Exposure to chemicals commonly used in workplaces can lead to a variety of short- and long-term health effects such as poisoning, skin rashes and disorders of the lung, kidney and liver.
Some substances can cause asthma or other diseases, including cancer. Many can damage the skin, and some can cause serious long-term damage to the lungs. The effect can be immediate, such as dizziness or stinging eyes, or can take many years to develop, such as lung disease.12 May 2021
Types of Chemical Hazards in the WorkplaceAsphyxiant Chemical Examples: Carbon monoxide and cyanide.Corrosive Chemical Examples: Sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide.Irritant Causing Chemical Examples: nickel chloride and chromic acid.Allergen Causing Chemical Examples: Chlorine and alkalis.More items...
Some commonly used workplace chemical hazards include: Caustic substances. Cleaning products such as toilet cleaners, disinfectants, mildew remover and chlorine bleach. Glues. Heavy metals, including mercury, lead, cadmium, and aluminum.11 Oct 2017
Because many of the symptoms related to chemical exposure are also associated with other common medical conditions , it can be hard to connect an employee’s illness to chemical exposure. If you suspect a toxic chemical in or around your work area, you should alert your employer and consult with a doctor.
Substitute irritating workplace substances with more skin-friendly substances. Implement technical measures to reduce skin contact, such as capsuling machinery to avoid splashes on the skin . Rotate job positions among employees to limit more intense exposure to harsh environments.
How The Carlson Law Firm can help. Millions of us are exposed to materials in our workplace that could prove dangerous to our health and safety without proper handling . Exposure to chemicals in the workplace can cause harm ranging from mild irritations to cancer and even death. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate more ...
Effects of chemicals on the body. Some exposure to chemicals may result in immediate injuries such as chemical burns, while some exposure takes a toll over time . If repeated over the years of employment, even relatively minor chemical exposures can lead to life-changing medical conditions.
Types of workplace chemicals. Carcinogen– A chemical that can potentially cause cancer, for example, asbestos. Corrosive – A chemical that causes visible destruction, irreversible alterations, for example, hydrochloric acid. Irritant – A chemical that is not corrosive that causes reversible inflammatory effects on living tissue at the site ...
If you believe that your work environment is unsafe or unhealthful, you may file a complaint with OSHA and request an inspection.
Chemicals may enter the body through four significant routes. Inhalation (breathing) – The most common way workplace chemicals enter the body. Skin contact – Some chemicals by direct or indirect contact can damage the skin or pass through the skin and into the bloodstream.
Millions of workers are injured each year on the job. One of the most common workplace injuries are caused by repeated exposure, events or repetitive motions.
Cumulative injuries are generally covered under workers' compensation as long as the injury occurred at work and happens while in the course of employment. Unfortunately, although the number of workers' compensation claims filed for cumulative injuries has been on the rise, cumulative injuries can be difficult to prove.
Cumulative injuries most often affect the musculoskeletal system, which includes joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, and blood vessels.
Cumulative Exposure Injuries. Note that these injuries are often caused by exposure to various toxic substances in the work environment. These substances can be asbestos or hazardous chemicals or conditions such as loud noises.
Experts and the law define a cumulative injury as one that often results from repeated actions or motions rather than one specific event. Therefore, it is an injury that usually takes place over time instead of a single moment. Keep in mind that these repeated actions may include:
Some examples of cumulative injuries are: Back injuries. Carpal tunnel syndrome. Tendonitis.
It is because of the greater difficulty that people may need to establish that their cumulative injuries were caused due to their job activity rather than an event outside of work or an unrelated factor. For example, if you are hit with a forklift at your workplace, the injuries sustained are clearly work-related.
On the other hand, if you suffer shoulder or neck pain and numbness due to constant lifting, there is a greater opportunity for your employer to claim that your injury was caused by various other things you were engaged in outside of work .
All inspection sampling results will be included here once the case is closed. OSHA does not publicly disclose information from the following types of cases: open inspections and citations currently under contest or under appeal to the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission or the U.S. Courts of Appeals.
OSHA takes industrial hygiene samples as part of its compliance monitoring program. OSHA's chemical exposure data represent personal, area, and bulk samples for various airborne contaminants. OSHA compliance officers do not: Routinely visit every business which use chemicals known to be toxic.
A cumulative trauma is a repetitive event. 1 2 It is a culmination of thousands of insignificant movements that by themselves would not cause an injury, but together cause injury to a part of body. The time period for a cumulative trauma is the time the injured worker is doing the work that is causing the injury and ends when there is disability ...
A specific injury is the result of one incident that causes disability or need for medical treatment. 4. It is unlikely that an employee would be unaware of a specific injury because a single incident is hard to miss.
The statute of limitations allows a significant amount of time to file a claim. It is important to see a doctor to find out if the medical cause is from work. Once a doctor has decided an injury is from work, an injured worker needs to understand how to file a workers’ compensation claim. For additional help….
There are also injures that happen over a longer period of time. In California workers’ compensation, there are two types of work injuries: A specific injury . A cumulative trauma.
The employee has the responsibility to tell his or her employer what happened. In a cumulative trauma situation, there isn’t a single incident. Whatever exposure is occurring or damage being done may not be clear until much later. Even if there are symptoms, the cause may be hard to figure out.
Exposure Theory — All CGL policies are triggered if they are in effect during exposure to injurious or harmful conditions. Primarily used in asbestos cases, this theory considers bodily injury to begin when a person was first exposed to asbestos, usually at the first inhalation of asbestos fibers.
Manifestation Theory —The CGL policy is triggered when the injury or damage is discovered or manifests itself (or in some cases is capable of being discovered) during the policy period. That the injury or damage may be been occurring prior to discovery may not be taken into account in this theory.
Opinions expressed in Expert Commentary articles are those of the author and are not necessarily held by the author's employer or IRMI. Expert Commentary articles and other IRMI Online content do not purport to provide legal, accounting, or other professional advice or opinion.
Occurred means when damage occurred, not when discovery occurred.
In other words, if bodily injury or property damage (or both) does not occur during the CGL policy period, the CGL insurer has no obligation to respond as the coverage is not "triggered.". For more on coverage implications, see The Hazards of Products and Completed Operations: Understanding the Fundamentals (October 2006).
Cumulative Injury or Progressive or Damage. Of course, some types of injury or damage do not happen as described in the above example. In particular, bodily injury caused by toxic substances can happen over time, such as persons who have suffered injury from inhaling asbestos fibers.
Back to the overriding question: Do the various trigger theories change or nullify the fundamental requirement that bodily injury or property damage must occur during the policy period to activate insurers' obligations under a CGL policy? After examining the fundamentals of the coverage issues, the answer is clearly "No." While undoubtedly the trigger theories have the potential to broaden or restrict when the bodily injury or property damage is determined to have occurred, such theories do not suggest in any way that coverage applies when no bodily injury or property damage has occurred during the policy period.