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The new Hazardous Substances Ordinance
[ 1 ], abbreviated in German to GefStoffV,
entered into force on 1 January 2005 and
supersedes the ordinance issued in 1986.
It contains completely new regulations relating
to hazardous substance law, and is
based on the EC provisions contained in the
Hazardous Substances Directive 98/24/EC.
Its central focus is to assess toxic, inhalation
and dermal risks at the workplace. Physicochemical
risks (fire or explosion hazard)
are appraised separately. The risk analysis
results in a protection concept comprising
four stages, from protection class 1 for
minor applications involving hazardous
substances, to protection class 2 for
activities involving hazardous substances
with relevant risk, protection class 3 for
activities involving toxic substances, and
protection class 4 for activities involving
the use of substances that are carcinogenic,
mutagenic or toxic to reproduction.
The result of the risk assessment must
be documented. |
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Dräger Analytical Services, accredited in
accordance with § 9 Subsection 6 of the
GefStoffV as per EN ISO/IEC 17025 (reg.
no. ZLS-P-598/05), provides services intended
to enable small and medium-sized
enterprises in particular to achieve the
requirements of the new Hazardous
Substances Ordinance. In this context, |
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– the necessary information regarding the
hazardous substances in use and any
associated activities are first identified, |
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– the next step is to determine the hazard
and release groups, |
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– then the necessary protection classes
are ascertained, |
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– the safety measures necessary to achieve
the protection classes are identified, |
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– and finally the efficacy of the safety
measures is checked, e.g. by conducting
measurements. |
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Risk assessment
A risk assessment must be conducted
before any activity involving hazardous substances
is carried out. The risk assessment
must also be performed for existing work
processes. In the context of our service
package, the risk assessment takes place
as follows: |
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Step 1
Zunächst wird ermittelt, ob die Beschäftigten
It is first determined whether workers'
activities either involve the use of hazardous
substances or generate or release such
substances. It is checked which properties
of the substances could result in a risk to workers. Not only the routine work process
is observed, but also any maintenance work,
operational breakdowns, accidents and
emergencies which could affect the generation
or release of hazardous substances.
During the course of this investigation, all
substances and preparations which contain
hazardous substances are recorded and
listed in a hazardous substance registry. |
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Step 2
To assess the potential risk, information
is needed about the hazardous substances
present in the processed substances,
products and preparations. One important
source of information is the Safety Data
Sheet which the manufacturer or supplier
must provide for every hazardous substance
and every hazardous preparation. Without
a Safety Data Sheet, it is not possible to
perform a risk assessment. The Safety
Data Sheet provides information about
- the substance / preparation designation
- the manufacturer or supplier
- the composition / constituents of the
substance / preparation
- possible hazards
- first aid procedures
- fire fighting procedures
- procedures in the event of accidental
release
- handling and storage
- exposure limit and personal
protective equipment
- physical and chemical properties
- stability and reactivity
- toxicology
- ecology
- disposal
- transport
- regulations (marking, classification of
risk and safety phrases)
Information is also included about possible
fire and explosion risks which are dealt with
separately in the risk assessment. |
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Step 3
Information is obtained about the activities
involving the hazardous substances and the
conditions under which they are processed with the aim of checking whether the safety
and health of workers is guaranteed. To this
end, the nature, scope and duration of exposure
are determined and the exposure
route is taken into account. A site visit is
made to obtain answers to the following
questions:
- Which quantity is processed during each
shift?
- How long is the worker exposed to the
hazardous substance?
- Is any dust generated in the case of solid
hazardous substances?
- At what temperature is the liquid
hazardous substance processed?
- Do the hazardous substances have any
contact with the worker's skin?
- If so, for how long, and can this contact
be classified as small- or large-area?
On the basis of the answers to these questions
it can be determined whether and to
what extent hazardous substances are released
and contribute to worker exposure. |
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Step 4
Once all risks have been identified, the
saved information is fully documented and
the necessary safety measures are specified
in accordance with §§ 8 – 18 GefStoffV.
The individual protection classes describe
the safety measures which are necessary
for an activity involving hazardous substances
in terms of substitute solutions,
technology, organization and protective
equipment. In the case of activities classified
as protection class 2 or above, it needs
to be checked whether the substances, preparations
or products could be substituted
by less hazardous substances or types of
use. The protection classes are progressive
in nature, with each class also including
the safety measures of the lower classes.
The protection classes also contain details
of checking the efficacy of those safety
measures already realized. |
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Protection class 1:
Regulations pertaining to risk avoidance;
activities involving negligible risk
Protection class 2:
Basic worker safeguards
Protection class 3:
Additional safeguards for extremely
hazardous activities
Protection class 4:
Supplementary safeguards for substances
that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic
to reproduction.
If the risk assessment has shown that
workers only carry out activities involving
hazardous substances marked "Xn", "Xi"
and "C" (Table 1) in small quantities and
involving short and low levels of exposure,
the safety measures provided for by protection
class 1 are generally sufficient. The
safety measures detailed in § 8 GefStoffV
shall be implemented in this case. |
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If workers carry out activities involving hazardous
substances marked "Xn", "Xi" or "C"
in relevant quantities or if the workers are
exposed to such substances over a longer
period, protection class 2 applies. The
applicable safety measures are described
in §§ 8 and 9 GefStoffV. |
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In the case of activities involving hazardous
substances marked "T" and "T+", at least
the safety measures detailed in protection
class 3, i.e. those described in §§ 8 to 10
GefStoffV, are necessary. |
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If substances are processed that are carcinogenic,
mutagenic or toxic to reproduction
and classified as category 1 (CMRF
substances), the safety measures of protection
class 4 (§§ 8 to 11 GefStoffV) must
be implemented in addition to the safety
measures described in classes 1 to 3. |
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If there is also a risk of fire or explosion,
the safety measures described in § 12
GefStoffV must be implemented. |
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Checking the efficacy of the realized
safety measures
The efficacy of the safety measures must
be checked at regular intervals to ensure
that occupational exposure limit values and
biological limit values are met. If the activities
are carried out in accordance with a
process- or substance-specific criterion as
per TRGS 420 [ 2 ], compliance with the
occupational exposure limit value can be
assumed. In this case, and in the case of
activities involving protection class 1 hazardous
substances, no measurements are necessary.
In this case other methods can be
used to check the efficacy of the safety
measures. Where substances are used that
are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction
(CMRF substances), measurements
to check compliance with occupational
exposure limit values are compulsory
unless the activities are carried out in accordance
with a process- or substance-specific
criterion in accordance with TRGS 420
[ 2 ]. In all other cases, measurements or
other equivalent methods of assessment can be carried out to demonstrate compliance
with occupational exposure limit values. |
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Measurements may only be performed by
persons possessing the necessary knowledge
and the necessary equipment. Dräger
Analytical Services, which is accredited in
accordance with § 9 Subsection 6 Gef-
StoffV as per EN ISO/IEC 17025 (reg. no.
ZLS-P-598/05), fulfils these conditions
for the following substance groups
-inorganic gases and vapours
– organic gases and vapours
– isocyanates. |
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The services on offer including consulting,
the risk assessment itself, planning and
carrying out of sampling or measurements
on site, analysis of the samples in the
Dräger Analytical Services laboratory, and an assessment of the results on the
basis of existing occupational exposure limit
values, presented in the form of a measurement
report. |
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For further information about the services
offered by Dräger Analytical Services,
please visit our website at
www.draeger.com |
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Karl-Heinz Pannwitz
Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA
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