Review and Improvement of Chemical Hazard Risk Management of Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency.

Saemi Shin,Sang-Hoon Byeon

doi:10.3390/ijerph18179395

Abstract

In 2012, the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency developed Chemical Hazard Risk Management (CHARM) as a risk assessment tool. This study aims to reorganize the CHARM technique by complementing its logical loopholes, while evaluating the risk to enterprises and verifying this technique by applying it to some enterprises in Korea. The optimized technique changed the method of quantitative assessment and evaluation criteria, matched the risk level with the required control level, and specified the use of control practice. For the target enterprises, for several assessment methods, risk levels, hazard bands, exposure bands, and the risk assessment results were derived, and the same types of options were compared. Fewer informational methods resulted in more conservative results of risk levels and hazard bands. Since the control status of the enterprises could not be confirmed and the substances handled at the target enterprises were limited in this study, a follow-up study should be performed with more target materials and additional information on the current control status of the enterprises.

Highlights

IntroductionRes. Chemical substances are widely used; when mishandled, they can cause environmental hazards and various occupational diseases [1]
The standard of quantitative risk assessment was changed to ratio of exposure concentration to exposure limit, and exposure was changed to the average of exposure assuming a constant geometric standard deviation from the standard of maximum exposure
An algorithm was established that utilizes the checklist that was presented as a whole without any recommendations from Chemical Hazard Risk Management (CHARM), and legal obligations, control approaches, and alternative controls that can be referred to at the workplace are assigned for each control practice

Summary

Introduction

Res. Chemical substances are widely used; when mishandled, they can cause environmental hazards and various occupational diseases [1]. In Korea, chemical accidents (such as the hydrofluoric acid leakages in Gumi in 2012, Cheongju industrial complex in 2013, and Samsung Electronics at Hwaseong in 2013 [2]) and their lasting effects [3] have become an issue; chemical control systems were renovated in 2013 [4]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion