Essays on Hazard Identification Process: ABC Chemicals Case Study

The paper ‘Hazard Identification Process: ABC Chemicals ” is a good example of a management case study. This paper seeks to analyse the case of ABC Chemicals in the context of the hazard identification process. According to the case study, ABC Chemicals distributes solvents, acids, detergents, and other corrosives. Specifically, the paper intends to identify legislations that apply to a company that handles hazardous chemicals.Essays on Hazard Identification Process: ABC Chemicals Case Study.  This will capture employees, the elderly in the local nursing home, children in the childcare centre, and others who live within the vicinity of ABC Chemicals.

After identification of legislations that are applicable to ABC Chemicals, the essay will discuss whether the company complies with the legislation. Secondly, the hazards will be identified. Thirdly, risk assessment and identification process will be discussed. The level of each risk, as well as risk control methods, will be given the necessary attention. Applicable legislation and compliance The new work health and safety laws and legislation, which took effect from 1 January 2011, to replaced OHS. The act outlines legal obligations that must be followed in order to ensure the health and safety of workers (New South Wales, 2014).

The WHS Act places the responsibility of ensuring the health and safety of a person running the business. According to the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011, the duty holder must be able to note reasonably foreseeable hazards that may lead to health and safety risks. In this scenario, ABC Chemical is tasked with the duty, by law, to be certain that the health and safety of workers and other individuals are not at risk from the business run by the company. The duties revolve around safe use, handling, and storage of such hazardous mixtures.

Some of the duties vested upon ABC Chemicals particularly with respect to chemical business include correct labelling of containers, keeping a register, identifying physical and chemically reactive hazards and ensuring their stability, training workers, and updating safety data sheet (Sherriff and Tooma, 2010). Besides, ABC Chemical must have a spill containment system as opposed to using rags to clean spillages. Essays on Hazard Identification Process: ABC Chemicals Case Study. The law further requires ABC Chemicals to have an emergency plan. Currently, ABC has not only failed to train its workers on the safe handling of chemicals and emergencies but also missed to install a well-displayed emergency plan in the workplace.

Generally, ABC Chemicals have grossly violated legislation required of a company that deals in hazardous chemicals. Hazards Grammeno (2009) defines a hazard as a source or a situation that can cause harm through injury, ill health, damage to property and environment. According to WHS legislation, hazardous chemicals comprise mixtures that meet the criteria outlined by Globally Harmonized System as well as those classified under Schedule 6 of WHS regulations (Safe Work Australia, 2014).

The legislations stipulate that a hazardous chemical is a mixture that has an adverse impact on the ecosystem. In brief, they cause injury or illness to a person. Under the two classifications of health hazards, it is rather clear that ABC Chemicals handle materials that pose a health hazard as well as physicochemical hazard. Considering the category of a health hazard, it is apparent from the case study that chemicals distributed by ABC Chemicals are acids and corrosives. This means that they have chemical properties that are adverse to the body if are in contact with the skin. Essays on Hazard Identification Process: ABC Chemicals Case Study.

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Concisely, chemicals being distributed by ABC Chemicals can corrode the skin hence its classification as a health hazard.

Reference

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Grammeno, G. (Ed) 2009, Planning occupational health, & safety: a guide to OHS risk management, CCH Australia Limited, North Ryde.

New South Wales 2014, Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, viewed 26 July 2014, .

Safe Work Australia 2011, How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice, viewed 26 July 2014, .

Safe Work Australia 2014, Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS), viewed 26 July 2014, .

Sherriff, B & Tooma, M 2010, Understanding the Model Work Health and Safety Act, CCH Australia Limited, North Ryde.

University of Western Australia 2004, Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Control Procedure, viewed 26 July 2014, .

The hazard identification process, risk assessments, and control are applied and compiled according to the Work Health and Safety Regulations 2012 under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012. The risk is considered to be a probable harm that may arise as a result of a hazard. A Person Conducting a Business or Undertaking has a commitment to control risks to safety in a practicably reasonable way.This essay explores the medium-sized chemical distributor ABC Chemicals. The goal is to determine the hazards, to identify the relevant risks and to use available risk control methods for this case.

Identifying hazards is the first step of risk management process. This involves determining all the situations and objects that potentially are dangerous and may cause harm to employees, surrounding people or environment. According to the procedure of the risk management, ABC Chemicals should identify all the hazards in consultation with employees. In general the hazards may include dangerous materials, substances or mechanisms, work environment, management or design. The risk assessment is the next step of the following procedure. A risk assessment is mandatory for such a high risk activities, as diving or scaffolding works.  Essays on Hazard Identification Process: ABC Chemicals Case Study.This determines the degree of danger for every hazard and finds out which hazards should be managed first.

Finally, the risk control is the third step of the general risk management process. This step involves decisions of what should be done to prevent or control the risks.According to the description of this project, there are several hazards that must be identified. First of all, cleaning chemicals are delivered in 205 liters drums. The workers have to decant the products into the smaller containers. It may cause chemical burns, intoxications and allergic reactions. ABC Chemicals should pay attention to the safety of shipping process, as the spilling of cleaning chemicals may be dangerous for residents and traffic participants. The nursing home and the child care centre located near the ABC Chemicals seem to be hazards as well, so the absence of access for children and elderly residents must be guaranteed.

Another moment of the decanting procedure is potentially dangerous. Small spills are cleaned up with rags, that are disposed of into the general waste dumpster, collected once a week. This may cause poisoning and inflammation as well. Furthermore, the building has not been fitted with all mandatory emergency equipment, there is no emergency plan and the workers are not prepared for emergencies. Moreover, there have been several vehicle accidents in front of the premises. So the workers must be ready to perform a first aid or to extinguish the fire at any time.As mentioned, all empty chemical drums are stored in the rear yard collected on the monthly basis. This may be extremely dangerous for environment and residents, considering the intention of local council to build a community centre behind the cyclone fence. In addition there is an open overgrown … Essays on Hazard Identification Process: ABC Chemicals Case Study.