Chemical Hazard Assessment Report: Alkimos Water Treatment Plant

This report focuses on the chemical hazards, specifically those associated with bleach, faced by workers at the Alkimos Water Treatment Plant in Perth, Australia. It begins with an executive summary outlining the company's background and the report's purpose, which is to assess the health conditions of the cleaners. The report includes an introduction discussing the increased use of chemicals in various industries and the associated health risks. It then details the company's background, the plant's location, and the scope of the assessment. The report includes the manufacturer's safe handling instructions for bleach, covering safe handling and storage procedures. It also provides a task observation and risk assessment, including observations, findings, and discussions regarding good and bad practices. The report highlights interview results with workers and provides findings of the risk assessment and offers recommendations. The report concludes with a discussion of the findings, emphasizing the importance of adhering to safety guidelines. The assessment was completed by observing the cleaning process and conducting interviews among the workers.

Running head: CHEMICAL HAZARDS
Chemical Hazards
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Discussion..................................................................................................................................4
Background of the Company.................................................................................................4
Purpose and Scope.................................................................................................................5
Manufacturer’s Safe Handling Instructions...........................................................................5
Safe handling of Bleach.........................................................................................................5
Safe storage of Bleach............................................................................................................6
Task Observation and Risk Assessment................................................................................6
Observations and Findings.....................................................................................................6
Discussions and Results.........................................................................................................7
Interview Result.........................................................................................................................8
Findings of risk assessment........................................................................................................9
Recommendation........................................................................................................................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
..................................................................................................................................................20

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Executive Summary
This report discusses about the chemical bleach hazards among the workers of Alkimos
Water Treatment Plant in Perth Australia. The main purpose of this report is to assess the
health condition of the cleaners of Alkimos company. Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant
is Perth based company and it is located in Western Australia. The company is located almost
42 km north west of Perth Central Business District (CBD). The treatment plant was
established in 2011 in order to supply clean water to the Northern to Southern part of the
country. In this regard the safety management was asked to execute an investigation and a
report regarding the skin injuries due to inappropriate use of Bleach to the cleaner would be
given to the higher authorities of the company. The assessment was completed by observing
the cleaning process and by conducting interview among the workers of Alkimos Waste
water Treatment Plant.

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Introduction
The modernization of the society and industry, has encouraged the use of chemicals in
different sectors of the human society and it is reported that, in some industry, the use of
chemicals is totally unavoidable. Thus, it is quite evident that workers involved in the process
of chemical use are quite vulnerable to those chemical exposures. In multiple industries, the
use of chemicals has enhanced in a great manner and thereby the fact of chemical exposure
and related adverse effects have become serious area of concern for the industry players
((Boucherit et al., 2015). According to the study of Aguiar et al. (2018), it is reported that,
the use of chemicals as a part of the cleaning process in the industry or in an organization is
associated with the adverse health condition of the workers using the materials.
This report discusses about the adverse health effect due to the use of bleach by the
cleaners of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant of Perth and the assessment was completed
by observing the cleaning process and by conducting interview among the workers of
Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant.
The first part of the report discusses about the brief description of the company,
location, purpose and opportunity of this assessment and also discusses safe handling and
storage of chemical bleach according to the manufacturers safety data sheet, discussion and
result of task observation. In the next part, the report describes the bad and good practices of
bleach handling by using the interview results. A few recommendations are also suggested in
the last part of the report.
Discussion
Background of the Company
Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant is Perth based company and it is located in
Western Australia. The company is located almost 42 km north west of Perth Central
Business District (CBD). The treatment plant was established in 2011 in order to supply clean
water to the Northern to Southern part of the country. ACCO Pty Ltd supplies cleaning
materials to the water treatment plant and all of the products supplied to the company are
manufactured by ORTHFORK brand. In the water treatment plant, the cleaning process is
executed by the company itself and there are almost 5 cleaners in the treatment plant who are

