Health, Safety and Environment - International Labour Organization

Manual 4:HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENT FACT SHEETS InformationNationallegislationAgreementsThere is a wide diversity of approaches in national legislation. Check thesummaries provided by your union educator of the applicable laws in yourcountry.Your union may have made collective bargaining agreements with youremployer regarding dusts at work. Check if there are any applicableagreements.ILO Convention No. 184 on Safety and Health in Agriculture See Articles 6 and 7 in Manual 6 for the employer’s duties See Article 14 in the Biological Hazards Fact Sheet 3 Trade union actionCollectivebargainingYour union can use collective bargaining to overcome any limitations inyour country’s health and safety legislation. Encourage your union todevelop agreements on preventing dust hazards, using as a basis theprovisions in ILO Convention No. 184 on Safety and Health in Agriculture.Recommendations Worker HS&E representatives will need to ensure that they are effectivelyon prevention consulted about risk assessments. You want to be sure that thorough riskassessments are carried out, procedures developed, and exposure to dustsprevented or controlled.The breathing in of harmful substances can be avoided by: using alternative substances where possible changing to low dust materials, for example, granules, pellets enclosing sources of dust or spray vacuuming spillages instead of sweeping up – with a high efficiencyfilterThe amount breathed in can be reduced by: using local exhaust ventilation using effective filters in tractor/vehicle cabs maintaining filters to manufacturer’s requirements improving ventilation in buildings wearing effective respiratory protective equipment. This should be theappropriate mask or respirator for dusts146 Health, Safety and EnvironmentA Series of Trade Union EducationManuals for Agricultural Workers