Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety

Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) on compact disc from the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (can buy at CCOHS web site). "The HSDB(R) (Hazardous Substances Data Bank(R)) database contains data profiles on 4,500 potentially toxic chemical substances. It is created and updated by specialists at the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Compiled from an extensive range of authoritative sources, HSDB is widely recognized as a reliable and practical source of health and safety information. Much of the data is peer reviewed. 

NIOSHTIC on compact disc from the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (ean buy at CCOHS web site). "NIOSHTIC(R) is a bibliographie database which provides comprehensive international coverage of documents on occupational health and safety, as well as related fields. It eontains detailed summaries of over 200,000 articles, reports and publications, spanning over 100 years. NIOSHTIC(R) sources include over 160 scientific and technical journals, NIOSH reports (published and unpublished), NIOSH research bibliographies, abstracts from CIS Abstracts, and personal files from respected professionals on selected topics. 

According to the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) the health effects of asphyxiation are ... 

The Canadian center for occupational health and safety (CCOHS) Promotes a safe and healthy working environment by... 

The third and fourth disks include Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) information. These disks contain data bases on Resource Organizations, Resource People, Case Law, Jurisprudence, Fatalities, Mining Incidents, and ADISCAN. Furthermore, information on Noise Levels, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSHTEC) Non-Ionizing Radiation Levels, and a Document Information Directory System is readily retrievable. These CD-ROM materials are available from the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety, 250 Main Street East, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 1H6. 

Approximately three decades ago, the U.S. government created the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemicals (RTECS) database (www.ccohs.ca/education/asp/search rtecs.html). Initially available in book form only, it became later available on CD-ROM, from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, USA, or affiliated vendors (e.g., the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety [CCOHS] www.ccohs.ca). This database contains information on approximately 120,000 substances, including (where available) acute and chronic toxicity data for terrestrial organisms, primarily mammalian species, such as rats, mice, rabbits, monkeys, and humans. This database will be transferred to the private sector in the near future for maintenance. RTECS cannot be searched by structure, but by name, formula, CAS, and several other means. CCOHS provides also a website which allows limited searching of the RTECS database at ccin-foweb.ccohs.ca/rtecs/search.html, but access to data is for subscribers only. 

The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety Act. C-13. (1978) This act created CCOHS to promote health and safety in the workplace, establish and maintain safety standards, develop programs to reduce or eliminate occupational hazards, and collect statistics. 

Most MSDS forms are created by chemical manufacturers. They can be found in libraries, on manufacturer s websites, and by contacting manufacturers or suppliers directly. Websites are available that catalogue MSDS forms from multiple sources, for example, www.msdssearch.com. The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety also maintains an extensive collection at www.ccinfoweb.ccohs.ca. For legal reasons (limitation of liability), most MSDS forms contain a disclaimer stating that users should also make their own evaluation of compatibility and fitness for use. A sample MSDS form is given in Appendix I. 

This database contains the complete text of over 130,000 Material Safety Data Sheets compiled by the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS). This information was gathered from over 500 manufacturers and suppliers in the United States and Canada. Each record covers one chemical substance and provides trade and supplier name, description, chemical/physical properties, reactivity, health hazards, storage and disposal, personal protection, cleanup and disposal, and emergency first aid (CCINFOLINE, STN available on CD from CCOHS). 

The Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety CCOHS, 250 Main Street East, Hamilton ON L8N 1H6 Canada, tel 1-800-263-8466 (toll free in Canada only)/l-905-572-4400. Fax 1-905-572-4500, http //www.ccohs.ca/products/databases/msds.html. Promotes a safe and healthy working environment by providing information and advice about occupational health and safety. 

It is always recommended to identify and record all possible hazards in the plant as well as at the work place. For such work, identification it is better to form a team comprising both experienced and fresh people. Experienced people are familiar with the job and will help to identify the hazards, whereas fresh eyes may throw light on new area of hazard. Following are the major points to be covered in hazard identifications (Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety [CCOHS], www. ccohs.gc.ca) ... 

Peroxide hazard classification expert systems development at FM/Norwood is presently on hold until some of the resources noted become available. We have a way to go before a fully validated classification model is complete. At the same time, we are continuing to explore the possibility of using chemical database programs such as those available from Molecular Design Inc. and the University of Santiago, Chile (ARIUSA) as components of our chemical hazard expert systems. We are also looking at chemical databases on optical disc such as those available from DuPont, Aldrich, Micromedix and the Canadian Center for Occupational Safety and Health as components of future systems. 

Air quality Water quality Waste disposal Research-regulating agencies U. S. Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control National Institutes of Health National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health U. S. Department of Agriculture U. S. Department of Energy U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U. S. Department of Transportation Consensus-rule-making organizations American National Standards Institute National Sanitary Foundation Underwriters Laboratories (U. S.) Canadian Standards Association (Canada) National Fire Protection Association (U. S.)... 

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