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responsible for the overall cleaning processes. Chemical bleach is used by the cleaners in the
plant premises in order to execute the daily cleaning processes. Due to the use of this bleach,
there are high chances of having chemical exposures among the cleaners of the company
Purpose and Scope
In order to assess the health condition of the cleaners of Alkimos company, the safety
management was asked to execute an investigation and a report regarding the skin injuries
due to inappropriate use of Bleach to the cleaner would be given to the higher authorities of
the company. The main purpose of this report is to prepare a detail report on the current
practices of chemical bleach use and safe storage of the bleach in the premises of the
organization. The safe storage of the bleach will be analysed as per the safety data sheet
(ACCO, 2018).
Bleach is a mixture of Sodium Hydroxide and Sodium Hypochlorite solution and it is
considered as one of the hazardous chemicals used in the industry. The handling methods of
this chemical will be analysed as well as per the practices of Safe Work Australia (2012).
Manufacturer’s Safe Handling Instructions
According to the data sheet of ACCO Brands Australia PTY LTD version 1.2, bleach
is one of the alkaline cleaning products used in the industry and due to the corrosive nature of
this product, it is highly hazardous to the users (ACCO, 2018). Bleach has a suffocating
odour while reacting with air along with its colourless appearance and it is composed of
composed of <10% of sodium hydroxide and <10% of sodium hypochlorite. Therefore, a
cleaner may face skin burns, irritation in the eyes, respiratory problems as a result of bleach
exposure to the cleaners. There are a few precautions and safe storage practices for using the
bleach in the work places.
Safe handling of Bleach
 The workers must not eat or drink during the use of chemical bleach
 Workers should use Personal protective equipment during the cleaning process
 Any kind of direct contact to the body must be avoided by the workers
 The area of using the bleach must be kept well ventilated and as a part of this use of
exhaust fan is recommended.
 Foods or food utensils must not be avoided from bleach contamination.
 The workers must not enter any hazardous places without proper checking

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 Avoid inhalation of chemical
Safe storage of Bleach
a. Suitable container for storage
 All the materials must be labeled and any kind of leak must be addressed as
soon as possible.
 Proper packing style by the manufacturer must be maintained
 The bleach must be kept in polypropylene containers or polyethylene
containers.
b. Storage incompatibility
 Any type of reaction with the chloroformates, acid chlorides or strong acids
must be avoided.
 Materials such as aluminium , copper and their alloys must not be kept in
close contact with the bleach.
Task Observation and Risk Assessment
The risk assessment program was executed in the morning of 21st August 2019 at 9.30
AM .All the safety equipment and the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were carried to
the cleaning location and those were given to the cleaners by the management to prevent any
kind of adverse incidents during the assessment process. Before starting the work, the work
place was examined carefully and then the bleach was sprayed to the area and the area was
left for a few times to initiate the reactions of bleach. After some time, the area was washed
with water. Still there was a strong odour of bleach around that area. From the safety data
sheet of the work place, it was found that, the risks of chlorine inhalation and exposure of
bleach to the skin had high and extreme risks respectively as the likelihood of chlorine
inhalation was almost certain and the consequence was moderate and so the risk was high. On
the other hand, exposure to skin was almost certain as per the likelihood scale and the
consequence was critical. Thereby the risks of this hazards was critical as per the risk matrix
table.
Observations and Findings
The study findings was based on the risk assessment and task observation of the
workers present in the Alkimos Water Treatment plant. The overall work areas of the
Alkimos Water Treatment plant was assessed in a well manner and along with this the
condition of the workers were also analysed. As per the observation of the assessment of this

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work places, it can be stated that the management had maintained the work places well and
although the cleaners had adequate training still they had lack of advance training regarding
the work place health and safety. The storage area of the bleach was maintained in a well
manner by the managers as well. Safe handlings of the chemicals were also reported.
Although the work places are maintained well, still a few good and bad practices are reported
by the observers during the assessment process.
Good practices as per the risk assessment
 Proper routine check for the cleaners to find out any risks related to the use of bleach
among the workers
 Any kind of leak issue and un-proper labelling of the chemicals are addressed in a
proper manner.
 All the bleach stocks are kept in proper temperature with adequate safety manner.
 The workers of the Alkimos Water Treatment plant reached the work place well
before time with all type of equipment.
 PPE were used by the most of the workers present in the assessment process.
 For protecting eyes of the workers, all the workers used safety glasses as well.
 Most of the cleaners are aware about the first aid system and respiratory risks due to
the leakage of chemical bleach.
Poor practices that needs improvement
 The musk used by the workers were not compatible to the type of work.
 The workers did not wash the hand and their shoes after completing the cleaning
process.
 The gloves use by the workers during the work was very thin they are not at all well
for the type of work performed by them.
 The duration of work for the workers was very high and it is one of the major cause of
hazards among the workers of the water treatment plant.
 While performing the cleaning process inside the plants, the workers frequently open
the windows and doors.
 The exhaust fan present in the area was not well maintained and it was reported that
during the assessment process the fan was non-functional.

