HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

&
CHEMICAL HANDLING
 Hazard Communication

The basic point of Hazard Communication is that

YOU
have the right to know about hazards that you face
on the job and how to protect yourself against them.

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 Hazard Communication
The Hazard Communication consists of the following points:

1. Detection of hazardous chemicals

2. Awareness of health and environmental hazards
3. Implementation of methods to prevent exposure
4. Chemical safety program
5. Proper use of SDSs
(Safety Data Sheets)

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 What you need to know:

• Hazardous materials in your

workplace
• Potential effects on your health and
on the environment

In addition, information on:

• Safe handling
• Safe storage

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 Chemical hazards
Chemical hazards:
Dangers posed by any substance that can cause harm to
people or the environment.

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 Chemical hazards

Hazardous materials (chemical products) are everywhere.

Some pose little danger to you, while others are deadly.

However, like machinery or electrical equipment, you must

know how to use chemicals safely.

The first step is to recognize those materials that may be

hazardous to your health or physical safety.

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 Chemical labels
All chemicals used must be labelled

• All labels have been

uniformed with the
GHS (Global
Harmonised System).

• All over the world

the chemical symbols
are the same.

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Chemical labels

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 Reading Chemical Labels

Warning labels provide important information about the

chemicals:

• Danger
• Warning
• Caution

Always read the label before starting to work with a

potentially hazardous chemical!!!

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 Chemical Hazards
Chemicals can cause harm in the following ways:
1- Physical Hazard: Any substance which poses a threat to your
physical safety; they can harm the body without necessarily
touching it.
2 - Health hazard: any chemical for which there is a scientific and
significant evidence that short/long term effects occur to exposed
people.
3 - Environmental hazard: any chemical for which there is a
scientific evidence that its release to the environment causes
adverse effects on the fauna, flora and surroundings.
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 1 - Physical hazards
Any substance which poses a threat to your physical
safety.

The most common types are:

• Fire
• Explosion
• Chemical reactivity
• Compressed gases
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 Oxidizers
An oxidizing agent is a substance
that is not necessarily combustible,
but may (generally by yielding
oxygen) cause or contribute to the
combustion of other material.

Storage: primary concerns is to separate them from flammables.

Must be stored separately from reactive and corrosives.
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 Explosives

An explosive material is a reactive

substance that contains a great
amount of potential energy that
can produce an explosion if
released suddenly, usually
accompanied by the production of
light, heat, sound, and pressure.

Explosives release huge amounts of energy, very quickly.

Store separate from all other chemicals.
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 Gases Under Pressure
The gases under pressure are
compressed gases stored in cylinders

Gases under pressure could be:

• Asphyxiant
• Flammable
• Toxic
• Corrosive
• Explosive (ex. if heated)

All gas bottles shall be stored in a proper and orderly way

to prevent accidental fall of the bottles.
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 Flammables
Flammability is the ability of a
substance to burn or ignite,
causing fire or combustion.
A flammable substance can catch
fire spontaneously if exposed to air.
In contact with water may release
flammable gases which may ignite
spontaneously

Storage: primary concern is to separate them from oxidizers.

Must be stored separately from corrosives, reactives.
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 Flammable liquids

A flammable liquid is a liquid that can

catch fire. However, it is not the liquid
itself that catches fire, but the vapor
cloud above the liquid that will burn if
the vapor's concentration is between
the Lower Flammable Limit (LEL) and
the Upper Flammable Limit (UFL) of
the flammable liquid.

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 Explosive (or Flammability) Limits

Explosive (or Flammability) Limits apply generally to vapors and

are defined as the concentration range in which a flammable
substance can produce a fire or explosion when an ignition source
(such as a spark or open flame) is present. The concentration is
generally expressed as percent fuel by volume.
Explosive/Flammability range of H2S

4.3% 46%

Explosive/Flammability ranges are different for each chemical.

i.e. Explosive/Flammability range limit for H2S is between 4.3 % and 46 % by volume of air

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 Explosive (or Flammability) Limits
"Lower Explosive or Flammable Limit" (LEL/LFL)
"Upper Explosive or Flammable Limit" (UEL/UFL)
LEL/LFL: Lower Explosive/Flammability Limit; it is the lowest
concentration of gas/vapor that burns or explodes if an ignition
source is present at ambient temperature.
UEL/UFL: Upper Explosive/Flammability Limit; it is the highest
concentration of gas/vapor that burns or explodes if an ignition
source is present at ambient temperature.
LEL UEL
Greater is the Explosive/Flammability range

