Control Banding

Control banding is a way to categorize chemicals into groups that have similar properties and therefore similar control measures.  As described in the Industrial Safety and Hygiene News, it was first used in the 1980s by industrial hygienists dealing with pharmaceuticals.  Knowledge about many of these new developing chemicals was limited.  To fill in the gap, the control bands were developed to categorize these chemicals and controls.  Today, control banding uses previous research and knowledge of chemicals and their hazards to determine best control method. The purpose of grouping chemicals together is to simplify their hazards and make the control measures easier to understand.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also makes note in the NIOSH section of their website that control banding is used along side normal health and safety practices and not as a replacement to standard procedures.

             The American Chemical Society outlines many factors that are considered to determine the control band for each chemical.  Some of the factors that are evaluated include the toxicity of the chemical, route of exposure, and the amount of chemical used.  These factors then help determine the control method for that chemical.  Chemicals with similar hazards and controls are then placed into the same control band. Chemicals that may irritate the eye or skin would belong to the same chemical band and therefore have the same control being to follow good technique and allow for general ventilation, for example. If the chemical could be very harmful upon a single exposure, the recommendation may be to seek specific expert advice for that chemical.

            There are many benefits to grouping chemicals together according to their risks and controls.  The Canadian Centre forOccupational Health and Safety includes that the system allows for fast and simple control recommendations in the workplace.  Control banding can also be used to explain the logic behind the control methods during training sessions.  The process can also be used on chemicals that do not yet have occupational exposure limits (OELs) to determine the best precautions to take when interacting with certain chemicals.

            Although the system is very useful, there is not one set way to identify the control band a certain chemical belongs to.  This could allow for a wide variety of chemical bands that do not have the same control recommendations.  Because the control bands do not cover every aspect of the hazards associated with each chemical, employees may still need to refer to other resources for safety controls. The generalizations made about all of the chemicals in a certain band could also lead to handling errors and hazardous situations could arise. 

In the future, according to the Industrial Safety and Hygiene News, we should be on the look out for the use of control banding concerning categories other than chemical safety.  The subjects it may be used for could include ergonomics, environmental safety, and even factors of mental health that impact physical health. The idea of control banding is not limited to chemical safety, and may be very useful in the future for many other areas of study.