Antonsson, Ann-Beth
Swedish Environmental Research Institute Box 210 60
S-100 31 Stockholm, Sweden
46 8 598 563 47 / ann-beth.antonsson@ivl.se
Alvarez, Eliana
Swedish Environmental Research Institute Box 210 60
S-100 31 Stockholm, Sweden
46 8 598 563 42 / eliana.alvarez@ivl.se
ABSTRACT
The Chemical Guide is an interactive web-site, developed to support SMEs work with chemical safety. It is developed for SMEs that use (not manufacture) chemicals. The Chemical Guide is based on the legislation and regulations about chemicals and work environment, fire safety and the environment,
The web-site comprises a reference book and a tool giving tailored advice to companies, based on answers given to a set of interactive questions. Both the tool and the reference book give advice on how to comply with the legislation and regulations. The user of the Chemical Guide will, however, not find any citations from regulations or legislation.
Six companies tested the Chemical Guide during the development of it and the companies were very positive towards the Chemical Guide. There have also been positive responses from the users, when launching the Chemical Guide. Today it is used by many SMEs, and even by micro-companies.
SMEs are often described as companies that do not want to get general information, but rather want to get advice that is adapted to them. Thus far, advice adapted to individual SMEs has been expensive and thus not realistic as a general approach. The kind of interactive solution that the Chemical Guide represents means that advice adapted to individual SMEs is now a reality.
Keywords
Chemicals, risk evaluation, legislation, regulations, SME, tool
INTRODUCTION
The legislation put a lot of different demands on SMEs as well as on large companies regarding their chemical safety. Swedish legislation and regulations as well as EU
directives demand systematic risk identification, evaluation and control. Additionally SMEs may have to comply with demands for training, medical examination or measurement of exposure to air contaminants if they use regulated substances. There are also legislation and regulations relating to chemicals and the environment, for example registration or permission needed for some trades handling chemicals or for companies importing chemicals or chemical products.
Chemical hazards are difficult to manage in many SMEs, as they often lack the basic knowledge. During an inspection campaign in September of 2003, about 70% of inspected Swedish companies received remarks from the labour inspectors, as they did not fulfil one or more of three basic requirements for chemical safety. There is great potential for improvements to be made!
A pre-study was carried out to investigate how companies perceive their work with regard to the routines and precautions required for the chemicals they use. There are significant differences between small and large companies. Large companies have skilled experts dealing with routines for the chemicals they use. Their problems concern details and interpretations, and are often very subtle.
In contrast SMEs tend to ask two questions:
Y What is required from us?
Y How should we go about fulfilling these requirements?
Additionally, SMEs have a holistic perspective on chemicals, To most SMEs, it is not important whether demands on their handling of chemicals are based on legislation for the work environment or on environmental concern. The demands concern the same chemicals and should be fulfilled simultaneously.
AIM
To develop a web-site comprising an interactive tool that will assist, SMEs in particular, in finding-out what is required of them, and how they can go about fulfilling these requirements. The web-site shall also serve as a reference book for companies searching for information on specific topics relating to chemical safety.
The tool shall apply the same holistic view on chemicals as the SMEs apply themselves.
METHOD
Based on the legal requirements regarding chemicals in the work place, environment and fire safety, a web-site has been developed. The web-site is developed for SMEs using (not manufacturing) chemicals and chemical products. It covers most regulation applicable for SMEs handling of chemicals.
The content in the Chemical Guide reflects the demands in legislation and regulations. However, it does not cite paragraphs, even if references to regulations as well as to paragraphs in regulations also are included. Most important is that the Chemical Guide gives advice on how to go about to fulfil the demands.
The development of the web-site was governed by earlier experiences of tools, developed for SMEs and experiences from evaluations of such tools. Therefore the
language has been adapted to SMEs that have limited knowledge about chemicals. The advice is very practical and concrete. Simple methods are in focus and more advanced methods are described as suitable in some cases, but not recommended as the first choice. Background and explanations not relevant for the handling of problems present have been omitted.
The basic message in the Chemical Guide is the same as in legislation and regulations.
- 1. You have to know what chemicals are kept and used in the company.
- 2. You have to understand the labelling of the chemicals and have access to and use material safety data sheets, MSDS.
- 3. You have to evaluate the risk.
- 4. You have to undertake control measures to reduce the risks.
This means that the Chemical Guide does not carry information about a lot of substances. It is not intended to give information about chemical substances, their toxicology etc. Instead it tells the user what to do and how to use the information provided by the suppliers, such as labelling and MSDS. The Chemical Guide also comprises a method for evaluating the risks. It also gives advice on various control measures.
In the development of the tool, demo-versions have been tested on a group of six test companies in different trades. The test companies were SMEs and most of them were very small, with less than 20 employees.
