The most effective way to control hazardous chemical exposures in the workplace is to eliminate them, but it can be difficult to identify safer alternatives.
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OSHA has created a toolkit to identify safer chemicals you can use in place of more hazardous ones.
The toolkit walks employers and workers through information, methods, tools, and guidance to either eliminate hazardous chemicals or make informed substitution decisions in the workplace by finding a safer chemical, material, product, or process.
There are eight steps in the substitution process.
Form your team.Create a team to identify replacements for hazardous chemicals. Your team should include representatives from each affected group, including research and development, maintenance, production, and possibly, end users of your product. The team will define the project’s goals, deadlines, and methods.
Examine your current chemical use. You should already know the chemicals used in your facility, as that information is required for your hazard communication program. But you won’t want or need to replace every hazardous chemical at once. Examining where, how, and in which quantities hazardous chemicals are used will help you prioritize your efforts and focus first on the chemicals whose replacement would eliminate the most dangerous or widespread hazards.
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Identify alternatives. This can be the most difficult and time-consuming part of the process, so it might be where OSHA’s toolkit makes its most valuable contribution. The toolkit links to a variety of existing resources for identifying alternatives to hazardous chemicals.
Assess and compare alternatives. A replacement chemical must be feasible in terms of hazard replacement, performance, and cost. OSHA’s toolkit offers guidance on how to assess each of these features of a potential replacement chemical.
Select a safer alternative. The team’s assessment of the available alternatives can now be compared to the project’s goals to select the alternative that is most likely to work for your organization. Consider the hazard, performance, and cost advantages and disadvantages of each chemical; the effect of each possible replacement on worker safety and health; and whether other criteria deserve to be heavily weighted (for example, energy or water use, environmental impacts, or hazardous waste management).
Test your alternative. It’s vital to bench test or field test your alternative before making a comprehensive change. Besides testing whether the alternative performs well, use the test to determine:
- Any changes the alternative creates in working conditions;
- The training workers will need to use it safely and effectively;
- Whether a secure supply for the alternative chemical is available; and
- Whether any issues could arise with scaling up the use of the chemical.
Implement and evaluate your alternative. If the alternative chemical succeeds on a small scale, it’s time to try it on a large scale—but closely monitor the process for its effect on worker safety and health, performance efficiency, and end user satisfaction.
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Bear in mind, even after you have implemented an alternative chemical, that this is an ongoing situation, and at some future time you may want to revisit your decision and ask whether another alternative would be safer or work better in your process.
If upper management seems reluctant to replace hazardous chemicals, point out that being proactive about replacing chemicals makes them an example of innovative industry leadership and responsible corporate stewardship.
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