How Do Your Workers Perceive Chemical Risks?

According to a new study, workplace hazard communication might not always be as effectively as we'd like to believe.

New research from Belgium has made some very important (some might even say alarming) findings about chemical safety in the workplace.
The study, entitled "Workers' Perception of Chemical Risks: A Focus Group Study," was published in a recent issue of Risk Analysis, the journal of the Society for Risk Analysis.
Findings indicate that there's a lot of room for improvement in hazard communication.
The study was based on interviews with 7 focus groups, each consisting of 5 to 10 blue-collar workers. The objective of the study was to examine how employees view the chemical risks they face daily on the job.
The scientists who conducted the study believe their research reveals important new findings about chemical safety in the workplace, in particular, and safety in a general sense as well.

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Key Findings These are the key findings of this study:

• Workers view working with chemicals as dangerous and are seriously concerned about long-term health effects, but they nevertheless accept safety risks as part of job and don't think there's much they can do about it.
• There is a fundamental lack of trust among rank-and-file employees for managers and supervisors.
• Communication barriers often exist between management and employees, which pose serious obstacles to effective hazard communication.
• Workers feel management doesn't listen often or seriously enough to their concerns and suggestions for improving workplace safety and health.
• Workers' perceptions about chemical risks are insufficiently taken into account when workplace safety and health programs are developed.
• Employees frequently fail to refer to the MSDS or label because they say this information is often too hard to understand and not easy to use.
• When workers have a question about chemical hazards or precautions, they are more likely to turn to co-workers for answers than their supervisor or the MSDS. “Instead of relying on highly technical fact sheets on toxic risks," says lead author Ramona Hambach of the University of Antwerp, "many workers turn to the anecdotal experiences of their peers to guide their actions, including choices to wear personal protective equipment such as masks and gloves."

• "Our findings suggest training programs intended for prevention advisers should be substantially revised to include topics such as listening to and understanding workers' perceptions, the usefulness of a participatory approach, and various communication and education skills," says Hambach, who believes this will allow supervisors and safety personnel to communicate information about chemical hazards and precautions in a more "worker-friendly" manner.
• Companies should include more input from experienced workers in training programs. "By passing on information to our [co-workers] we feel like we're contributing to our own safety," says an employee from one of the focus groups. "It's a much better idea to ask those people who are actually doing the job for information, rather than [those who are] just sitting at a desk. The folks working on the shop floor have a different view and have more experience."