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Discussions and Results
From the assessment of the result it can be stated that there are a few practices that
were followed properly and on the other hand a few practices were not followed by the
workers as per the guideline of Work Safe WA and Safe Work Australia. While analysing the
good practices, it can be stated that, the use of PPE, correct practices of safe handling of
chemicals, storage, levelling, spill and leak checks were followed by the authority properly
and on the other hand the authorities of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant failed to meet
a few good criteria regarding the safety practices of bleach use in their work place. For
example, it can be stated that the use of thin gloves during the use of bleach, not wearing
safety goggles, use of improper masks during the use of bleach can be marked as unsafe
practices in the work place of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant. As a result, it can be
said that the cleaners were exposed to the bleach for a long duration of time and as a result
they could inhale the hazardous products for a long a period of time. Simultaneously it may
possible that, the workers might have effect in their eyes as well due to the exposure in their
eyes as well. Therefore, it was also reported that, the workers were capable of contacting the
management in case of any difficulties regarding the use of bleach during cleaning in the
work premises of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant. However, the senior safety manager
rarely visited the work place of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant and as a result there
was no such assessment in the work places previously. Therefore, the cleaners of the Alkimos
Waste water Treatment Plant themselves practiced a few good practices such as checking of
leak and spill of the bleach storages, using the equipment in most of the cases and they also
generally arrived to the work places well before time of starting the cleaning processes.
Interview Result
Bio Clean Cleaners’ Views
The interview result showed that-
 Cleaners used to washed all the materials after use
 All the cleaners preferred thin gloves as they are light weight and comfortable
 They wanted to use the safety shoes during the bleaching process
 Due to the uncomfortable nature of the safety goggles, workers generally avoided to
wear the safety glasses.

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 The spraying bottles were not safe for the workers as they complained about the splits
during the application of the bleach to the work places.
 They are aware about the lack of first aid training and thus wanted to take part in
training sessions on first aid procedures.
Opinions from Bio Clean Manager
 The company managers and the senior safety managers were not aware about the
cleaners perspective
 They were not at all aware about the fact that, the workers were not using proper
safety equipment during their work.
 Therefore, the managers also felt that, there was a requirement of proper training
among the workers engaged in the cleaning process of the Alkimos Waste water
Treatment Plant and the work premises.
 The managers checked the expiry date of the equipment present in the work premises
of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant in a regular manner and if any equipment is
out of date, then the managers took immediate actions regarding the refilling of the
safety products present in the Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant.
Findings of risk assessment
 There was no proper training on importance of PPE use
 Lack of monitoring from the end of the management
 No initiative was taken by the management to address the inhalation of bleach.
Recommendation
Therefore, it can be recommended that, the mangers of the Alkimos Waste water
Treatment Plant should visit the plant in a regular manner and the management must recruit
one local WHS supervisor so that he or she can supervise the overall work processes pf the
workers and thereby any kind of carelessness among the workers of the treatment plant will
be addressed in quick manner. The supervisor must look into the fact of PPE use, handling of
the bleach, maintenance of the bleach storage in a proper manner. Along with this, the
management of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant must conduct training program
regarding the use of PPE and on the importance of first aid in the work places of Alkimos
Waste water Treatment Plant. More modern equipment should be supplied to workers and

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proper training also be provided to the workers. As a part of the supervisor’s job, he or she
must supervise the use and maintenance of modern equipment in the work place.
Conclusion
Hence, it can be concluded that, in the Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant most of
the safety measures are maintained in a well manner. On the contrary a few aspects of the
selected work places needed a few improvement measures. Therefore, those aspects must be
improved in order to offer a better work places to the workers of the Alkimos Waste water
Treatment Plant. .Moreover, the management of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant must
conduct training program regarding the use of PPE and on the importance of first aid in the
work places of Alkimos Waste water Treatment Plant.

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References
Aguiar, A., Andrade, L., Grossi, L., Pires, W., & Amaral, M. (2018). Acid mine drainage
treatment by nanofiltration: A study of membrane fouling, chemical cleaning, and
membrane ageing. Separation and Purification Technology, 192, 185-195.
Bleach. (2018). Safety Data Sheet. ACCO Brands Australia PTY LTD. Retrieved from
https://www.accobrands.com.au/pdf/sds-bleach.pdf
Boucherit, A., Moulay, S., Ghernaout, D., Al-Ghonamy, A. I., Ghernaout, B., Naceur, M. W.,
... & Elboughdiri, N. A. (2015). New trends in disinfection by-products formation
upon water treatment. J. Res. Develop. Chem.
Safe Work Australia. (2012). Model code of practice: Managing risks of hazardous chemicals
in the workplace. Retrieved from
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/managing_risks_of
_hazardous_chemicals2.pdf [Accessed on 15th Sept 2019]
Worksafe WA. (n.d). Hazardous substances. Retrieved from
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/worksafe/hazardous-substances [Accessed on 15th
Sept 2019]

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Appendices
Appendix I: Safety Data Sheet

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Appendix II: Risk Assessment form
Appendix III: Pictures
Inappropriate labelling

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Before and after clean

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Appendix IV: Bleach
Appendix V: ISO 31000 Hierarchy of control

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Appendix VI: Risk Matrix

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