FACTS

Chemical Accidents Occur When:

1. No product identifiers such as brand, chemical, common, generic and trade names of the product to inform users what the substance is. 
2. A signal word (either Danger or Warning) that will alert and show the severity of a potential hazard to a user is absent.
3. Hazard statement(s) describing the hazardous nature of a product are absent.
4. No precautionary statement(s) that describe measures to prevent or minimize the effects of a hazard is present.
5. Pictogram(s) are not understood. Pictograms are images inside a red square which gives users an idea of the type of hazard in a product. 

STATS

• Deaths by exposure to hazardous chemicals increased 29% between 2016 and 2019
• Deaths due to exposure to hazardous chemicals worldwide rose 29 per cent in 2019 from what they were in 2016, according to latest estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Two million people died due to exposure to hazardous chemicals in 2019, compared to 1.56 million in 2016, according to the global health body. 
• Nearly 10 percent of all workers who lose their lives due to occupational illnesses or injuries die as a result of chemical exposure. This amounts to an estimated 60,000 deaths – which is on top of the roughly 860,000 illnesses resulting from chemical exposure in the workplace every year.