The Process To Assess Exposure To HCA (SO1/AC4)

 An employer or self-employed person must, after consultation with the relevant health and safety representative or relevant health and safety committee, arrange for an assessment to be made immediately, and thereafter at intervals not exceeding two years, to determine if any employee may be exposed by any route of intake.

The employer must inform the relevant health and safety representative or relevant health and safety committee in writing of arrangements made for the assessment contemplated in sub-regulation (1), give them reasonable time to comment thereon, and ensure that the results of the assessment are made available to the relevant representative or committee who may comment thereon.

When making the assessment, the employer or self-employed person must keep a record of the assessment and take into account such matters as:

• the HCA to which an employee may be exposed;
• the effects the HCA may have on an employee;
• where the HCA may be present, and the physical form in which it is likely to exist;
• the route of intake by which, and the extent to which, an employee may be exposed; and
• the nature of the work process, and any reasonable deterioration in, or failure of, control measures.

If the assessment made in accordance with sub-regulation 3 indicates that any employee may be exposed, the employer must ensure that monitoring is carried out in accordance with the provisions of regulations 6 and 7 and that the exposure is controlled as contemplated in regulation 10.

An employer or self-employed person must immediately review the assessment required by sub-regulation (1) if:

• there is reason to suspect that the previous assessment is no longer valid; or
• there has been a change in a process involving an HCA or in the methods, equipment or procedures for the use, handling, control or processing of the HCA, and the provisions of sub-regulations (2) and (3) will apply.