Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 (Act No. 85 of 1993)

Regulations

Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents, 2020

Annexures

Annexure 3 : Hazardous Chemical Agent Guidelines

Guidance on medical surveillance and biological monitoring

Applying occupational exposure limits

Occupational exposure limit - restricted limit: OEL-RL (Table 3)

Purchase

55.	An OEL-RL is the concentration of an airborne agent, averaged over a reference period, at which, according to current knowledge, there is no evidence that it is likely to be injurious to employees if they are exposed by inhalation, day after day, to that concentration.

56.

For an agent which has been assigned an OEL-RL, exposure by inhalation should be reduced to that standard. However, if exposure by inhalation exceeds the OEL-RL, then control will still be deemed to be adequate, provided that the employer has identified why the OEL-RL has been exceeded and is taking appropriate steps to comply with the OEL-RL as soon as reasonably practicable. In such a case, the employer's objective must be to reduce exposure to the OEL-RL, but the final achievement of this objective may take some time. The assessment under regulation 5 will determine the urgency of the necessary action, taking into account the extent and cost of the required measures in relation to the nature and degree of exposure involved.

57.

Control of an OEL-RL as prescribed in regulation 10(1)(a) can always be regarded as adequate control of that agent for the purpose of the HCA Regulations, so far as exposure from inhalation is concerned. However, due to the variations in process control and the fluctuations in agent concentrations in the workplace, it will be prudent for employers to reduce exposure below an OEL-RL to ensure that the exposure of all employees does not exceed that OEL-RL. Similarly, it is not intended that the statutory requirements under regulation 10(1) should discourage the further application of good occupational hygiene principles in order to reduce exposure below the OEL-RL.