Rank: New forum user 
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I have a complaint from a member of our hygiene staff that is concerned about using the following product, they are concerned that it causes eye irritation (goggles provided) and some inhaling irritation. Goggles are provided for use. The tablets are diluted in the sluice room which is airy and the hygienist then continues with the solution onto the wards. The recommended use for general cleaning purposes at the long term care facility is 1 tablet per 1L of water 200ppm. She uses gloves, places the tablets in a bucket and fills the bucket with jugs of cold water to make up enough cleaning solution. Goggles are available to avoid eye splashes. file://dc1/Folder%20Redirection/galvinr/Downloads/BLEACH%20TABLETS%2007-2015%20CLP%20REVISION%20(1).pdf
What more can be done to allay the fears of the hygienist? I cannot stop using these tablets as Infection Control policies dictate we must use them and there are no trusted other products on the market. I would appreciate if any of you have experience in this area and can guide on this. Many thanks.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Does the person complaining actually have any issues eg they are having some sort of relation to the tablets or is it just a case of them being unhappy with using the product? If it is the former then you need to find out if they have any sensitives/allergies and deal with it. If necessary you might need to stop them using this product. If it is the latter: a meter of reassurance you need to talk to them and to explain to them what the risks are. No process is risk free but you must reassure them (and their colleagues) that the product that you have selected is the best one available balancing out its effectiveness as a disinfectant against the risks might pose to staff using it. If they are issued with PPE you have to explain to them how it will reduce the risk of any sort of harmful effects. People have odd feelings about risk. Yesterday I spent the morning reassuring some of our plumbers that the risk posed to them by a drainpipe that had been used for radiative waste disposal did not pose any risk to them. They took some convincing. Then they took me down to the bowels of the building, which recently had been cleared of asbestos. I mentioned that I was a bit wary of asbestos and asked for reassurance that the area had been cleared. The plumbers looked at me strangely and made it clear that I was a wimp for even thinking that the asbestos might pose a residual risk. After all they were used to working in this environment and it had not affected them (yet!).
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Rank: Super forum user
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Having used this product in the past there are some simple things that you can do to reduce the effectn on the people using it. Firstly when mixing always add the tablets to the correct amount of water i.e. the opposite of what you appear to be doing at the moment. This reduces the release of any 'chlorine' as it is dissolved by the water whereas at the moment the initial contact of a small amount of water on the tablets allows some of it to escape before it can be dissolved. Secondly make it up in a sealed container - at one time these could be obtained from Norsan with the procedure printed on the label. The container is essentialy a 1 or 5 litre polythene bottle with a screwed lid. Just allow the tablets to dissolve without shaking to prevent any sudden pressurisation of the container.The person should also rinse their gloves immediately after handling the tablets as some of the powder sticks to the glove causing problems for the person as it reacts with moisture in the atmosphere.
Also check how the the solution is being applied. It should be applied using a cloth similar to a J-cloth which is rung out to remove most of the liquid. I have found people using things like heavy gauze pads which hold a lot of liquid when it is not needed and reduces the amount that can release any vapour.
Are the goggles causing vapour to stay in contact with the eyes as most googles these days have vent holes that allow such vapour through but not easily let it out again. If you use the method I described above the use of googles could be dispensed with.
There will always be a smell of 'bleach' but it should not be troublesome to people.
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