Re: Handling toxic materials at work


"AN O'Nymous" <a_n_onymous80@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1138719548.045020.317340@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Let's say you have a situation where employees at a workshop refused to
> work on certain materials because it caused adverse reactions.
> According to the MSDS, handling these materials requires extraction
> hoods, gloves, goggles, masks, antistatic measures, etc., all of which
> have been fitted. The workers are still apprehensive about working with
> these materials based on past experience (when the lab was less well
> equipped).
>
> The MSDS describes some exposure limits but not comprehensively, and
> there is little agreement between recommended limits from different
> bodies. It may be that these workers are sensitive, the limits are too
> high, etc.
>
> If a workshop has been suitably equipped so that it is cleared to work
> with materials of a certain toxicity by safety inspectors, on what
> basis can the workers there refuse to work on such materials? (Apart
> from no one wanting to be an *** about it and telling poor them to
> live with it)
>

I can't see any justification for refusing to work with the substance,
except that those workers who have already been sensitised and have a
tendency to develop symptoms even when exposed to a minimal quantity of the
substance, would be justified in refusing to work with it.


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