Use and Standard of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health

(USECHH) Regulations, 2000

PART I - PRELIMINARY 1. Citation and commencement

Known as the Occupational Safety and Health (Use and Standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health) Regulations 2000.

Operation on 4 April 2000.

2. Interpretation "airborne concentration" = quantity of a

chemical measured in terms of its volume or its mass in a specified volume of air or the number of fibres, if the physical form of the chemical is fibrous, in specified volume of air which is carried by or through the air

"approved" = approved in writing by the Director General

"assessor" = an employee or any other person appointed by the employer and registered with the Director General to carry out assessments of risks to health

"ceiling limit“ = airborne concentration that should not be exceeded during any part of the working day

"chemicals" = chemical elements, or compounds or mixtures thereof,(natural or synthetic)

"chemicals hazardous to health“= any chemical or preparation which :-

a)listed in Schedule I or II

b)possesses any of the properties categorised in Part B of Schedule I of the Occupational Safety and Health (Classification, Packaging and Labelling of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulations 1997 [P. U. (A) 143/97]

c) comes within the definition of "pesticide" under the Pesticides Act 1974 [Act 149]

d) listed in the First Schedule of the Environmental Quality (Schedule Wastes) Regulations 1989 [P. U. (A) 139/89]

"Chemical Safety Data Sheet" = document which contains relevant information on a chemical and is furnished in pursuance of the Occupational Safety and Health (Classification, Packaging, and Labelling of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulations 1997 [P. U. (A) 143/97]

"Director General" = Director General of Occupational Safety and Health

"engineering control equipment” = any equipment which is used to control exposure of employees to chemicals hazardous to health

"health surveillance" = any examination and investigations which may be necessary to detect exposure levels

"hygiene technician" = an employee or any person appointed by the employer and registered with the Director General to carry out any inspection on engineering control equipment installed in a place of work or to carry out chemical exposure monitoring

"maximum exposure limit" = a fifteen-minute time-weighted average airborne concentration (three times the eight-hour time-weighted average airborne concentration of the chemicals specified in Schedule I)

"medical surveillance" = monitoring of a person for identifying changes in health status due to occupational exposure to chemicals hazardous to health

"occupational health doctor" = a doctor registered with the Director General to conduct medical surveillance programmes of employees

"permissible exposure limit" = the maximum exposure limit