Chemical Risk Assessment: Case Study in a Romanian Furniture Manufacturing Company

The manufacturing and application in various production and service areas of chemical substances is ever increasing and is likely to maintain such a trend, following the development of technological advance in a fast pace. The worldwide output of chemical agents raised about 14 times in the last five decades. Besides the many advantages that result from this evolution, there is also several negative consequences, mostly related to the burden of occupational illnesses associated with exposure to hazardous chemicals in the workplace. The need for clear and practical regulations, as well as effective tools for assessing applicable chemical risks by non-experts, is increasingly becoming a basic requirement on which the process of proactive control and management of this category of hazards can be based. The problem is even more acute in small and medium-sized enterprises in the European Union, which generally complies that the number of accidents and damage to workers’ health is double the level of multinational companies operating in the European economy. Part of an extensive research dedicated to working conditions in small and medium enterprises in Romania, this paper presents the results of the systematic and structured application of a well-established tool of a qualitative nature, designed to assess the risks induced by chemicals used in technological processes on health. And the safety of human operators who, through their workload, transport, store, handle and use chemicals that are hazardous to human health. The results obtained served to substantiate a feasible, realistic, pragmatic prevention and protection plan, which proved its effectiveness in the investigated company.