Chemical Hazard Management

This report discusses about the hazards and related occupational problems of the pharmaceutical industry. It has been evident that the most of the chemicals used in the pharmaceuticals industry are flammable, toxic, irritant, corrosive, carcinogenic, and mutagenic in nature. Hence, during the manufacturing process of the pharmaceutical industry, the primary hazard is related to the exposure of chemical as the manufacturing process of the pharmaceutical company deals with many different types of the chemicals. In order to mitigate the risks present in the industry, a few measures can be recommended so that impacts of work place hazards, particularly in relation with chemical hazards, can be avoided.

Running head: CHEMICAL HAZARD MANAGEMENT
Chemical Hazard Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
This report discusses about the hazards and related occupational problems of the
pharmaceutical industry. It has been evident that the most of the chemicals used in the
pharmaceuticals industry are flammable, toxic, irritant, corrosive, carcinogenic, and
mutagenic in nature. Hence, during the manufacturing process of the pharmaceutical
industry, the primary hazard is related to the exposure of chemical as the manufacturing
process of the pharmaceutical company deals with many different types of the chemicals. In
order to mitigate the risks present in the industry, a few measures can be recommended so
that impacts of work place hazards, particularly in relation with chemical hazards, can be
avoided.

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Table of Contents
Industry or organisation name....................................................................................................3
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Definitions..................................................................................................................................3
Workplace demography.............................................................................................................4
Assessment of risk......................................................................................................................4
Critical review of relevant literature..........................................................................................6
Management Plan.......................................................................................................................7
Emergency Response.................................................................................................................9
Evacuation Plan..........................................................................................................................9
Evaluation................................................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10

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Industry or organisation name
This report will address the ‘Chemical hazards’ of the ‘Pharmaceutical Industry’ and
the chosen company for this report is ‘Reckitt & Colman Australia’.
Introduction
Hazard is condition that can create threats to the life of the workers of a particular
industry and the like any other industry, the pharmaceutical industry also poses hazards to the
employees of the industry. In the pharmaceutical industry, there is a potential risks of having
injury and therefore, there is a chance of long term effect on thebody of the workers of this
industry. In a pharmaceutical industry, due to presence of versatile operations, there are
various type of hazards that can affect the health of the workers in the industry. According
To the report of ILO, it is reported that, in the pharmaceutical industry, it is very common to
expose against various chemical and drug related substances which can act as hazardous
materials for the human body (Agarwal, Goyal&Vaishnav, 2018). The main aim of this report
is to identify the potential Chemical hazards and related problems of the workers working in
the industry. Therefore, the enhanced number of hazard exposure in the industry has made
this issue very crucial. This risk management plan will help in identifying and addressing the
health hazards of this industry.
Definitions
Hazards- The adverse effects due to the production process of the pharmaceutical industry is
referred to as hazards and it is quite evident that, although the pharmaceutical industry looks
clear on the surface, there is a potential risks of different type of hazards (Low et al., 2013).

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Safety- The term safety refers to the freedom from the occurrence of adverse events due to
the risks associated with the work. In case of any industry, this term refers to the process of
protecting the workers from the risks of the industrial accidents (Setyawan, 2017).
Chemical Hazards- Chemical hazard can be defined as the health hazard caused by the
exposure of hazardous chemical to the employees in a particular organisation’s work place
environment. Chemical hazards can be caused by many different types of chemical.
Hazardous substances can be defined as substances which have a negative impact on health
after their exposure to the employee or workers (Low et al., 2013).
Workplace demography
In a pharmaceutical work place, various work is performed like laboratory works
during development, packaging of drugs, transportation of the packaged drugs, testing of
various chemical substances used to develop drugs. In the work place, most of the employees
are male along with less number of female employee. However, in the drug testing process,
most of the female employees are recruited and on the other hand in the transportation and
packaging of the drugs, most of the employees are male.
Assessment of risk
During the manufacturing process of the pharmaceutical industry, the primary hazard
is related to the exposure of chemical as the manufacturing process of the pharmaceutical
company deals with many different types of the chemicals. There many different type
chemical present during the manufacturing process and some of them hazardous to health.
Exposure to them or in case of any mishandling or accident might be reason behind the
chemical hazard. In this assessment of risk section the routes of exposure to the chemicals,
impact on the health of the workers due to the exposure and types of hazardous chemical
(Agarwal, Goyal&Vaishnav, 2018).