More explosive/flammable the substance is Explosive/Flammability range

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 Flammability Limits
Explosive (or Flammability) – Examples
Methane: LEL = 5% - UEL = 15%
If the concentration of gas/air mixture is less than 5 % or more
than 15 %, then the mixture is too lean or too rich to burn.
LEL UEL

5% 15%
Explosive/Flammability range of CH4

Any concentration between these limits can ignite or explode.

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 Flammability Limits
Explosive (or Flammability) Limits – Examples
Gasoline: LEL = 1.4% - UEL = 7.6%
If the concentration of gas/air mixture is less than 1.4 % or more
than 7.6 %, then the mixture is too lean or too rich to burn.
LEL UEL

1.4% 7.6%

Explosive/Flammability range of Gasoline

Any concentration between these limits can ignite or explode.

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 Flash Point

Flash Point
The flash point of a volatile material is the
lowest temperature at which it can vaporize
to form an ignitable mixture in air.
It can ignite in air when exposed to an
ignition source.

For Flammables (substances that will catch fire at normal working temperature)
- Flash point below 38°C for American Legislation
- Flash point below 25°C for European Legislation
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 2 - Health hazard

Any substance which poses a threat to your

immediate or long term health.

To understand the danger of a substance we

need to consider the following:
• Toxicity
• Dose

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 Hazard potential
Toxicity is the degree to which a
substance can harm humans’ health
(how much you can tolerate before
getting sick).

Dose is the AMOUNT of something

you are exposed to.

Hazard potential is the likelihood that a specific chemical or

toxic material will cause adverse effects at a given dose.

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 Hazard Potential of Acetone

• Acetone is a highly toxic chemical.

• Used in a fume hood, or a well ventilated room (low
dose), hazard potential is low.

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 Hazard Potential of Nitrogen gas

• Nitrogen has low toxicity.

• In a confined space with high volume of Nitrogen gas
(high dose), you would quickly die of asphyxiation (high
hazard potential).

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 Health Hazards
Health effects can be divided into long (chronic) and
short (acute) term effects.

Chronic effects are those adverse effect on animal or human

body with symptoms that develop slowly, due to long and
continuous exposure to low concentrations of an hazardous
substance.
Such symptoms do not usually subside when the exposure stops.

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 Health Hazards
Acute effects are those adverse effect (due to exposure to a
harmful substance) on animals or humans, whereby severe
symptoms develop rapidly and lead quickly to a health crisis.
These symptoms often subside when the exposure stops.

Some examples are:

- Carbon Monoxide (unconsciousness)
- Caustics (skin burning)
- Nitrogen (unconsciousness)
- H2S (skin irritation, breathe problems, headache)
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 Major types of health hazards

• Corrosives
• Primary Irritants
• Sensitizers
• Acutely Toxic Materials
• Carcinogens
• Teratogens
• Organ Specific Hazards

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 Health Hazard
Any substance that poses a threat to health.

May cause cancer, allergic reactions, genetic defects,

damage to organs, damage fertility.
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 Corrosives
On contact, may be corrosive to metals.
Causes severe skin burns and eye damage.

Store away from flammables, water reactives, other

dangerous reactives, oxidizers and organic material.
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 Irritant
Any substance that can produce irritation to human
tissues.

Harmful, irritates eyes, skin or respiratory system.

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 Acute Toxicity
A chemical that can cause temporary incapacitation or
permanent harm to humans.

It can also lead to death if an overexposure occurs.

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 Routes of exposure

How chemicals can enter in your body:

• Inhalation

• Skin contact

• Ingestion

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 Inhalation

Inhalation is the most common route for chemicals

to enter into your body.

Avoid breathing in:

• Dust
• Fumes
• Vapours
• Mist
• Gases
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 Skin contact

• Some chemicals are absorbed

through the skin

• Some are destructive

(acids/bases)

• Some enter through broken skin

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 Ingestion

It is possible to accidentally eat

chemicals.

