Page 81 - Occupational Health & Safety, June 2017

it has on hands, yet is still powerful and effective enough for the job. Low-solvent and solvent-free cleansers are a safer option than those containing petroleum solvents. Bio-scrubbers such as walnut shells, corn meal, and olive pit are effective without stripping or causing damage to the skin.
Your Guide to Choosing the Right Cleanser and Dispenser
Once your team learns more about prevention, pick the best-suited hand cleanser and dispensing system. Below is a quick reference guide that will keep your crew clean and compliant.
The appropriate products should be available and accessible to workers where and when they are required. Creams should be lo- cated in key areas such as changing rooms, work area entrances, washrooms and hand washing stations.
Soap is designed to clean hands, not harm them. However, the soap you’re using could be doing just that. Employers and facility managers have a legal responsibility to ensure that they provide a safe working environment for their employees. Addressing hand hygiene is an important part of this. The type of hand cleanser selected is vitally important to skin health. A common miscon- ception is that a hand cleanser’s performance is measured by its ability to clean hands aggressively. In actuality, most cleansers un- necessarily far surpass the user’s actual cleansing power require- ments. By selecting an effective product that does not contain skin damaging ingredients, you, in turn, can wash your hands of the risk and damage of dermatitis.
Armand A. Coppotelli is the Senior Technical Trainer at Deb USA, Inc., a global occupational skin care company. He holds a master’s degree in Environmental Health/Industrial Hygiene from Temple University in Philadelphia. Prior to joining Deb, he served as an industrial hygienist and compliance officer during the late 1970s and early 1980s for the U.S. Department of Labor-OSHA, Region III in Philadelphia. For over 30 years, he has conducted training and workshops for numerous organizations and worked with lead- ing occupational skin researchers, dermatologists, and corporate medical & safety directors. His expertise is in occupational skin care, specifically the prevention of occupational skin disease and work-related eczema, as well as the implementation of proper hand hygiene programs. You can also frequently find articles written or co-authored by him in key industry publications. To learn more about occupational dermatitis prevention and Deb Group’s com- plete line of skin cleansers, creams and dispensers, visit http://www. debgroup.com/us.
REFERENCES
1. http://www.orcbs.msu.edu/msds/111203_HMB_002_ZEPIDREDAERO- SOL.pdf
2. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1976L0 768:20100301:en:PDF
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