First Aid on chemical spills.

[FiF]

In the process of doing COSHH risk assessments, mutter mutter mutter. Same chemical used in the home, I just sling it under the kitchen sink and read the instructions, because it's at a place of work I have all this malarkey, risk assessments, EH40 monitoring, training records, registers, however that's quite another rant.

Anyway something has cropped up that has had me wondering.

In the first aid section of many of the chemicals I'm using the advice in the MSDS goes along the lines....

Inhalation, remove to fresh air, seek medical advice.

Skin contact, wash with soap and water, seek medical advice.

Ingestion, remove to fresh air, do not induce vomiting, rinse mouth with water, seek medical advice

Eye contact, rinse with water for x minutes, seek medical attention if necessary

I'm a bit puzzled why the eye contact appears to downrate the issue of seeking medical attention.

Is this because the eyes normally produce a lot of tears and so introduce a means of immediately cleaning themselves? This difference appears on chemical after chemical and I just wondered why.

[TheEnd]

I think it's because your eye is more sensitive, and you'd know if there's a problem.
Other exposures may cause delayed problems without any clues.

[saaby93]

or allows you to seek the advice of a nearby optician?
How you doing anyways

[Prof Prolapse]

Best guess... No toxicity data exists for the first three so a worst case scenario is adopted. For the last one they have they have data which suggests its not as toxic to your eyes...

Agreed it looks mental though. What chemical is it by the way?

Edited by Prof Prolapse on Tuesday 11th September 11:48

[dingg]

Prof Prolapse said:

Best guess... No toxicity data exists for the first three so a worst case scenario is adopted. For the last one they have they have data which suggests its not as toxic to your eyes...

Agreed it looks mental though. What chemical is it by the way?

Edited by Prof Prolapse on Tuesday 11th September 11:48

bleach I reckon

[FiF]

dingg said:

Prof Prolapse said:

Best guess... No toxicity data exists for the first three so a worst case scenario is adopted. For the last one they have they have data which suggests its not as toxic to your eyes...

Agreed it looks mental though. What chemical is it by the way?

Edited by Prof Prolapse on Tuesday 11th September 11:48

bleach I reckon

Bleach is one as it happens, good spot, but there are a host of other industrial engineering chemicals, mostly in connection with metalworking and machining, that seem to have a very similar profile.

If it had been just one out of the list of COSHH substances on our register it wouldn't have been remarked on, but it was the frequency of this.

I can't remember which chemical it was now but:-

Ingestion:- Rinse mouth with water, do not induce vomiting, seek immediate hospital attention, take this data sheet with you.

Eyes:- Rinse under clean water for 15 minutes while holding eyelids open. If irritation persists, seek medical advice.

As Prop P said, to a non health professional it seems mental.