A Guide To Conducting Chemical Awareness Training

 

Hazardous substances have the potential to kill people, cause serious injury, cause property damage, and harm the environment.

Any team that works with distributes, or stores hazardous products needs to be trained on how to handle these products safely. Here are some crucial things to cover, as well as some suggestions for how to arrange hazardous chemical awareness training, if you’re planning to train your workers on chemical handling.

  1. Personal protection equipment.

Educate your personnel on how to choose the proper PPE (personal protective equipment) when working with various chemicals. Gloves, footwear, facemasks, and goggles may be required PPE.

Only after all hazards associated with a particular chemical or operation have been identified should PPE be chosen. To avoid incidents, safety equipment must also be pleasant. For example, rough and thin gloves are necessary for agile movement if touch sensitivity is required for a task.

  1. Transportation of hazardous materials.

Your staff must be conversant with state or territorial requirements while transferring hazardous materials within a work site or between work sites.

There are distinct rules in each Australian state or territory, including no-go transport zones where chemicals cannot be transported and special transport paperwork requirements. You can also hire an occupational hygienist to thoroughly inspect the products and suggest safe transportation techniques. Furthermore, ensure to contact your state’s transportation regulator to learn about their standards, and then share that information with your staff.

The flashpoints of flammable liquids, the movement of items on worksites, the presence of asbestos and asbestos testing, and storage temperatures of commodities are all important considerations when transferring dangerous goods. Include them in your training so that your employees are aware of what to look for when transporting chemicals in and around the workplace.

  1. Inform employees about risk management policies and procedures.

Businesses have special responsibilities to control chemical dangers in the workplace under the Australian Model Work Health and Safety Regulations. This necessitates the establishment of explicit risk management policies and procedures.

All procedures and policies should be taught to your staff, including:

  • Hazardous chemical spill containment systems.

 

  • If any unexpected incidents or responses occur, have emergency preparations in place.
  • Information about where to find fire safety and first-aid supplies.
  • How do you measure the risk of harmful goods?
  • The proper method for decommissioning chemical storage and handling systems.

 

Two important tips for chemical handling training

  1. Include a wide range of training materials, including hands-on exercises.

Use roleplaying to reinforce any regulations or procedures, present movies to demonstrate the risks associated with various substances, or use eLearning resources to assess knowledge. Your training should be as diversified as possible.

  1. Use real-life examples whenever possible.

Maintain relevance for your audience by using instances they can connect to in your chemical handling training. This includes describing policies and procedures for circumstances that your team is most likely to encounter on the job site, as well as highlighting the hazards of chemicals regularly handled in your workplace.