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

Sensitisers

Purchase

Certain agents may cause sensitisation of the respiratory tract if inhaled or if skin contact occurs. Respiratory sensitisers can cause asthma, rhinitis or extrinsic allergic alveolitis. Skin sensitisers cause allergic contact dermatitis. Agents which cause skin sensitisations are not necessarily respiratory sensitisers or vice versa. Only a proportion of the exposed population will become sensitised, and those who do become sensitised will not have been identified in advance. Individuals who become sensitised may produce symptoms of ill health after exposure even to minute concentrations of the sensitiser.

75.

In general, for most agents the main route of entry into the body is by inhalation. The OELs given in these regulations solely relate to exposure by this route. Certain agents such as phenol, aniline and certain pesticides (marked in the Tables with a SKIN notation) have the ability to penetrate the intact skin and thus become absorbed into the body. Absorption through the skin can result from localised contamination, for example, from a splash on the skin or clothing, or in certain cases from exposure to high atmospheric concentrations of vapour. Serious effects can occur with little or no warning and it is necessary to take special precautions to prevent skin contact when handling these agents. Where the properties of the agents and the methods of use provide a potential exposure route via skin absorption, these factors should be taken into account in determining the adequacy of the control measures. [Query: this is a duplication of paragraph 73, should it be removed or replaced?]

76.

Where it is reasonably practicable, exposure to sensitisers should be prevented. Where this cannot be achieved, exposure should be kept as low as is reasonably practicable and activities giving rise to short-term peak-concentrations should receive particular attention. As with other agents, the spread of contamination by sensitisers to other working areas should also be prevented, as far as is reasonably practicable.

77.	RSEN and DSEN notations (marked in the Tables) have been assigned only to those sensitisers that may cause sensitisation by inhalation and skin respectively. Other agents not contained in these Tables may act as sensitisers.