Control the risks for hazardous chemicals

Once you have identified hazardous chemicals and assessed the risks, you must put controls in place to manage health and safety risks.

Eliminating and minimising risks

When controlling the risks of hazardous chemicals, your first strategy must always be to eliminate the hazard and associated risk. If this is not reasonably practicable, the risk must be minimised by using one or more of the following approaches:

• substitution
• isolation
• engineering controls.

Using administrative controls

If a risk still remains, it must be minimised with administrative controls (e.g. procedures, employee training, and signs and warning labels), so far as is reasonably practicable. Any remaining risk must be minimised with suitable personal protective equipment (PPE).

Administrative control measures and PPE rely on human behaviour and supervision and, when used on their own, tend to be the least effective ways of minimising risks.

Find out about the model code of practice for managing risks of hazardous chemical in the workplace.

Safety training

You have certain legal obligations when training your staff. Information on safety training should be included in any risk management plan that you develop.

Read Workplace Health and Safety Queensland's codes of practice for information on safety training practices for hazardous chemicals.

Also consider...

• Learn more about risk management.
• Find out more about keeping your workplace safe.
• Find out more about safely managing hazardous chemicals in the workplace.
• Learn more about workplace hazardous chemicals on the Safe Work Australia website.
• Read more about preparing and reporting workplace incidents.
• Get an overview of Queensland's work health and safety laws.