Every year, thousands of (former) employees die because they work or have worked with hazardous substances. Indeed, hazardous substances are one of the biggest pathogens in the Dutch workplace and that is why those who work with them have to comply with strict rules.
You should ask your employer or health and safety expert if the company has taken the following steps:
Employers are obliged to identify all the risks of working with hazardous substances and take measures to ensure all workers are kept healthy and safe.
- Has the company paid sufficient attention to the issue of 'hazardous substances' (Article 5 of the Working Conditions Act and Article 4.1b of the Working Conditions Decree)?
- Has the employer examined which and how many substances you come into contact with during your work and how long the exposure to these substances lasts? (Article 4.2 of the Health and Safety Decree).
- Does the work involve carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic substances?
- Is the employer compliant with the 'additional regulations' when assessing the risks of carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic substances (Article 4.13 of the Health and Safety Decree)?
Ask the employer or health and safety expert which norms (limit values) are in place to ensure that work involving any hazardous substances in the company can be carried out safely (Article 4.3 of the Health and Safety Decree). Also ask whether the company manages to stay below those limit values.
- If there are no limit values, the health and safety expert must set them on the basis of other available information. The relevant arrangements need to be made with the employer.
- If the limit values are not complied with, ask the employer to draw up a plan of action to ensure that the company meets the safe limit values as soon as possible.
The employer must take measures to ensure that hazardous substances can be handled safely. In this context it is important that the employer uses the occupational hygiene strategy. This is also known as the 'STOP strategy' (Article 4.4. of the Working Conditions Decree).
STOP stands for:
- Substitution (replacing the hazardous substance with a less hazardous one).
- Technical measures, such as closed systems, extraction, mechanical ventilation.
- Organisational measures, such as limiting the time people work with hazardous substances, alternating tasks and restricting access to areas where work with hazardous substances is going on.
- Personal protective equipment (this should be regarded as a last resort and should never be the only measure).
Are employees provided with accurate information about risks of working with hazardous substances (Article 4.10d of the Working Conditions Decree)?
Such information may include the following:
- Safety data sheets containing information on hazardous substances.
- Clear instructions in the workplace.
- Information on the risks of working with hazardous substances and how you may come into contact with them.
- How to proceed if you are accidentally exposed to hazardous substances.
Any employee who works with hazardous substances is entitled to a medical examination (occupational health examination, Article 18 of the Working Conditions Act and Article 4.10a of the Working Conditions Decree). If the examination reveals any health issues, the employer must take the initiative to contact other colleagues and ask them to undergo a medical examination.
You should ask the company doctor and possibly the occupational hygienist what they know about the effects of working with hazardous substances. You could, for example, discuss the following with them:
- The results of the medical examination.
- Information from the health and safety consultation.
- Absenteeism that may be related to working with hazardous substances.
- The outcomes of readings taken in the workplace. The works council or staff representation body has a legal right to this information (Article 4.10c of the Health and Safety Decree, Article 31 of the Works Councils Act (Wet op de Ondernemingsraden, WOR), provided it is anonymous.
- The employer is required to report any incidental exposure to high concentrations (Article 4.21 of the Working Conditions Decree) to the works council/staff representation body.
If you work with hazardous substances, you should regularly check whether the situation is still under control and see what could be improved.
Even if working with hazardous substances does not lead to health issues and even if the norms (limit values) are not exceeded, it is important to assess regularly whether it is possible to replace hazardous substances with less hazardous ones, or whether even better control measures can be put in place in the meantime.
This applies, in any event, to carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances which should be handled as little as is technically feasible.
Unfortunately, at some companies it will be impossible to make agreements with the employer on the right approach to working with hazardous substances.
If this is the case you should report this first to the Works Council or the occupational health service. If you do not get the response you need, you can also report the situation to the Netherlands Labour Authority.
You can also contact the staff representation body or trade unions so that they can help you ensure that any work involving hazardous substances is performed with the correct health and safety measures in place.