• Never eat in places where

chemicals are used
• Never smoke in areas where
chemicals are used
• Always wash hands after using
chemicals

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 Safe exposure limits

Time Weighted Average (TWA)

The average amount of a chemical

a person can be exposed to over
an 8-hour day.

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 3 - Environmental hazard
Environmental hazard is the state of events which has the
potential to threaten the surrounding natural environment and
adversely affect people's health
Environmental
Many chemicals can have an adverse effect on Toxicity

the environment.
• Any waste chemical with the Environmental
Toxicity symbol MUST NOT be allowed to enter
drains or be put down the sink
• All waste should be disposed as directed in the SDS
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 Preventive/Protective measures

Engineering controls Fume Hood

• Fume hood
• Segregation of chemical categories
• Spill kit (to absorb chemical leakage)

HSE procedures
• G-43-006-ZAG-08 – Chemical spill control and management
• G-43-037-NES-14 – Management of Chemical or Other
Substance Hazardous to Health (COSHH)

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Preventive/Protective measures
Example of spill kit provided in the Units

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 Preventive/Protective measures
Training and communication
• “Hazardous substances and chemical handling” Training
• Stop Cards and Minor Incident Report for unsafe practices
• Safety Alerts

PPE
Coverall, goggles/glasses, gloves, safety boots, etc.

Personal monitoring
All employees must report suspicious symptoms

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 Storage of chemicals
A proper storage of chemicals is important
to prevent major incidents!
GEOLOG has a specific HSE Procedure in
place for the
storage of chemicals:
“G-43-037-NES-14 – Management of
Chemical or Other Substance Hazardous
to Health (COSHH)”
You must read and be familiar with this
procedure.
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 Safety Data Sheet (SDS)

A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is a document that contains information

on the potential hazards (health, fire, reactivity and environmental)
and how to work safely with the chemical products.

It also contains information on the use, storage, handling and

emergency procedures all related to the hazards of the substance.

It is intended to tell what the hazards of the product are, how to

use the product safely, what to expect if the recommendations are
not followed, what to do if accidents occur, how to recognize
symptoms of overexposure, and much more information.

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 Safety Data Sheet (SDS)

When you need a SDS?

using a product

handling or storing a product

Before
transporting a product

disposing a product

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 Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
Some of the information included in the SDSs:
• What the chemical is.
• Who makes or sells it and
the location.
• Why the chemical is
hazardous.
• How you can be exposed to
the hazards and what
conditions increase the risk.
• How to handle the
substance safely.
• What protection to use
while working with it.
• What do to if you are
exposed.
• How to handle a spill or
emergency.
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 SDS sections
1. Identification of the substance/mixture and of the company/
undertaking;
2. Hazards identification;
3. Composition/information on ingredients;
4. First-aid measures;
5. Fire-fighting measures;
6. Accidental release measures;
7. Handling and storage;
8. Exposure controls/personal protection;
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 SDS sections
9. Physical and chemical properties;
10. Stability and reactivity;
11. Toxicological information;
12. Ecological information;
13. Disposal considerations;
14. Transport information;
15. Regulatory information;
16. Other information.
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SDS - Example

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 SDS - Example
Section 1
Identification
of the
substance

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 SDS - Example
Section 2
Hazards
identification

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 SDS use
Some chemicals can be very dangerous.
If you have an accident, you may not have time to look up the
information you need in a SDS.

Therefore, you should always read the SDS of the hazardous

materials present in your work area before you work with them.

In addition, a folder with all the printed copies of

the SDSs of the chemicals present in the Unit
must always be available inside the Unit, and
must be kept in a place known by all the crew.
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 Chemical spills

Example: Acid spilled onto floor

What I have to do?

How to clean it up?

You can refer to the SDS of that substance

Section 6: Accidental release measures.

Section 8: Exposure control/Protective measures.

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 Chemical spills

GEOLOG has in place a specific HSE

Procedure to manage
chemical spills:

“G-43-006-ZAG-08 – Chemical spill

control and management”

You must read and be familiar with

this procedure.

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 Thanks for your attention!
If you have any question, feel free to contact your local base or the QHSE
department (qhse@geologinternational.com)

Please complete now the Quiz.

Use the excel file “QHSE training answers” and insert the number of the
correct answers in the columns related to each module.

Please return the excel file with your answers to

qhse@geologinternational.com

Remember that you have to answer to ALL questions.

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