Hallet, Frank

Safety and fire consultant/adviser, The Safety Consultancy, Sth Ockendon, UK

During the last few years there has been a considerable amount of legislation imposed or extended in most developed and developing countries that is focussed upon the safety of the worker.  Much of the emphasis has been upon ensuring that the worker is working in a safe environment and there have been many International [ISO] and local [EN; NFPA ; AUS] standards and guidance developed with the intent of providing assistance to the employer in this area of safety management.

The definitions of an environment that can be considered acceptably safe for an unprotected worker to work in without respiratory protection are reasonably consistently defined across the world where harmful substances might be inhaled, ingested or absorbed but investigation has identified that the legislative requirements and supporting standards used for defining a minimum level of oxygen in the ambient air are variable and not defined at all in some circumstances.

My presentation will explore the various definitions, principle legal expectations and supporting standards relating to oxygen content in breathable air with the intent of demonstrating a fundamental need to define the criteria either legislatively or in an employers safety documentation.