OHS Knowledge Areas in Manufacturing

818: Toxic process safety

Toxic process safety is a component of occupational hygiene that can be defined as identifying, testing and controlling hazards and risks to protect workers and facilities from any possible adverse reaction of chemicals or toxic gases due to mixing, blending, heating, cooling and storing of materials in the course of manufacturing. The OHS professional will need to collaborate with Process Safety Specialists to arrive at solutions that can address both process safety and OHS risk. It is important that the OHS professional understands the limits of their own knowledge, and recognizes when it is necessary to bring in additional expertise.

In order to act as an effective resource in their workplace, the OHS professional should be familiar with:

– Legislation, regulations, guidelines and standards that pertain to toxic chemical and gas safety
– Identifying the safety requirements of toxic materials and processes
– The importance of Occupational Exposure Limits, Biological Exposure Indices, and the Threshold Limit Values
– How to integrate toxic process safety requirements into the formal OHS management system

Prerequisite

None

References in Other Frameworks

BCRSP: EPRF8, HRCM6; INSHPO: A5, B6, OHS BoK

Understand and Remember

– Relevant legislation, regulations, guidelines and standards that pertain to toxic process safety
– Sources of safety information for toxic processes
– Key scientific principles regarding the action of toxic process hazards, such as:
– Categories of hazardous substances
– Potential sources of ignition
– Various types of fire, explosion, and toxic effects
– How to identify specific hazards in the manufacturing, storage, transport, packing or other processes of the materials of a workplace
– The importance of effective consultations on safety issues between the OHS professional, operators, managers, and other relevant staff
– How to identify chemical process hazards in a workplace
– Effective controls for toxic processes in the workplace

Apply and Analyze

– Identify specific toxic process hazards and risks in a workplace
– Identify opportunities for changes to workplace procedures or controls and make recommendations
– Communicate recommendations and their rationale to workers and managers
– Maintain up-to-date knowledge of new or changing toxic processes hazards and risks
– Provide training in safe operating procedures for toxic processes

Evaluate and Create

– Conduct a hazard and risk assessment
– Conduct a review of the toxic processes safety management processes in a workplace
– Identify areas of excellence
– Identify areas of (non)compliance
– Identify opportunities for improvement
– Conduct a training needs analysis
– Develop workplace training for safe operating procedures for toxic processes
– Develop safety resources for newly introduced toxic processes or previously unidentified hazards or risks

No results found.

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