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Routes of exposure to the chemicals: In order to have negative effect from the
chemical hazardous substances, the worker have to be exposed to them or in other words
these hazardous chemical have to enter their body. There are many routes through which
these substances can enter in the body. Primarily, there are five routes through which these
substances can enter the body and they are inhalation, skin contact, eye contact, ingestion,
and injection. Inhalation might happen through the inhalation of the hazardous chemical
substances present in the air (Ccohs.ca, 2019). Skin contact and eye contact happens when a
hazardous chemical substances comes in contact with the unprotected part of the skin or the
eyes. Ingestion might happen through eating or drinking in the work place while handling
hazardous substances or eating or drinking after handling them without proper hand wash.
Injection might have if any sharp object penetrates the body, and the hazardous chemical
object gets into the body through the open wound (Ccohs.ca, 2019).
Health effects caused by hazardous chemical substances: negative effect of the
hazardous chemical substances may have two different kinds of health effects. These are
short term or acute health effects and long term or chronic health effects. Short term or acute
health effects appear right after the exposure and this can be minor and major in the nature.
Example of minor acute effects can be throat or nose irritation whereas example of major
acute effects are inhalation of chemical vapours or eye damage. On the other hand, long term
or chronic health effects happen due to continuous exposure of the hazardous chemical
substances over a longer period of time. In clear contrast to the acute effects, chronic health
effects are normally irreversible. However, chemical substances can have both acute and
chronic health effects. For example, inhalation of chemical vapours might cause immediate
irritation as well as lung and liver damage through the continuous inhalation over the years
(Covello & Merkhoher, 2013).

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Types of hazardous chemical substances: Chemical hazardous substances can be
segmented into many different types and they are flammable, toxic, irritant, corrosive,
carcinogenic, and mutagenic. Hazardous chemical substances can be classified in the six
types and they are Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, Class E, and Class F (Zanfirescu et al.,
2019).
Critical review of relevant literature
It has been evident that the most of the chemicals used in the pharmaceuticals industry
are flammable, toxic, irritant, corrosive, carcinogenic, and mutagenic in nature. As mentioned
in the above section, these chemical substances can be defined in the six types from Class A
to Class F (Zanfirescu et al., 2019). The detailed description of the different type of the
chemical which are classified among the six different classes mentioned above is presented in
the Table 1 below.
Table 1: WHMIS classification of hazardous chemical substances
Class Examples of Hazardous chemical
Class A Liquefied gas,
Dissolved gas
Compressed gas
Class B Flammable and combustible liquids
Flammable aerosols
Flammable gases
Reactive flammable material
Flammable solids
Class C Oxidizing materials
Oxidizer: Nitric oxide, Chlorates, permanganates, peroxides
Organic peroxide: Dioxane, Tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether
Class D Infectious and Poisonous materials: tea salts, cyanides,
asbestos
Class E Corrosive materials: Hydrogen Fluoride, Inorganic bases and
acids
Class F Dangerous reactive materials: Ca, Na, Li, Ethylene dioxide
Pyrophosphoric materials: Diethyl aluminumchloride, White
phosphorous, and Lithium

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* (Source: Agarwal, Goyal&Vaishnav, 2018)
The IARC classified and corresponding IARC monographs were used to determine
the carcinogenic agents involved in chemical hazards in pharmaceutical organisation.
Substances belonging to Group 1 that is agents that show sufficient evidence of
carcinogenicity in human beings have been considered, thus establishing a causal relationship
between the substances and an increasing incidence of malignant neoplasm. Estimates of a
labourer’s particular exposure were based on the carcinogenic exposure database (Loomis et
al., 2018).
In the 2013 German Commission for the Investigation of Heath Hazards in Chemical
Compounds (MAK-Commission), the identification of sensitizing substances was based on
the list of compounds published (Morfeld et al., 2015). Sensitizing agents capable of causing
the immunological response to otherwise harmless antigen are classified as "Sa," "Sh," or
"SP." Sh is designated as substances which can cause skin and mucosal reactions to skin (skin
sensitizing), allergic contact dermatitis, protein contact dermatitis, or contingent sensitization,
which may cause allergic or irritating skin and skin reactions. Allergic reactions such as
bronchial asthma or rhino conjunctivitis and other systematic reactions (anaphylaxis) are
included (Montano, 2014).
In general, chemical hazard are split into two classifications: chronic and acute.
Toxic effects can be temporary or reversible (disability or death) for chronic or acute
exposure. There can be evident symptoms of some chemicals, such as coughing, burning,
nausea, or rashes.
Management Plan
In order to manage the risks present in the organization, a few strategy can be
proposed. In order to reduce the chemical hazards present in the organization, the substitution

