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Control Measures 7.4

The Need to Prevent Exposure or, where this is Not Reasonably
Practicable, Adequately Control It

Article 16 of the ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention C155 requires employers to:

• "Ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the workplaces, machinery, equipment and
processes under their control are safe and without risk to health.
• Ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the chemical, physical and biological
substances and agents under their control are without risk to health when the appropriate
measures of protection are taken".

This is further supported by the ILO Chemical Convention C170, Chemical Convention Article
13 requires employers to establish the following operational controls:

"Make an assessment of the risks arising from the use of chemicals at work, and shall protect
workers against such risks by appropriate means, such as:

1. The choice of chemicals that eliminate or minimise the risk.
2. The choice of technology that eliminates or minimises the risk.
3. The use of adequate engineering control measures.
4. The adoption of working systems and practices that eliminate or minimise the risk.
5. The adoption of adequate occupational hygiene measures.
6. Where recourse to the above measures does not suffice, the provision and proper
maintenance of personal protective equipment and clothing at no cost to the worker, and
the implementation of measures to ensure their use".

"Every employer shall ensure that the exposure of his employees to substances hazardous
to health is either prevented or, where this is not reasonably practicable, adequately
controlled".

If exposure cannot be prevented, preferably by avoiding the use of a hazardous substance,
then employers should adequately control exposure.

To achieve this, the employer should apply protection measures appropriate to the activity
and consistent with the priority that will achieve effective control:

Provision of a high level of inherent health and safety by careful design, selection and use of
appropriate work processes, systems and engineering controls, and use of suitable work
equipment and materials, for example, systems and processes which reduce to the minimum
required for the work the amount of hazardous substance used or produced, or equipment
which totally encloses the process.

ENSIGN| Unit IG2 – Element 7 – Chemical and Biological 30
Agents