Development and Implementation of Process-Oriented Skin Safety Standards for the Mineral Oil Industry: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Texas 75083-3836 U.S.A., fax +1.972.952.9435. SummaryOccupational skin diseases are among the most frequent causes for disablement. Although workers in the oil, gas and petrol industry are especially exposed to a variety of skin toxic/irritating substances, no data exists on the extent of the problem and how to define/introduce adequate skin protection measures. As a pilot, a 3 phase skin disease prevention and safety program was created for the Austrian OMV location at Gaenserndorf. Phase 1 (examination phase) showed that workers who substantially lacked information on dermal risk factors and behavior presented with irritant contact dermatitis of the hands at a rate of 55.4%. In addition, the company offered 27 different skin cleaning, protection and care products which were not clearly in line with workplace specific patterns of chemical skin burden. To specifically target these problems, phase 2 (realization phase) introduced new workplace adapted skin products with defined location specific sets of dispensers labeled for the role of its products, introduced skin safety plans at workplaces and a series of teaching courses based an a standardized newly developed education slide kit. By re-assessing (phase 3, evaluation phase) the most objective phase 1 parameters for the quality of skin protection measures, we found a decrease of the rate of irritant hand dermatitis from 55.4% to 19.7% and the rate of uninformed workers got down from about 60% to 20%. Taken together, the process oriented, skin safety standards herein presented have shown to specifically identify, analyze, target and unravel the relevant company related features of occupational skin diseases. The basic structure and design of this programme might be suggestive for its health supportive role in the oil, gas and petrol industry as a whole.