Reaction to a chemical being used for printing plate making. This was an incident at a printers in Swindon, where they had changed to a new chemical as part of their litho plate making process. There's no direct contact (its not applied by hand) but there is some minor contact when you change over bottles on the machine. One of the operators developed a rash. Looking at the MSDS, there was nothing nasty, so this was initially puzzling. I then asked the operator if he was allergic to anything. "Oh yes", he said. "I'm allergic to detergents; everything has to be washed in Fairy Snow." A quick call to the chemical manufacturer enabled me to find out that the chemical contained a number of surfactants. "Are they like detergents?", I asked. "Very much so", was the reply. So a chemical which had no effect on the majority of the population causes allergic reactions to someone with an allergy. Phil Chambers

Too complex A company making envelopes had CoSHH assessment practices which were excessive. For example, Mr Sheen was assessed, but to make matters worse, there was an assessment for Mr Sheen Original and Mr Sheen Spring Meadow. The assessments filled 9 large ring binders. People on the shop floor thought it was all a joke, and you can see their point. But right in the middle was Ink Stripper which is predominantly dichloromethane, a Cat.3 carcinogen, which is anything but a joke. The lesson: Concentrate on that which is important; if you want to cover yourself, make a list of substances which pose no risk in the volume and method used.