A structured strategy for assessing chemical risks, suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises

BACKGROUND: A previous study carried out in 20 Belgian companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), showed that prevention advisors did not use any structured approaches to assess chemical risk. They used their personal judgement and the information contained in manufacturers' Safety Data Sheets to assess the risk. OBJECTIVE AND METHOD: The purpose of the Regetox network is to provide companies with a global approach for assessing chemical health risks. The structured approach proposed consists of two successive steps of increasing complexity. For the first step, we chose a method developed by the INRS (France), the 'ranking of potential risk', which allows the safety officer or staff member to identify hazards and to set priorities among all the supplied products used in the workplace. For the second step, we applied the COSHH method and EASE model established by the UK Health