As the Chemical Guide is aiming at SMEs, it was decided that it should be a free tool available on the Internet instead of a CD-ROM that companies had to pay for. This is possible, as the development and updating is financed by AFA, an insurance company responsible for no-fault liability insurance for work-related injuries and diseases.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHEMICAL GUIDE
The web-site comprises;
Y A tool giving tailored advice to companies, based on what answers are given to a set of interactive questions.
Y A reference book with information relevant for SMEs that use (not manufacture) chemical products. The reference book gives advice on how to fulfil the requirements in the legislation and regulations.
Y A search engine that makes it possible to find information on the entire web-site.
Y The web-site also contains information about the web-site and links to other web- sites.
The web-site has been developed to allow the user to get the information needed in different situations. The reference book contains useful information when facing a concrete problem, The interactive part allows for a diagnosis of the chemical safety and the chemical management in a company. Companies using it get advice adapted to their specific prerequisites.
In some cases, companies can chose to work in different ways to fulfil the same requirements. For example lists of chemicals can be made in three main different ways
(listed as a table, a binder with the MSDS or an electronic list comprising electronic versions of MSDS). Where there are such options, the user of the Chemical Guide can chose what option to read about or use and advice is given on the advantages and disadvantages of the different options.
The interactive tool
The interactive tool is based on a set of interactive questions. These questions are presented in three guides. The aim of the three guides is to clarify and evaluate;
- 1. What kinds of activities are carried out and what types of chemicals are used within a company. These questions serve as a tool to identify what regulations are valid for the company, e.g regulations on chemicals where there is danger of fire or explosions, if chemicals are used that carry specific demands on training, medical examination or measurements of exposure. The first guide also surveys if any employees are underage, pregnant or breastfeeding or working alone, as there are specific requirements relating to the handling of chemicals for these groups of employees. Additionally this guide checks if there are specific regulations on permission or registration that are applicable.
- 2. Are the compulsory routines present in the company, e.g. easily available material safety data sheets for all chemicals marked with hazard symbols, risk evaluations or the permissions that may be required.
- 3. What control measures are still needed, e.g. working instructions for chemicals that may be dangerous if handled incorrectly, the need for substituting dangerous chemicals for less dangerous ones, if eye showers are present and so on.
The interactivity means that depending on previous answers, some of the following questions may not be addressed. If for example a company answers no to the question in guide 1, if chemicals are used that very fast have to be rinsed from skin and eyes after skin or eye contact, then the question about eye showers in guide 3 will not appear.
The answers given to the questions in the three guides are linked to information about what is needed according to regulations and advice on how to fulfil the requirements. This advice is gathered from all the answers and compiled into an ”advice basket,” which can be accessed when all the questions have been answered. The advice basket give an interpretation of what needs to be done, to fulfil the demands in the regulations. The advice is easy to read and understand by SMEs.
All advice is also compiled in the reference book. The texts in the reference book and in the advice basket are almost identical, apart from the introduction to the advice. The advice basket “talks” directly to the user and refers to the users answer to the question. The reference book is more neutral.
RESULTS
During the development of the Chemical Guide, tests were carried out within six companies in order to find out how they used the Chemical Guide and what they thought about it. The further development was based on these results. Over all, the tests showed that the companies were very positive towards the Chemical Guide. Further testing was planned, but was cancelled as the first test gave such a good result and new tests were not considered to contribute to further development.
The Chemical Guide was ready by January 2004. During January and February the login-page, (www.prevent.se/kemiguiden) was shown on more than 11 000 occasions. Statistics on the use of the Chemical Guide are available day by day. From the registrations, we can see that we have succeeded in reaching the target group: SMEs. 18 % of registered users are micro-companies, 33 % have 10-50 employees and 28 % 50-200 employees. Large companies also use the Chemical Guide.
SMEs are often described as companies that do not want to get general information, but rather want to get advice that is adapted to them. Thus far, advice adapted to individual SMEs has been expensive and thus not realistic as a general approach. The kind of interactive solution that the Chemical Guide represents means that advice adapted to individual SMEs is now a reality.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The pre-study and the development of the Chemical Guide were financed by AFA, a Swedish insurance company responsible for no-fault liability insurance for work-related injuries and diseases.
REFERENCES
Antonsson Ann-Beth, Alvarez de Davila Eliana. KemiGuiden (The Chemical Guide) (In Swedish) www.prevent.se/kemiguiden
Alvarez de Davila, Eliana; Antonsson, Ann-Beth; Frostling, Harald. What support do companies and organisations need regarding chemicals. A pilot study (In Swedish), IVL-report B 1511, Stockholm, Sweden, 2002
Papers relacionados