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strategy may be very useful. In this strategy, the used hazardous chemical substance can be
replaced by other less hazardous chemical and it will help to reduce the adverse physiological
impact on the health of the workers exposed to those chemicals. Moreover, in some cases, it
is evident that, there are difficulties in avoiding risks of hazardous chemical fumes or dust
exposure in the work place. In such condition, installation of general dilution ventilation is
recommended so that maximum concentrations of the pollutants in the air do not cross the
limit of TLV of that particular substance. This system should contain a forced exhaust outlet
and a fresh air supply in the right area of the work place (Bhowmik et al., 2014). All of the
employees of the organization should be trained for using the new substitutive chemical in
the industry. Regular training will help the employees to be accustomed with the new
substitutive chemical reagents and thereby the chances of risk exposure of the employees of
the organization. Along with this, they should also be trained in a regular manner so that they
can manage any sudden risk condition easily. Employees must be protected from exposure in
the lack of an efficient substitute. If their use involves hazards Steam and gas exposures
should also be surveyed and minimized. The dangerous process or chemical is usually circled
by an efficient measure. Sealed tubes, for instance, should be used instead of powdering them
outside for transporting poisonous or extremely inflammable (particularly unstable) solvents
and other fluids (Agarwal, Goyal&Vaishnav, 2018). Proper maintenance is needed when
working with dangerous chemicals. The storage or stack cabinet regions need to be well-
organised and maintained and scheduled together with the maintenance of the premises and
machinery. These duties should be devoted to individuals and working groups of laboratories.
Furthermore, the faulty equipment is regularly checked and repaired. With sufficient
periodicity, cleaning effectiveness should be tracked (Antoine, 2013).

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Emergency Response
Organisation Name Contact Title Phone number
ALL - 000
State Emergency
Services (SES)
Contact officer 132 500
Police Local officer 000
Fire Fire Safety officers 000
Ambulance Local ambulance
driver
000
Evacuation Plan

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Evaluation
From the proposed strategy, it can be said that, this strategy may be quite effective in
nature. In a pharmaceutical industry, the case of chemical hazard is quite common and the
employees can use this evacuation plan during the emergency condition either in fire
emergency or in chemical emergency. The suggested evacuation plan showed that there are
almost 8 emergency exit gate way. Among them, 3 of them are directly connected to the
staircase of the building and rest of the exit ways are indirectly connected to the staircases.
The new evacuation plan should be made understandable to the employees of the
organization so that they can have proper idea about the evacuation plan of the organization
and it will allow them to take adequate steps during any type of emergency such as fire or
chemical hazard related emergency. In order to identify the effectiveness of the propose
evacuation plan, a survey can be performed among the employees of the organization. In this
process a self-structured open needed questionnaire can be used so that the employees can
provide their views on the new plans easily. Along with this a trial of emergency evacuation
can be arranged and data of that trial process can also be collected so that the management
can understand the effectiveness of the proposed plan. Along with this, the data of previous
hazardous situation of that organization so that the effectiveness of the proposed strategy can
easily be understood by the management of the organization. However, if it is reported that,
the numbers of injury is less in case of the proposed strategy then it can be said that the new
plan is effective in nature.
Conclusion
Hence it can be concluded that, the pharmaceutical industry is associated with various
hazards particularly chemical hazards. In general, chemical hazard are split into two
classifications: chronic and acute. Toxic effects can be temporary or reversible (disability or

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death) for chronic or acute exposure. The proposed evacuation plan will be assessed after
taking opinions from the employees by using the survey methods. In this, pharmaceutical
industry, this evacuation plan is required very much as in this industry case of chemical
hazards is common and during such condition, it is very important for the employees to get
away in a safe manner. That is the primary reason of proposing an evacuation strategy for the
organization.

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References
Agarwal, P., Goyal, A., &Vaishnav, R. (2018). CHEMICAL HAZARDS IN
PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY: AN OVERVIEW. Asian J Pharm Clin Res, 11(2),
27-35.
Antoine, B. (2013). Systems Theoretic Hazard Analysis (STPA) applied to the risk review of
complex systems: an example from the medical device industry (Doctoral dissertation,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Bhowmik, D., Vel, D. S., Rajalakshmi, A.N. & Kumar, S.,K.,P. (2014). Recent Trends in
Hazards in the Pharmaceutical Industry and Safety Precaution. Elixir Pharmacy 69
(2014) 23688-23691
Ccohs.ca. (2019). How Chemicals Enter the Body. Retrieved from
https://www.ccohs.ca/products/posters/pdfs/chemical.pdf
Covello, V. T., & Merkhoher, M. W. (2013). Risk assessment methods: approaches for
assessing health and environmental risks. Springer Science & Business Media.
Loomis, D., Guha, N., Hall, A. L., & Straif, K. (2018). Identifying occupational carcinogens:
an update from the IARC Monographs. Occup Environ Med, 75(8), 593-603.
Low, Y., Sedykh, A., Fourches, D., Golbraikh, A., Whelan, M., Rusyn, I., & Tropsha, A.
(2013). Integrative chemical–biological read-across approach for chemical hazard
classification. Chemical research in toxicology, 26(8), 1199-1208.
Montano, D. (2014). Chemical and biological work-related risks across occupations in
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Morfeld, P., Bruch, J., Levy, L., Ngiewih, Y., Chaudhuri, I., Muranko, H. J., ... & McCunney,
R. J. (2015). Response to the reply on behalf of the ‘permanent senate commission for the

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Setyawan, H. (2017). Risk Factors of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in Food-Packing Workers
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A., ...&Margină, D. (2019). A Review of the Alleged Health Hazards of Monosodium
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