class online virtual sessions and in-person training.

For further details about customized Chemical Safety Training / NEBOSH Process Safety Management course, kindly call +91 8056000530 / info@nistglobal.com