Dangerous substances in brief

What are dangerous substances?
Dangerous substances are substances that can cause short or long term damage to the human body.  All substances (however innocent they may appear) can cause damage. By dangerous substances is meant chemicals or gases that are used in different departments.

What substances do we mean?
The following substances are characterized by Nikhef as dangerous:
•    Gases
•    Pure chemical substances (e.g. ethanol)
•    Oils and Fats
•    Solvents (e.g. turpentine)
•    Cleaning chemicals (e.g. acetone)
•    Glue and Paint

There are also dangerous substances that are released in certain processes. Consider dangerous gases during laser work.

How do I recognize a dangerous substance?
In most cases a dangerous substance is recognized by its label. The labels also give handling information. The photos below show examples of labels from dangerous substances.

What does the Law say about the use of dangerous substances?
The ‘Dutch Working Act (health and safety at work legislation) states that there must be appropriate measures taken to prevent or limit the detrimental effect of the dangerous substances. By taking these appropriate measures is the legislation deemed to be followed. This means that in the first instance research should be done to find a less damaging alternative to the original substance proposed. If this is not possible then measures should be put in place to directly protect the workers involved.  If this is not satisfactory then organizational measures will be considered to reduce the exposure to the workforce. The last step is the use of personal protection measures such as gloves and facemasks.

Alongside the health and safety legislation, the legislation dictates that dangerous substances should be disposed of safely. This means that, for example, inflammable substances should be stored in a fire & chemical resistant cupboard (PGS-kast). The photographs below show storage facilities for dangerous substances.

What is Nikhef’s policy on dangerous substances?
Nikhef’s policy is to follow the above recommendations. Also, all dangerous substances should be registered with a member of the Health Physics department – Stralingshygiene, Veiligheid en Milieu (SVM) Marcel Vervoort. This SVM department staff member decides, with reference to the safety data sheet, which measures should be taken to use the substance safely. The staff member maintains a register of dangerous substances. In this register the most important properties of a substance are listed, the risks associated with its use and what to do in an emergency involving the substance.

What to do if you want to use a new (chemical) substance?
If you want to use a new dangerous substance you must report this to a staff member of SVM (procedure, currently only in Dutch). Together with the SVM staff member you decide on the measures necessary to work safely with the substance.  The SVM staff member will set the implementation of these measures in progress.

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