Chromium-6

Measures to prevent exposure to chromium-6

Workers can be exposed to chromium-6 when carrying out work which causes it to be released (for example certain welding processes) and when working on metals or coatings that contain chromium. Exposure can occur via inhalation as well as the skin. Given the toxic and carcinogenic properties of chromium-6, it is very important that measures are taken to ensure that workers do not suffer health damage when engaging in this kind of work.

What you need to do

• As with other hazardous substances, chromium-6 requires you to identify the risks for your employees and take control measures to prevent or minimise those risks. You must also provide employees with information and instructions and supervise compliance with internally made agreements.
• To do this, you can complete the 4 steps of the Hazardous substances self-assessment tool which is based on the legal framework for health and safety at work.
• Even the party that commissions the work and outsources activities has a responsibility in this regard, because they have to make sure that the contractor can carry out the work in a way which is healthy and safe (good commissioning practices). You can find more information on this on the Good commissioning practices page.
• If you choose to investigate whether the material to be processed contains chromium as part of the risk inventory, you should refer to the information below which explains what you have to look out for when checking for the presence of chromium-6 in materials.
• You should implement control measures in accordance with the occupational hygiene strategy. When it comes to Carcinogenic, Mutagenic, or toxic for Reproduction substances (CMR substances), you must first assess whether the substance can be replaced by one that poses less of a risk. If substitution is not possible, all the technically feasible controls must be applied. ‘Technically feasible’ means that the facility, installation or machine is operationally available and can be used in the specific situation.

Control regime

When dealing with certain situations involving the processing or removal of paints/coatings that have been used to preserve metal, concrete and wooden construction materials of, for example, bridges, stations and buildings, you can use the chromium-6 and other hazardous substances control regime (Dutch).

This guide was developed by ProRail, Rijkswaterstaat and the Central Government Real Estate Agency, together with experts from the market. The control regime describes measures to prevent exposure to inhalable dust containing possible chromium-6, lead, or other hazardous substances. The Netherlands Labour Authority considers this control regime to be good practice.

It was drawn up with temporary situations and construction sites in mind and following it might not be enough in other, permanent or structural situations. It will often be possible to do more at a fixed location or take other measures which are more appropriate (for example automation, robotisation, closed processes etc.). In such instances you should consult an expert.

Check for chromium before processing

You can check whether there is chromium in the material you are going to process by:

• Finding out what material the surface was treated with and requesting information about it from the supplier or party that processed it last, or by consulting the old safety data sheets.
• Having samples of the surface taken by an expert and analysed by an accredited laboratory.
• Using a recognised method to determine yourself whether the surface contains chromium. Sampling must be representative and the measures taken with regard to preservation, conditioning, analysis and quality assurance must be appropriate. Although some rapid tests are available on the market ('cotton swab test'), these are not sufficiently reliable to use as the only test. The same applies to the XRF handheld analyser. Such tests produce false-positive and negative results far too frequently. However these methods can be useful when combined with a paint sample and laboratory test. Having said that, an employer may decide to implement all technically feasible control measures on the basis of a positive result (= chromium present) of a rapid test or XRF measurement. It should be noted that a negative result does not provide sufficient grounds for deciding not to take any action.