OHS REPS @ WORK

There are hundreds of websites providing information and advice on chemicals.  Here are a few:

Australian websites

• The Hazardous Substances Information System (HSIS) is an internet database that allows you to find information on hazardous substances that have been classified in accordance with the Approved Criteria for Classifying Hazardous Substances [NOHSC:1008(2004] 3rd Edition and/or have National Exposure Standards declared under the NOHSC Adopted National Exposure Standards for Atmospheric Contaminants in the Occupational Environment [NOHSC:1003(1995)] or subsequent updates.  It provides access to two data sets, one for hazardous substance information and the other for exposure standard information. Search results (including the full data sets) can be printed or saved electronically.
  
  
• NICNAS - the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme is an Australian statutory scheme under which industrial chemicals are scientifically assessed for their health and environmental effects. NICNAS also makes recommendations for their safe use. Assessments of more than 1,000 chemicals can be accessed free on the NICNAS site.   The Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances (AICS), the legal device that distinguishes new from existing chemicals, can now be searched on the NICNAS website.  The database provides information on the chemical, including any conditions of use and other information of interest to the community and industry.
  
  
• National Chemical Information Gateway
  Developed by the Federal Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH), this site provides information on chemicals in Australia.  Information has been arranged into topics such as household chemicals, chemicals in agriculture, databases, and more to help focus your search.  A useful page here is Chemicals by Name with many links through which information on all chemicals in use in Australia can be found.
  
  
• National Toxics Network Australia -  NTN is a community based network working for pollution reduction, protection of environmental health and environmental justice for all. It supports community and environmental organisations across Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific.  NTN provides non-government organisations (NGOs) with a national and international voice on chemical and toxics issues and functions as Australia’s "toxic watch dog."

International websites

• The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry - a series of summaries about hazardous substances developed by the ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) Division of Toxicology. Information for this series is excerpted from the ATSDR Toxicological Profiles and Public Health Statements. Each fact sheet serves as a quick and easy to understand guide. Answers are provided to the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about exposure to hazardous substances found around hazardous waste sites and the effects of exposure on human health.
  
  
• ILO/CIS listing of chemical exposure limits: The ILO's International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) has an online guide to chemical exposure limits for a number of countries. The list so far includes links to official listings from 27 countries, from Argentina to the USA, including Australia. The CIS listing provides, by country, a brief description of the agency responsible for the exposure limits or the name of the document in which they are published, along with a web link to the actual values. Chemical Exposure Limits listing
  
  
• NIOSH, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is a US federal agency which conducts research to prevent illnesses and injuries in the workplace.  NIOSH has a number of very useful websites: 
  
  
  • A  website on household toxins. 
  • The  Worker Notification Program -  NIOSH notifies workers and other stakeholders about the findings of research studies. Materials listed by type of work exposure and the industry group. 
  • The Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (NPG) - The NPG is intended as a source of general industrial hygiene information on several hundred chemicals/classes for workers, employers, and occupational health professionals. Key information and data is provided for chemicals or substance groupings that are found in the work environment. This information should help users recognize and control occupational chemical hazards.
  • Occupational Sentinel Health Events webpages - an online guide to early warning systems for occupational diseases. An Occupational Sentinel Health Event (SHE[O]) is a disease, disability, or untimely death, which is occupationally related and whose occurrence may: provide the impetus for epidemiologic or industrial hygiene studies; or serve as a warning signal that materials substitution, engineering control, personal protection, or medical care may be required. The web resource includes a list of 64 diseases linked to jobs. This breaks down into two groups: those diseases or conditions that, by their inherent nature, are occupationally related, eg the pneumoconioses (dust related lung diseases); and conditions such as lung cancer, leukaemia, peripheral neuropathy and ornithosis, which may or may not be occupationally related. Some non-fatal conditions can be an early indicator that workers are exposed to a serious long-term risk. 
    
    

• Chemicals Health Monitor website from the UK's Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL).  The resource provides information about chemicals and related diseases, the links between chemical contaminants and ill health, risk factors associated with these different human health conditions, trends in specific disease incidence, and disease-specific costs. 
   

• The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell - has a surface cleaning online database called CleanerSolutions. The free, interactive web-based tool helps manufacturers find safer cleaning alternatives that perform as well as hazardous chemicals - without increasing risks. The database has over 10 years of performance testing results combined with health and environment indicators. The system helps companies understand how to choose alternatives so that overall risks to workers and the environment are reduced.

  The institute has also undertaken a study looking at safer, cheaper alternatives to five heavily used hazardous chemicals: lead, formaldehyde, perchloroethylene, hexavalent chromium, and di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP)   Five chemicals alternatives assessment study, executive summary [pdf].
  

• The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work organised its 2003 European Week for Safety and Health at Work on Dangerous Substances.  The campaign  website has information to download and useful links. The European Agency also has Occupational Exposure Limits webpages
  
  
• IARC - The International Agency for Research on Cancer for the latest Monographs of cancer causing agents.
  
  
• Carcinogenic Risk in Occupational Settings (CRIOS) - User friendly information system for the evaluation of health risks associated with occupational exposure to mutagens/ carcinogens. The site has information on the identification and characteristics, the toxicology, the classification, sources of exposure, mutagenic and carcinogenic effects and monitoring methods for a series of substances.
  
  
• From the Canadian Cancer Society:   Insight on Cancer [large pdf] - a report dealing with occupational and environmental cancer risks which has useful sections on asbestos, pesticides, air pollution, metals, endocrine disrupters and other issues.
  
  
• Oncolink - the website of the Abramson Cancer Centre of the University of Pennsylvania - has cancer information, research and treatment.
  
  
• 'Substitute It Now!' list of 'high concern' chemicals - published by ChemSec, a coalition of non-government and union groups. The SIN List 1.0 includes nearly 300 chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, asbestos and dozens of other industrial carcinogens, reproductive hazards and highly dangerous toxins. See also the report: Substitution 1.0 - the art of delivering toxic-free products [download from this page]
  
  
• HSE (UK) Chemicals Page - This section of the UK Health and Safety Executive site is devoted to chemicals.  There are a large number of individual chemicals here.
  
  
• IPCS INTOX Databank - This databank is the result of a collaboration between the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) and the World Health Organization’s International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS). It is currently available free on-line.
  
  
• From the US national library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Toxicology and Environmental Health, a list of specialised Information services, including:
  
  
  
  • Haz-Map - a very useful online database of occupational symptoms and diseases. It also lists high risk jobs, and diseases according to jobs
  • TOXNET - This site is a cluster of databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas, and provides indepth information.
  • Hazardous Substances Databank
    
    
• Pesticides and Alternatives Database - A pesticide research database from the pesticides campaign group PAN UK with over 6,000 articles, reports and books relating to the health and environmental effects of pesticides, and alternatives to their use. It is searchable and includes a photographic database. This is a great tool for any safety rep concerned about pesticides and safer ways to do the job, whether they work in agriculture, horticulture, pest control or encounter pesticides in any other job.
  
  
• Protecting our Health Database - The information on this site is produced by member scientists of The Collaborative on Health and the Environment  On the site is a database that summarises many links between chemical contaminants and about 200 human diseases, disorders, or conditions. The database has been designed to reflect the current state of knowledge about toxicants and human disease, organized by disease categories.