1. Elizabeth Pullen, CIH

2.  Basic Characterization - main elements  Issues in Batch operations  Clariant (newer) method for EHWA ◦ Examples in different business units  IH Report Writing ◦ Elements of an IH report ◦ Examples (good and poor)

3.  Questions to answer: ◦ Chemical, physical and biological agents ◦ Health effects from excessive exposure ◦ What OELs for each agent ◦ How is work force organized ◦ Significant sources of exposure  Processes, operations, tasks and work practices ◦ Controls in place  How used and how effective are they

4.  “Begin with the end in mind” (S. Covey)  Purposes: ◦ Determine which hazards are uncontrolled or not fully assessed, and create plan to address them ◦ Collect data for future epidemiological studies ◦ Collect data to address possible future litigation

5.  Talk with other groups to find out what data and information they have already generated ◦ Product Stewardship  Chemical lists – finished products and raw materials, possibly create spreadsheet with percentages, OELs, GHS classification, pictograms, etc. ◦ Process Safety / Engineering  Process diagrams  Hazards assessment  Controls

6.  Refer to slides from 2002 presentation on Batch Plant Exposure Assessments  Learning lessons from different type batch plants  Pitfalls and what I learned to do differently

7.  Evaluation of Hazards in the Work Area  Newer concept for Clariant to combine assessment of all health and safety hazards in one assessment ◦ Keeps assessment separate from Process Safety and Environmental assessments, to not duplicate efforts  Show Visio diagram  Show slides for Clariant EHWA

8.  Create a branched structure ◦ Allows you to separate the levels and group similar issues together  Link various sources of information together, rather than replicating data  Helps to focus on the main issues of concern

9.  Work Area ◦ Jobs / processes – process map helpful  Tasks  Groups of chemicals / substances  Components of chemicals  Chemicals with OELs  Chemicals monitored

10.  Masterbatches production ◦ Weigher operator  Transferring pigment from bags/drums to smaller bag on weigh scale and move to pallet  100s of different pigments  10-20 metals make up most of the main colors (with varying compositions to make the pigment color)  80% of metals have OELs  Monitored the weighing task using a 21-metal scan, to catch whatever metals might be in the pigments being used that day

11.  Main part of EHWA contains: ◦ Work area ◦ Jobs / processes ◦ Tasks ◦ Main hazards (with groups of chemicals that have similar exposure profiles) ◦ Controls ◦ Risk assessment ◦ Action plan  Links to other documents

12.  Health inventory ◦ Full list with finished products and components, or Grouped list, with main hazardous components ◦ Information on usage, potential exposures, existing and planned monitoring, risk assessment and action plan (unless already addressed in EHWA)  Monitoring data (in database or spreadsheet)  IH survey reports  JSA (Job Safety Analyses)  Production lists (on days monitored)

13.  Show examples: ◦ Masterbatches template - EHWA ◦ Masterbatches Manual – appendices for EA ◦ Estevan assessment – modified JSA  Show examples at: ◦ Bakersfield for PPE ◦ The Woodlands for chemicals

14.  Databases:  Can provide consistency in data collection across many sites  Makes it easy to compare information at different locations and over time  May be expensive to purchase & maintain and expensive to make modifications  May limit flexibility with different types of work places and business units  May take a significant amount of resources to support  Older versions of a database may not be recognized (e.g. Access databases)

15.  Excel spreadsheets: ◦ May take different forms at different locations ◦ May not always be filled in completely ◦ Allow flexibility to:  identify the important processes and issues  group processes, chemicals, tasks  Change the format without significant expense ◦ Provides less consistency for comparisons ◦ Less likely for computer systems to not recognize the version

16.  Elements of a good IH report ◦ Show my ‘Expectations’ list  Show examples of good and poor reports ◦ Include my list of issues with one of the poor reports

17.  Prioritize the assessments  Document the most important information  Group similar issues where possible  Use ‘branched structure’ where possible ◦ Have the more detailed information as references in the larger assessment  Include the employees in the process ◦ They know the process well, can help you put it into perspective and verify the actual practices, and can identify the exposure points