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1 December 2008
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I believe that Health and Safety is rather on a back burner in
Cyprus. Look at any of the many house construction sites and count the
hard hats you see on the workers. I'll grant you that wearing personal
protective equipment (PPE) is uncomfortable in hot weather, but so (or
worse) is being hit on the head by a falling brick!
I don't have any specific knowledge on the subject, other than my
observations. Reliable up-to-date statistics on industrial accidents are not
easy to find, if possible. Most of the Eurostat figures relate to EU15, with
only indices available for work accidents in EU27. These indicate an
alarming situation with the number of accidents per thousand employees
involving at least 3 days absence from work increasing by 12 per cent
between 1999 and 2001, particularly amongst female labour, which rose by an
astounding 23 per cent. By comparison, the average throughout EU25 for the
same period was an overall fall of 6 percent overall and a slight drop of 1
per cent for female workers. In the USA, over the same period, the figures
are respectively down by 7 and 5 per cent. This would imply that all was not
well with the implementation of industrial health and safety in Cyprus
during those years. From experience, I know that such implementation is
often a long, slow, process, so it is probable that things have not greatly
improved since 2001.
Although I have not been personally involved in EHS audits in
Cyprus, I have done so in countries at a similar level of
industrial development, so these figures are not altogether
surprising. It would therefore not be out of place to
extrapolate that the handling of hazardous chemicals in
industrial processes (e.g., ventilation, PPE, first aid
facilities) may be sub-standard, particularly in SMEs.
I can quote one case of chemical negligence. The usual solvent used for
dry cleaning garments is perchloroethylene. This has an odour threshold of
27 ppm, meaning that this is the average level of concentration in the
workplace that people can detect it by odour when coming into the room. The
time-weighted average operator exposure level for 8 hours exposure, 5 days
per week, is set differently in different countries but many of them set it
at 25 ppm (not detectable by odour) or 50 ppm (just detectable). On
occasions that I have visited three different dry-cleaning shops, only one
(unfortunately now closed down) was odour-free. The other two had levels
that I would estimate from experience as well over even the most permissive
standards. This chemical is known to have severe cumulative effects from
over-exposure and the health of the workers in these establishments is
definitely at risk. Worse still, during one visit, one of the staff was
visibly pregnant; she was engaged in pressing clothes that had come out of
the machine while still containing some solvent!
I've also seen farmers and professional horticulturists crop spraying
without any PPE or, at the best, a dust mask that, of course, is totally
useless against chemical vapours. A popular pesticide in this country is
DuPont's Lannate® (Methomyl), which is a broad spectrum insecticide. The
MSDS includes such warnings as:
"Based on animal data, eye contact with Lannate LV may cause severe eye
irritation with discomfort, tearing, or blurring of vision. Prolonged
contact may cause eye corrosion or ulceration. Based on animal data, skin
contact with Lannate LV may cause irritation with itching, burning, redness,
swelling or rash.
"Short-term overexposure by inhalation may cause non-specific effects
such as headache, nausea and weakness, and irritation of the upper
respiratory passages with coughing and discomfort. Skin, eye, inhalation or
ingestion exposure to Methomyl may cause acute cholinesterase depression
characterized by nonspecific discomfort, such as nausea, headache, weakness,
cramps, excessive sweating, salivation and tearing, constricted pupils,
blurred vision; muscle twitching, and confusion. Higher exposures may lead
to loss of consciousness; or convulsions and severe respiratory depression."
Unfortunately, this same product has also been used in poisoned bait by
some unscrupulous persons to eliminate cats and dogs, leading to a long and
painful death, unless atropine is rapidly administered. There are frequent
newspaper reports of this. Yet people, using it for legitimate purposes, do
so with no more protection than ordinary working clothes.
Apart from industry, this extends right down to household level. Many
times I've observed people strimming weeds or using a chain saw in their
gardens dressed only in a pair of shorts and sandals: no face mask, ear
protection (with a two-stoke motor screaming 30 cm from their ears), no foot
or leg protection. I've done both operations. On more than one occasion my
face mask has been violently hit by flying pebbles while strimming; any of
these hitting the eye would, at the best, have been very painful, possibly
worse.
If there is one sector that the EU is tough about, it is EHS. Yet it
would appear that there is probably considerable room for improvement here,
in this country.
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