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Hi, it's Dale again. It's becoming more and more clear to me that current chemical safety training is in dire need of improvement. And I'm not just talking about big industrial factories here. There are millions of small businesses using seriously dangerous chemicals, with very little training in how to properly handle them. Before I go more into that, however, I want to tell you a quick story. A couple of weeks ago I was told about the horrifying chemical burns caused by an accidental nail adhesive spillage. A friend of mine, has a teenage daughter, and as new teenagers are wont to do, she decided she'd like to have some of the nice looking nails her friends wear. And so, without her mother's knowledge, she went to her makeup drawer with the intention of applying some false nails herself. Unfortunately, when the curious young lady grabbed the small bottle of glue and unscrewed the cap, the spout fell out too, spilling the dangerous chemical all over her hand, wrist and foot. The chemical burns that resulted were excruciatingly painful for this poor girl and she is likely to require skin grafts.
The chemical didn't just burn through her skin, either.
It also melted through her clothes and the quilt on the bed she was sat on! And there are no correct signals or warnings on many of these beauty products to indicate the risk of severe chemical burns. This isn't the only case either. How many people, who don't have any training, use these nail products on a daily basis? I did a quick search and came up with other stories like my friends over recent years. Two of these other cases resulted in the loss of a fingertip and a seriously large skin graft <-- Warning, some of these images are graphic. In light of this recent accident with my friend's daughter, and many other past incidents, I have decided to take action. I will be interviewed my sister, and fellow Knight of Safety, Carrie Allen, a professional in all things safety in the nail industry.
We discussed the dangers of the chemicals used in the nail industry and how to prevent injuries when working with these chemicals. We're began working to produce and make available free safety data sheets for nail adhesives, and other hazardous chemicals that are used in the nail industry.
I am also personally going to create a proper risk assessment for the use of these chemicals to ensure incidents like these don't happen.
If you're worried you don't know enough to handle dangerous chemicals, even the ones everybody thinks aren't dangerous, take the new COSHH Risk Assessor Certification™.
