Dear
all,
Thanks
for your replies, especially all the Michaels!
I
guess initially I had a bit of a knee jerk reaction, as I'm sure we have all had experience of OHS consultants (who do not need to be 'certified' by our legislation) issuing sweeping recommendations which are always offered as advice not requirements. But
who is game to then take the one in a billion chance of something happening and not having the 'recommendation' at hand?
So,
reluctantly from me, we are taking the comparative easy way out. Having medical oxygen on site, arranging to have regular testing, training, documentation and so on. I can add we never use hydrogen cyanide gas, and as part of the risk assessment we always
use fume hoods, cleared from any possible reactive materials, inform facilities management at least 24hrs before (so no one works on the roof), and run the procedures (including spill management and disposal) through
a committee of experienced chemists.
The
documentation we have found that relate to oxygen requirements for cyanide in our 'territory' include this from 1993:
http://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/AboutSafeWorkAustralia/WhatWeDo/Publications/Documents/26/CyanidePoisoning_1993_PDF.pdf
Which
relates to 'cyanide poisoning' in a very general context, and almost embarrassing as an Aussie when you read through it..
Also
this one, a little more recent, having been revised in 2008:
http://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/documents/Bulletins/MS_GMP_OH_MB5_CyanidePoisoning.pdf
But
as a lot of these government things have there is the usual 'back to you' disclaimer:
"Each site needs to undertake a
risk assessment
to determine the appropriate quantity and location of oxygen that should be available on site, taking into consideration the numbers of potentially exposed personnel and the duration to reach
a tertiary care facility."
Then
this article that states 'anecdotal' evidence the oxygen therapy is useful from the UK in 1996:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/misc076.htm#admin
I
don't think I have seen a document that ever states "Nah, you don't need it", unfortunately. The best it gets is like above.
Anyway,
thanks again everyone.
Cheers,
Paul
