Christopher L. Packham, EnviroDerm Services, Evesham, United Kingdom (Corresponding Author)

Risk assessment for dermal workplace exposure is an essential element of any effective health and safety system. Yet all too often it is either ignored, or performed superficially. This may help to explain why occupational skin disease remains a major cause of occupationally caused ill health. The complexity and problems associated with dermal exposure risk assessment are often not appreciated. The result can be:

- The hazard to health arising out of contact with the chemical or product is not properly characterised,

- The exposure, either actual or potential is not identified, or

- Its significance is either over or under-estimated, leading to inadequate or excessive control measures. Both can result in occupationally induced skin problems.

It is often not appreciated, even by those with a professional qualification in health, safety or hygiene, just how complex this aspect of occupational health and safety is and how easy it is to take what appears to be a logical course of action that, in reality, increases the probability of occupational skin disease or other damage to health from dermal exposure. The problems with dermal exposure risk assessment arise out of its complexity and our lack of knowledge about how the skin interacts with the working environment. There are many uncertainties we have to take account of when conducting a dermal exposure risk assessment. These include:

- The hazard data for the chemical may be inadequate. In many cases there will be no data on chronic effects.

- We currently have no validated, practical methods for measuring workplace dermal exposure, particularly for the small and medium sized enterprise.

- Biodiversity among individuals can introduce a large uncertainty element in our assessment.

- Concomitant factors can play a major role in modifying the effect of exposure. These include skin condition and location of exposure, synergistic effects of mixtures, ambient conditions, and personal behaviour.

Given these factors, dermal exposure risk assessment is, perforce, highly subjective. What is important, therefore, is that we adopt a strategy and technique that:

- Helps us identify all hazards and characterise these adequately for dermal exposure effect.

- Ensures that we are aware of the less obvious routes for dermal exposure.

- Can be used by those with limited training in industrial hygiene or scientific investigation techniques.

- Provides a structured method of assessing risks so that a high level of consistency is ensured.

Such a system has been developed and tested. Information on this will be available in the form of a Technical Bulletin.