Within Reach?: Managing Chemical Risks in Small Enterprises

Controlling the risks of working with chemical substances is widely recognized as one of the major elements in ensuring a healthy workplace. Not surprisingly, control strategies for chemicals used in the workplace feature prominently in both regulatory and voluntary approaches to improving the work environment. But their impact on the vast majority of workplaces in which chemicals are used remains problematic. This is especially so in small enterprises across the whole range of economic sectors and work activity, in which there is demonstrably poor understanding among owner managers concerning their responsibilities for chemical risk management. Why this has been so, how it is being addressed, and with what results are the subjects of this book.

Currently the regulatory profile governing the management of chemical risks at work is in the process of major restructuring in Europe, as discussions take place about implementation of the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) reforms in European legislation. It is claimed that the impact of these provisions will be substantial and significant, especially in relation to downstream use of chemicals in smaller enterprises, because the new regulations will aim to improve risk communication within the supply chain-identified as a particular weakness of previous approaches. The book examines the evidence for this weakness and the extent to which it is likely to be addressed by the new regulatory framework.

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Reviewer:J. Thomas Pierce, MBBS PhD(Navy Environmental Health Center)
Description:This book addresses the thorny problem of controlling chemical risks in smaller workplaces. Even forward-thinking approaches to risk management currently have shown limited impact in the vastness of smaller workplaces. This book takes on why penetration of risk management efforts has been so limited, how one might go about addressing the shortfall, and how best to demonstrate preliminary improvement. Curious readers will note the use of the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals - REACH acronym in the title.
Purpose:The book was generated as an outgrowth of a six-country European study conducted during 2004-5. The study was concerned with accounting for social and economic contexts in which management of chemical risks would occur among smaller enterprises. If one considers that the European Union (EU) has the jump on such efforts, this book constitutes a type of sentinel notification.
Audience:It will have substantial readership among European health and safety professionals. In my opinion, it will be read by investigators, if not regulators, in the rest of the world. Its seriousness in terms of accounting for social and economic contexts may lead to extrapolation far beyond EU borders.
Features:Chapter 1 outlines what is known about the extent of chemical use at workplaces among EU countries. Chapters 2 and 3 deal with various regulatory approaches, and chapter 4 covers institutional infrastructures that support chemical risk management among smaller workplaces. A variety of experiences is described in chapter 5, while chapter 6 considers risk management in advanced market economies. Chapter 7 summarizes the main conclusions that can be drawn from the findings in the previous chapters and presents a discussion of their implications in terms of REACH.
Assessment:The central question is whether or not significant exposures occur in smaller enterprises. The study upon which this book is based frequently returns to this question. One could summarize the study's approach as one of examining primary data on chemically mediated injuries and illnesses along with the nature of the EU regulations. The author has done an exemplary job of realistically addressing a question that has to date been only partially articulated. This is a good book for people who want to pay attention to what is going on internationally in chemical risk management. While not everyone agrees with the provisions of REACH, few would doubt their importance. The book helps to understand what is going on in the context of changes in chemical risk assessment and management.

David Walters is Professor of Work Environment, Director of the Cardiff Work Environment Research Centre, Cardiff University, and editor of Policy and Practice in Health and Safety. He has researched and written extensively on regulation of the work environment, the social relations of health and safety, health and safety in small firms, and workplace chemical risk regulation. He is the author of Health and Safety in Small Enterprises (2001), Regulating Health and Safety Management in the European Union (2002), Regulating Health and Safety at Work: An Agenda for Change (with Phil James; 2005), Beyond Limits: Dealing with Chemical Risks at Work in Europe (with Karola Grodzki; 2006), and Worker Representation and Workplace Health and Safety (with Theo Nichols; 2007), and edited Supporting Health at Work: International Perspectives on Occupational Health Services (with Peter Westerholm; 2007).