18 CHEMICAL EVENTS

States Parties will have surveillance and response capacity for chemical risks or events. This requires effective communication and collaboration among the sectors responsible for chemical safety, including health, occupational health, emergency management, industry, transportation, safe waste disposal, agriculture, animal health and the environment.

IMPACT:

Timely detection of and effective response to potential chemical risks and/or events in collaboration with other sectors responsible for chemical safety, industries, transportation and safe waste disposal.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION:

Mechanisms and an enabling environment are established and functioning for preventing, detecting and responding to chemical events or emergencies.

Benchmark 18.1

Mechanisms are in place for surveillance, alert and response to chemical events or emergencies, supported by an enabling environment

Objective To establish policies, legislation, plans and capacities for surveillance, alert and response to chemical events or emergencies

01 NO CAPACITY

  1. No mechanism to detect and respond to chemical events, poisonings or emergencies is in place.
  2. National policies, plans or legislation for chemical event surveillance, alert and response do not exist.

02 LIMITED CAPACITY

  1. Assess existing policies, legislation, plans and capacities for chemical event surveillance, alert and response in relevant sectors and existing laboratory capacities for the analysis of human and environmental samples to inform the assessment and manage investigation of chemical events and poisonings. *
  2. Establish a multisectoral steering committee consisting of key stakeholders from relevant sectors with identified roles, responsibilities and ToRs to enable agreed risk profiling, prioritization, planning and implementation. *
  3. Develop strategies, guidelines/manuals and SOPs for surveillance, alert and response to chemical events and emergencies including for laboratories and develop training packages on these guidelines and SOPs. *
  4. Conduct risk profiling to identify hazard sources (including sites, transport and issues at point of use), likelihood and severity, based on populations at risk and potential nature of an incident. *
  5. Identify and describe priority chemical events to inform planning. This process can include conducting an inventory of potentially hazardous chemical sites and manufacturing facilities and a review of past chemical events. *
  6. Assess capacities for chemical event surveillance, alert and response, including health sector workforce, identification and availability of medical countermeasures and antidotes for high risk chemical hazards and overall health system response capacity. *
  7. Develop a roadmap/action plan to support the delivery of a sustainable national poisons centre, or equivalent *
  8. Identify and map all public and private sector stakeholders involved in chemical industries or activities generating chemical risks and establish focal points for coordination and collaboration for chemical event surveillance, alert and response.
  9. Conduct a multiagency situational analysis/review to understand data availability, data sources, pathway of data flow and receptors towards the development of the surveillance system for chemicals.

03 DEVELOPED CAPACITY

  1. Develop all the necessary policies and legislation for chemical event surveillance, alert and response. *
  2. Develop event response plans at all levels (national, subnational, local) with the involvement of relevant stakeholders and ensure the following: Map and review all hazardous sites and facilities, Define roles and responsibilities of relevant agencies for response during events, Prepare protocols for the investigation and verification of chemical events and poisoning, including through laboratory testing, Assess training needs and develop a training plan, Conduct training of personnel at relevant agencies and facilities, Implement SOPs for coordination and collaboration during chemical events. *
  3. Establish a surveillance system based on the strategy, guidelines, SOPs for surveillance, alert and response to chemical events. *
  4. Put in place agreements with designated quality assured laboratories (national or in other countries) for timely analysis of biological and environmental samples with suspected chemical exposure. *
  5. Establish a system for a national poisons centre to receive information on the composition of hazardous products (detergents, paints, adhesives, etc.) imported and sold in the country. *
  6. Develop capacities for diagnosis and treatment of chemical poisonings and establish a poison information service, as a part of the national poisons centre, that operates at least during office hours. Procure and ensure access to a stockpile of medical countermeasures and antidotes required for high risk chemical hazards. *
  7. Collect technical factsheets on chemical hazards based on the list of priority chemical events in the country and develop or adapt them according to the risk profile and country context. Distribute the list to all relevant stakeholders. *
  8. Establish networks with all relevant sectors for preparedness and response to chemical and radiation emergencies. *
  9. Develop plans for the management of chemical waste. *

04 DEMONSTRATED CAPACITY

  1. Establish links with key international chemical/toxicology networks to provide support for the management of chemical events and poisonings. *
  2. Conduct regular training on surveillance, alert and response to chemical events and poisonings for relevant personnel, including sensitizing all relevant health and other sector workers on medical protocols. *
  3. Share, on a routine basis, information on chemical events, chemical event risk assessments and response actions with relevant agencies. *
  4. Monitor, on a routine basis, the timeliness of the information sharing mechanism about events and potential risk. *
  5. Provide adequate resources to the national poison information service to operate on a 24/7 basis and integrate the poisons information service into the public health surveillance system. *
  6. Organize advocacy initiatives including disseminating accurate messages on chemical risks and conducting community awareness of chemical safety, including what to do in the case of a chemical poisoning/event and the contact details of national poisons centres/information services. *
  7. Conduct SimEx/AAR/IAR (as relevant) at designated hospitals or emergency units on managing mass casualty incidents for chemical events (decontamination/PPE usage/handling casualties, etc.) *
  8. Implement plans to establish an effective chemical waste management system in the country including collection, storage, decontamination and treatment. *

05 SUSTAINABLE CAPACITY

  1. Document and use M&E findings to assess, review and strengthen surveillance, alert and response including coordination and communication and update plans and SOPs. *
  2. Sustain a mechanism to conduct risk assessment and update risk profiling on a regular basis. *
  3. Allocate adequate resources including dedicated funds for the poison centre(s). *
  4. Develop a mechanism to integrate the systems of public health surveillance and environmental monitoring that capture and assess chemical exposures from different sources. *
  5. Sustain a mechanism to ensure response capacity at national and subnational level. *
  6. Support research programmes to generate evidence on surveillance, alert and response to chemical events or emergencies. *
  7. Share country experience in surveillance, alert and response to chemical events or emergencies and engage the country in peer-to-peer learning programmes at the subnational, national and international levels. *

* Participation and contribution of other sectors to action.

Tools

160 This includes setting minimum requirements for: local emergency planning and response activities (i.e. arrangements for scaling up capabilities of local emergency response, national support mechanisms and infrastructure and alerting mechanisms); inspection of hazardous sites and assessment of emergency plans; and operators to comply and liaison with local governments. see also: WHO manual: The public health management of chemical incidents. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2009.