Occupational Safety and Health in Bulgaria

Part VII: Information

Information on substances, machines, hazards, osh legislation, etc. comes in many forms and from many different sources.

One of the more immediate forms of information is the label on a container of a chemical, for example. This will, or should, reveal the identification of the substance through its name (often this will only be a code or trade name), relevant danger signs, and minimal health and safety warnings. In 59.8% of the workplaces surveyed, containers of materials were labeled. Labeling was more common in manufacturing workplaces and in larger workplaces. But 27.5% of respondents said that containers were not labelled in their workplaces. Considering that labels are the first warning of hazards then this result is surprisingly high. The reasons are not known, but it may be that chemicals are decanted into other smaller containers, a dangerous practice when they are not labelled.

In 87.2% of the workplaces, labels were in a language understandable to the workers.

A full list of substances used in the workplace was available to workers in 41.6% of workplaces and to union representatives in 29.6% of the workplaces. This is an important consideration for research, getting information on the substances, and for emergency personnel in case of accident or fire.

Chemical safety data sheets should be delivered with the chemical or are available from suppliers. They contain more information on the characteristics of a product, how to handle it safely, the PPE needed to prevent exposure, occupational exposure limits, first aid advice, etc. In 28.8% of the workplaces, workers had full access, in 25.1% a limited access and in 26.6% no access to chemical safety data sheets in their workplaces. 20.1% did not know whether they had access or not.

In 45.2% of workplaces, the respondents considered the information contained in the data sheets as adequate for workers to perform their jobs safely, although 33% of the respondents did not know if the information was adequate or not. 42.7% of the respondents said that the information contained in the chemical safety data sheets is understandable to the workers, while 34.8% did not know. This is an important factor, not just for the language of the user, but also for comprehension even when the data sheet is in the reader's mother tongue.

Figure 22. Information sources used for health and safety hazards

Knowing how and where to obtain information about chemicals and other hazards is an important step in helping to improve the workplace and members' work-related health problems. There are many sources of information - from suppliers, government inspectors, health professionals, unions on a local, national or international level, etc.

The survey found that the most common outside sources of information concerning health and safety hazards for the respondents were health and environmental professionals and the national union. 56.7% of the respondents had enquired for information from health professionals and 53% from the national union (See figure 22).

Concerning the awareness of workers to occupational hazards, only 8.1% of the respondents claimed that workers were not aware, although this figure rises to 23% for a lack of awareness of the environmental effects of their industry or workplace. 46.6% of the respondents said that workers are somewhat aware and 45.3% that they are very aware of occupational risks. 46.6% said that workers are somewhat aware and 30.5% that they are very aware of the impact of the workplace on the environment.


		International Labour Organization - Central and Eastern European Team For further information, please contact the Central and Eastern European Team by e-mail at budapest@ilo.org
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Part VII: Information

1. Introduction

2. Labels

3. List of substances used in the workplace

4. Chemical safety data sheets

5. Outside information sources