Exposure register for hazardous substances Part 1

In March 2020, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology issued a notice on the application of regulations concerning the exposure register for hazardous substances. This was done because a number of inaccuracies, misunderstandings, interpretative inaccuracies, and problems had arisen in connection with the register.

Therefore, the Ministry's Occupational Safety Department has published the following legal opinion.

Section 63/A of Act XCIII of 1993 on occupational safety (hereinafter: Mvt.), which stipulates the keeping of records on the exposure of employees to hazardous substances in the workplace., not a new provision, This obligation was previously included in Section 7(4)(d) and Section 7(7) of Joint Decree 25/2000. (IX. 30.) EüM-SzCsM on chemical safety in the workplace (hereinafter: Joint Decree EüMSzCsM). Since the entry into force of the EüM-SzCsM decree on January 1, 2001, employers have been required to keep records of data relating to the exposure of employees in the workplace:

„Section 7 (4) The employer shall ensure that

…

d) the employee Keep records of workplace exposure for 10 years after the end of employment, or 40 years in the case of carcinogenic substances, and make them available to employees and their representatives.

…

(7) The employer shall exposed workers The fact of exposure and, in the case of measurement, the measurement data, the date of measurement, and, as attachments, the measurement reports and documents must be recorded and documented.”

On February 7, 2020, Decree 5/2020 (II. 6.) ITM on the protection of the health and safety of workers exposed to chemical agents (hereinafter: ITM Decree) entered into force, simultaneously repealing the joint decree of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor.

The new Section 63/A of the Mvt. regulates the exposure records to be kept by employers on their employees for the purpose of protecting the health of employees, preventing occupational diseases caused by hazardous substances, and clarifying the occupational origin of any occupational diseases that may occur in the future.

 According to Section 63/A(2) of the Mvt., the register must contain:

a) the employee's name, place and date of birth,

b) the name of the hazardous substance causing the exposure,

c) the employee's daily, weekly, and annual exposure time,

d) measured exposure concentration data for each substance.

The following questions arose in connection with the application of the provisions on exposure records:

What counts as a hazardous substance subject to registration?

 Exposure records must be kept for all employees who are exposed to hazardous substances.

are or may be exposed to exposure to substances. According to Section 87(12) of the Mvt.

„hazardous substance”are classified as such, therefore records must be kept of the following materials

about his exhibition:

(a) „Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council [CLPbased on physical,

health hazards or both classified as dangerous based on its properties

material, or

(b) a chemical that, although not meeting the criteria for classification set out in point (a), nevertheless poses a risk to the safety or health of employees physical-chemical, chemical, or toxicological properties and method of use or presence in the workplace, including any chemical substance for which the regulation on the protection of the health and safety of workers exposed to the effects of chemical agents sets a limit value.”

Based on the above Exposure records must be kept not only for hazardous substances that have limit values., but also any chemical substance that poses a risk to the safety or health of workers.

Does the exposure register only apply to hazardous substances or also to hazardous mixtures?

 Pursuant to Section 87(12/A) of the Mvt., the hazardous mixture a mixture or solution containing one or more hazardous substances, which is classified as physical and health hazards or is classified as hazardous in respect of both properties, therefore the registration obligation applies to the dangerous mixture as appropriate.

A environmental hazards only No records need to be kept for substances or mixtures classified as hazardous.

The alongside exposure records the employer, pursuant to Section 10 of the ITM Decree must keep records of hazardous substances and mixtures used at the workplace under the REACH Regulation for substances identified by a safety data sheet.

Information on the composition of hazardous mixtures can also be found in the safety data sheets, so repeating this information in the exposure register would be an unnecessary additional burden. The exposure register and the types of substances identified in the safety data sheet Records must be kept in such a way that it is possible to identify the hazardous substance(s) to which individual employees are or may be exposed at the workplace (including hazardous components in hazardous mixtures)..

The rules governing exposure records for hazardous substances fully comply with the structure and regulations specified in Section 63/B(2) of the Mvt. for exposure records for carcinogenic or mutagenic substances.

This is a positive change in terms of prevention, because Category 2 carcinogens („presumed human carcinogens”) as well, as hazardous substances, they are subject to the same registration rules as carcinogenic substances in categories 1A or 1B. („known or suspected carcinogens”).

Records with identical content are particularly important when, during the review of CLP classifications and the reclassification of hazardous substances, a previously Category 2 carcinogen is reclassified as Category 1A or 1B. In this case, Decree 26/2000. (IX. 30.) EüM on the protection against occupational carcinogens and the prevention of health damage caused by them shall also apply. A possible future Clarifying the occupational origin of cancer is facilitated if exposure to hazardous substances and carcinogenic/mutagenic substances recording takes place in the same data set.

In the continuation of our article, we will answer the following questions based on the opinion of the Occupational Safety Department of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology:  

  • Should exposure records be kept at the job level or for each employee concerned?
  • How should exposure time be recorded?
  • If a very small quantity or a short period of time is used for the hazardous substance or hazardous mixture, the measured data of the exposure concentration must be provided. Is measurement necessary?

Source: ommf.gov.hu

Image source: https://unsplash.com/s/photos/test-tube

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