Most limits to be retained in revised Coshh Regulations

Following submissions by industrial hygienists, significant changes have been made to the draft Coshh Regulations, due to come into force at the end of the year.

The proposed wholesale withdrawal of most existing occupational exposure limits (OELs), proposed a year ago as part of the revision of the Coshh Regulations (see OHR 107, OHR 110 and The IOH: broadening the focus of OH research), will not be carried out as planned, the Health and Safety Commission's (HSC's) Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances (ACTS) has decided¹.

Whereas it was originally proposed to retain only 30% of the 500-odd airborne exposure limits that have quasi-legal status under the existing Regulations - deleting more than 300 on the grounds that they are not science-based - only 100 will now be deleted.

The HSC is due to endorse these final revisions to the draft Regulations in early November, so that they can be laid before parliament and come into force next year.

Originally, the HSC proposed the wholesale deletion of the limit values from the existing limit values framework. The rationale was that, because few were based on sound scientific evaluation, it made sense to give a higher status to those that are well-founded, which it was proposed should be retained.

The existing statutory duty to comply with limit values is to be replaced by a duty to follow principles of good practice, which are to be included as a new annex to the Regulations.

However, as one response to last year's proposals explained: "The proposal to eliminate . . . airborne exposure limits will send an unintended message to employers that these substances are now less important. [It] would be dangerously optimistic to assume that employers - SMEs and others - will see a legal duty to comply with good practice as equivalent to the legal duty to ensure compliance with a numerical limit. Numbers and numerical limits are familiar to all businesses, and the arguments [in the HSC's August 2003 consultative document] against using OELs as advisory limits do not stand close examination."

In July, ACTS agreed to amend the draft Regulations to reinstate most existing limit values and to make related amendments to the associated draft Approved Code of Practice.

Whereas 322 occupational exposure standards (OESs) had been proposed for deletion; now it is proposed to delete only those for which there is some concern about whether human health is protected at the value of the OES, approximately 100.

"Thus, those OESs for which there is no evidence of concern, although there is insufficient evidence to state they are soundly based, will be transferred into the new system as workplace exposure limits", the HSE says.

Carcinogens, mutagens and asthmagens

Under the new Regulations, a "single-limit" scheme will operate and all existing maximum exposure limits (MELs) and OESs will be replaced by workplace exposure limits (WELs). Nevertheless, there will be two classes of WELs, and the distinctions that currently apply between MELs and OESs will continue.

Essentially, the two classes of WELs are: (a) those substances, principally carcinogens and mutagens, where the Regulations will continue to require exposure to be controlled as low as reasonably practicable, irrespective of whether an MEL/WEL is being complied with; and (b) the majority of other substances where the regulations are deemed to have been complied with if an OES/WEL is not being exceeded.

A significant change to the draft Regulations, made subsequent to the latest round of consultations, is that asthmagens (substances causing sensitisation by inhalation, associated with Chemical Hazards Information and Packaging (CHIP) risk phrases R42 or R42/43) are to be put into the same control category as carcinogens and mutagens (risk phrases R45, R46 and R49) in the first of the above two categories.

Regulation 7(7) will be amended accordingly, so compliance with a WEL will not be considered sufficient compliance with the Regulations in the case of asthmagens.

In the case of substances falling into category (b), essentially those for which OESs are currently promulgated, "adequate control of exposure will be achieved by applying the principles of good practice . . . and keeping the exposure to below any WEL".

In cases where no WEL is promulgated, the revised draft Approved Code of Practice states: "The absence of a substance from the lists of WELs does not mean that it is safe. Many substances in use do not have a WEL, for these substances, employers should apply the principles of good practice . . . to control exposure . . . " In respect of such unclassified chemical substances, employers are referred to the process-specific guidance for a number of common processes available from COSHH Essentials, Chemical Hazard Alert Notices (CHANs) and other HSE guidance availableat www.hse.gov.uk/pubns.

Chromium

Amendment of the Coshh Regulations required to implement the above changes to the exposure limits framework will be introduced at the same time as those required to implement an EU ban on high-chromium cement, due to come into force on 1 January 2005.

From January 2005, it will be illegal to supply or use cement containing more than two parts per million of chromium VI - which covers most cement currently used in the UK. Exposure to high-chromium cement causes hundreds of cases of potentially disabling skin disease among builders, bricklayers and other building trades workers each year in the UK². The ban also requires amendment of the CHIP Regulations 2002.

The HSE says, "It would be an unacceptable burden on dutyholders if the Regulations were amended twice in a short period of time." Provided the package of changes is endorsed by the HSC at its November meeting, the resulting amending Regulations will be made before early 2005.

In July, the proposals for revised Regulations were considered and approved by a new government panel for regulatory accountability, chaired by the prime minister.

1. Detailed minutes of the ACTS meeting, including full information about the limits to be retained/deleted, etc, are available at www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/hsc/iacs/acts/080704/paper1.pdf.

2. See consultative document at www.hse.gov.uk/consult/condocs/cd195.htm.