Hazard watch: Protecting your workforce from lead exposure
Supporting and sustaining the health of your employees is essential to running a successful and sustainable business. Employers have a legal obligation to protect workers from any potential risks that could occur in a workplace. One common material found in numerous workplaces and products is lead. With high levels of lead potentially leading to health risks, companies must uphold health standards of their work environment and ensure that lead levels in blood samples of their workers, are within safe limits.
21 August 2024 | 2 min read
The Impact of Lead
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the national independent regulator for health and safety in the workplace, over 5,000 lead workers in the UK were under surveillance to monitor their exposure to lead levels in 2023 out of which 13 employees were suspended from work for exceeding such limits.
听
The HSE sets workplace exposure limits to protect worker鈥檚 health by ensuring employers implement measures to reduce risks. The HSE reveals more details about exposure to workplace contaminants in their EH40 publication. The Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002 (CLAW) also confirms that employers in the UK are safeguarding their staff to prevent or control their exposure to lead.听
How can one be exposed?
There are several ways Employees can be exposed. If the air a workforce breathes contains high levels of lead dust, fume or lead vapour, these toxins may be absorbed through the lungs. During a workday, an employee may potentially be exposed by accidentally ingesting lead, smoking, poor hygiene and drinking contaminated liquids.
The occupational exposure limits for blood lead suspension levels for men is 60 microgames per decilitre (ug/dl) and 30 ug/dl for women. However, some reports suggest that blood lead suspension levels over 40 ug/dl may cause health complications. Some of the most common health consequences of exposure are kidney disease, nervous system complications, anaemia, heart disease, brain damage, and cancer risks. A blood suspension level of 30 ug/dl, alone, can lead to high blood pressure.
What can be done?
To ensure that lead contamination is not reaching hazardous levels, blood or urine tests should be carried out to ensure employees are within safe limits and to prevent the advent of serious health conditions such as anaemia, kidney disease and certain cancers. Biological monitoring provides a way of assessing a person鈥檚 exposure to chemicals in the workplace.听
Employers are legally required to observe the workplace exposure limits for all chemicals and compounds listed in the Health and Safety Executive鈥檚 EH40 publication. Many industries and companies are at an increased risk of their employees being exposed to lead such as in construction and manufacturing plants that manage lead or products containing lead.听
Susceptible companies
Several other types of companies exposing their workforce to dangerous levels of lead may include:
鈥� 听 听Paint removal companies
鈥� 听 听Battery manufacturing factories
鈥� 听 听Waste metal processing plants
鈥� 听 听Smelting, refining, alloying and casting plants
鈥� 听 听Paint manufacturing plants
鈥� 听 听Soldering companies
鈥� 听 听Vehicle spray painting companies
鈥� 听 听Factories that recycle televisions, computer monitors and other electronic appliances that contain cathode ray tubes (CRTs).
How can 澳门玄机图 help?
At 澳门玄机图, we are deeply passionate about our work. This is why after numerous requests, we have decided to re-introduce our Workplace Lead Exposure Analysis service to clients
If you would like to discuss an evaluation or learn more about the lead found in blood analyses, please get in touch by filling out your details in the contact form below.
Get in touch with our business development team
Find out more
Biological monitoring and analysis in the workplace, serves two purposes. Firstly, it monitors how well any control measures that have been put in place are working. Secondly, it confirms that employees are not being exposed to harmful levels of any chemical(s) in the workplace. Find out more about the biological analyses we provide including lead analyses, please visit the link below.