Programme Area A – Expanding and Accelerating International Assessment of Chemical Risks

Occupational exposures play a critical role in the international assessment of chemical risks. Data from workplaces are essential for improving knowledge and understanding of the prevalence, risk factors, dose-response relationships, effective intervention measures and appropriate techniques for monitoring the results of implemented prevention strategies.

A primary source of human exposure data available for risk assessment is epidemiological studies, particularly in the working environment. Work activities are generally carried out in organized and regulated environments, often with the involvement of health and safety professionals, enabling the recording and collecting of better-quality data more efficiently. Use of chemicals for which toxicological investigations have not been performed is common in various workplaces. Exposures to multiple chemicals and other physical agents are prevalent in many industries, although too little is known about combined exposure-response relationships.

IFCS should support and encourage all relevant parties to undertake steps for reporting and recording data essential for international assessment of chemical risks from workplaces, for facilitating national and international data collection measures, and for making the necessary data readily available to those undertaking assessment of chemical risks.

Recommended action items:

• Develop and implement relevant approaches standards and guidance material for recording, collecting and analyzing workplace data. These can be undertaken in conjunction with the implementation of the ILO List of Occupational Diseases Recommendation (No. 194), 2002, and the Protocol of 2002 to the Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 155), 1981.
  
• Develop, establish and enhance suitable measures for the monitoring of workplaces and for careful clinical surveillance of workers.
  
• Develop harmonized data elements for recording relevant workplace data in company-specific databases. Facilitate the collection of data for analysis with means to ensure that the data elements cannot be tracked back to specific workers, worksites or employers.
  
• Establish the role and responsibilities of employers, employees and governments in reporting, recording, collecting and assessing data from workplaces.