Chemicals are used in almost every workplace; it may take any form of matter and can sometimes cause adverse effects on the environment and/or the people handling them.

There are several routes for a chemical to enter into one’s biological system.

• Ingestion - chemicals go through the mouth either by eating contaminated food or by accidental swallowing of a hazardous material

• Inhalation - chemicals pass through the nose. This may happen in the case of a gas leak

• Absorption - chemicals are absorbed through the skin. A chemical spill is an avenue for this route.

Although most chemicals are harmless and do not affect a person’s health, there are those that are considered to be hazardous and should be handled with extreme care.

Employers are given, by law, the obligation of ensuring that the work areas of their employees are properly maintained and that a workplace safety procedure is in place and disseminated to all workers.

With handling chemicals, employers may do the following:

• Place tags on all chemical containers for proper identification

• Provide safety information and schedule training with a specialist

• Ensure that supervisors frequently check processes to limit any defect

Employees on the other hand can do the following:

• Read and understand any instruction in a chemical container

• Follow workplace safety procedures

• Ask questions if they are unsure of handling an unfamiliar type of chemical

Chemical exposures in the workplace can result to a higher number of accidents. The effects on a worker’s health will also differ depending on the physical form of the chemical substance. Most hazardous chemicals induce skin irritation, respiratory problems and cancer.

The Federal Hazardous Communication Standard requires companies who supply chemicals must provide a Material Safety Data Sheet to the receiving company that lists down the ingredients used for the chemical or product. This sheet also contains possible health hazards or dangerous reactions that may lead to industrial accidents.

The California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act also requires any company to inform their workers in advance if the work area that they will be assigned to is prone to cancer-causing chemicals or reproductive toxin exposure.

Employees exposed to hazardous chemicals are often hospitalized and their expenses are covered by the worker’s compensation act but there are some industrial accidents wherein the victim may file a third-party accident claim. This will be applicable for those accidents where the accident may have been caused by another entity other than the employer or the co-workers.

A few examples of this case include:

• defects on the product or equipment that a worker is using

• the chemicals being used is not labeled properly

• the wrong type of container is used for chemicals

Several Los Angeles attorneys specialize with this kind of cases and the victim or their families often consult an Industrial Accident Attorney to find out what they can get to compensate for their financial loss and the emotional distress that they experienced after the accident.