제  목 : LEAD and YOU : A LEAFLET FOR LEAD WORKERS
  일  자 : 1998년 08월
  제공처 : Internet

    LEAD and YOU : A LEAFLET FOR LEAD WORKERS
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CONTENTS

     What should my employer do to protect my health at work?
     What can I do to protect my own health?
     What kind of work creates lead dust or fume?
     How does lead get into my body?
     What are the health effects of too much lead?
     How is my health at work checked?
     How often should my blood lead level be checked?
     What happens if my blood lead level is high?
     Why is there a lower limit for some women?
     Further information

WHAT SHOULD MY EMPLOYER DO TO PROTECT MY HEALTH AT WORK?

The Control of Lead at Work Regulations 1985 and its accompanying Approved
Code of Practice apply. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
Regulations (1988) would only apply if a matter covered by COSHH was not
already mentioned in the Control of Lead at Work Regulations.

Your employer is required by law to:

     assess the nature and degree of exposure to lead at the workplace;
     make sure you know what the risks are and what precautions you should
     take;
     provide control measures, such as extraction ventilation, wherever
     possible;
     issue protective clothing and respirators where necessary;
     provide adequate washing facilities and suitable places for eating,
     drinking and smoking.

It is also your employer's responsibility to arrange for you to see an
appointed doctor regularly at work.

WHAT CAN I DO TO PROTECT MY OWN HEALTH?

     Make full use of the control measures provided by your employer.
     Wear protective clothing and a respirator when required.
     Keep your medical appointments.
     Wash your hands and face before eating, drinking or smoking.

We all have some lead in our bodies, absorbed from the air and from our food.
These small amounts are not normally harmful.

If you work with lead, however, you are likely to have more lead in your body
than someone who does not, particularly if your work creates lead dust or
fume. It is therefore necessary to check regularly how much lead you have
absorbed, to make sure that it does not reach a level that will make you ill.

Lead in the form of lead alkyls (the anti-knock additives in petrol) have
different effects on health and is not covered in this leaflet.


WHAT KIND OF WORK CREATES LEAD DUST OR FUME?

Work in industries such as lead smelting and refining, lead battery making and
breaking, the manufacture of lead compounds and lead alkyls, demolition of
structures or tanks that are lead painted or have contained leaded gasolines
or lead alkyls.


HOW DOES LEAD GET INTO MY BODY?

If you are exposed to lead dust or fume, lead will enter your body as you
breathe. Your body will also absorb lead that you swallow, for example if you
eat, drink, smoke or bite your nails without washing your hands and face. Lead
is not absorbed through the skin: handling cold metallic lead will not give
you lead poisoning.

The lead that you absorb circulates in your blood. Your body gets rid of a
certain amount each time you go to the lavatory, but some will remain, stored
mainly in your bones, where it may stay for many years without ill effects.


WHAT ARE THE HEALTH EFFECTS OF TOO MUCH LEAD?

It is the lead circulating in your blood that produces symptoms if the level
gets too high. The first symptoms include headaches, tiredness, stomach pains,
constipation and loss of weight. Continued exposure may cause more serious
problems such as nerve and brain damage.


HOW IS MY HEALTH AT WORK CHECKED?

If you are exposed to a significant amount of lead at work your employer will
arrange for you to see a doctor specially appointed under the Control of Lead
at Work Regulations (1980) regularly. The doctor will take a small blood
sample and possibly a urine sample. The blood sample is used to measure the
amount of lead present and is also tested for anaemia and other lead effects.
Tests for effects of lead can also be carried out on urine samples.

People who do not work with lead normally have less than 40 microgrammes in
100 millilitres of their blood. Symptoms of lead poisoning rarely occur in
people with less than 100 microgrammes of lead in 100 millilitres of their
blood.


HOW OFTEN SHOULD MY BLOOD LEAD LEVEL BE CHECKED?

If you work with lead your blood lead level should normally be checked every 3
months. However, in cases where there is a likelihood of rapid absorption of
lead, the doctors may decide that more frequent testing is necessary.

On the other hand, if your exposure to lead is predictable and your blood lead
level does not change very much, the frequency of testing may be reduced.

The maximum intervals between blood tests are:

     12 months if your blood lead level is below 40 microgrammes per 100
     millilitres;
     6 months if your blood lead level is between 40 and 59 microgrammes per
     100 millilitres;
     3 months if your blood lead level is between 60 and 69 microgrammes per
     100 millilitres.

If your blood lead level is over 70 microgrammes per 100 millilitres, repeat
blood tests are carried out at the doctor's discretion, but in any case at
least every three months.


WHAT HAPPENS IF MY BLOOD LEAD LEVEL IS HIGH?

If your blood lead level reaches 70 microgrammes per 100 millilitres or above,
the doctor will take another sample. If the result is confirmed, the doctor
will usually certify you unfit to go on working with lead. (There are some
exceptions, which the doctor will explain.) This will apply until the doctor
decides that you are fit to work with lead again. Your employer must act on
this ruling.

If your employer cannot offer you other suitable work, the law provides for
most employees to receive their normal pay from their employer for up to 26
weeks after they have been suspended on medical grounds.

You can find out more from booklet 5 in the employment legislation series,
Suspension on medical grounds under health and safety regulations, which is
free from any Jobcentre, Employment Office or Unemployment Benefit Office.


WHY IS THERE A LOWER LIMIT FOR SOME WOMEN?

If a woman is pregnant the lead in her blood can pass into the blood of the
baby she is expecting and may affect its development. It is therefore
important to keep the amount of lead in the blood of women of reproductive
capacity as low as possible. If you are a woman of reproductive capacity and
your blood lead level goes above 40 microgrammes per 100 millilitres the
doctor will certify you unfit to work with lead.

This will also happen automatically if you are pregnant.

If you become pregnant you should tell your employer, in the interests of your
baby.

     Don't eat, drink or smoke in a lead contaminated area.
     Wash and, where necessary, change before you go home.
     Keep your workplace clean.

FURTHER INFORMATION

You can find out more about lead and your health from your works safety
representative or from your local office of the Health and Safety Executive.

HSE priced and free publications are available by mail order from HSE Books,
PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 6FS. Tel: 01787 881165 Fax: 01787 313995.

HSE priced publications are also available from good booksellers.

For other enquiries ring HSE's InfoLine Tel: 0541 545500, or write to HSE's
Information Centre, Braod Lane, Sheffield S3 7HQ

This publication may be freely reproduced, except for advertising, endorsement
or sale purposes.
The information it contains is current at 5/91.
Please acknowledge the source as HSE.
Printed and published by the Health and Safety Executive
2/92 MS(A)1