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The Department of Trade and Industry says there are 400 million tons of chemicals are produced annually and over 1,000 new chemicals are produced in the UK each year. Up to 10,000 commercial chemicals are hazardous of which 150-200 may cause cancer. The chemical industry is the UK 's largest manufacturing sector, with a turnover of £41 billion, employing more than 400,000 people.

But you don't even have to be one of those workers to be exposed. Virtually all workplaces use or contain hazardous substances.

Call 0800 066 99 07 and get our personal injury team working for you straight away. The call is free, the advice is free and nothing will ever be deducted from your compensation.

The three main ways a chemical can enter the body are through inhalation, absorption through the skin, or ingestion with effects on health that could quickly develop or maybe take years. Affected workers may suffer symptoms including: Irritation, perhaps leading to dermatitis; sensitisation, possibly leading to asthma; a loss of consciousness if overcome by toxic fumes; and long-term effects such as cancer.

The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) cover virtually all workplaces, requiring employers to prevent, wherever reasonably practicable, workers' exposure to hazardous substances, and to control it where not. There are eight steps employers must take to comply with COSHH. If the employer is not taking them, then workers are at risk.

The eight steps employers should take:

1. assess the risks to health arising from hazardous substances used in, or created by workplace activities
2. decide what precautions are needed. Employers must not carry out work which could expose employees to hazardous substances without first considering the risks and the necessary precautions and what else they need to do to comply with COSHH.
3. prevent or adequately control exposure. Employers must prevent employees from being exposed to hazardous substances. Where preventing exposure is not reasonably practicable, then employers must adequately control exposure.
4. ensure that control measures are used and maintained.
5. monitor the exposure of employees to hazardous substances
6. carry out appropriate health surveillance
7. prepare plans and procedures to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies
8. ensure employees are properly informed, trained and supervised

COSHH defines a range of substances as dangerous to health, (but a substance need not be on the COSHH list to be the basis for a personal injury claim):

Skin hazards

Many people in Great Britain suffer from skin disease caused by their work; most of which results from exposure to chemicals. Injuries to workers' skin from cuts, burns, abrasions, and work induced skin cancer and contact and allergic dermatitis is responsible for the loss of nearly a million working days a year.

Skin disease affects people in nearly all industries. In 1995, HSE estimated there to be 66,000 people in Great Britain suffering from skin disease caused by work, about two thirds of which were dermatitis or eczema. Commonly implicated agents include latex/rubber, soaps and cleaners, nickel, chromium and wet work.

HSE dermatitis advises suggests to employers that they ask themselves four questions

• Is there a problem?
• What are we using?
• Is there a safer alternative?
• Is there a safer way of doing the job?

Because product use may involve a number of people in the same workforce a group action might be appropriate.

Always take legal medical and legal advice if you suffer an injury or illness as a result of using any substance. injurywatch.co.uk's free legal helpdesk is always a good place to start.

Areas where an employer may be negligent include:

• failing to identify the hazards involved in using a product
• failure to reduce exposure of workers using a known hazardous product by reducing exposure at source
• failure to reduce exposure of workers using a known hazardous product by providing adequate personal protective equipment
• spillage of hazardous substances inadequately warned
• provision of poor or too infrequent cleaning and maintenance
• failure to ensure adequate control within safe occupational exposure standards (OES) or exceeding maximum exposure levels (MELs)
• failing to ensure that control measures are used and maintained
• failure to monitor workers' exposure
• failure to maintain equipment
• failure to prepare for accidents, incidents and emergencies
• failure to carry out appropriate health surveillance
• failure to provide proper training and supervision

Any premises may become temporarily unsafe, say from spillages etc. An employer should put all measures in place to ensure that the risks of a site which becomes temporarily unsafe are minimised to prevent harm to workers and the public.

As always, gather the evidence:

• see a doctor - the effect of your injuries might be obvious in some cases, but injuries and work-related sickness don't always show up straight away
• keep a dossier. Include a diary recording all the details of the incident, who you saw and all the expenses or losses you incurred, including receipts
• record the details of the incident - if your accident or illness results from a specific incident, take photographs of all relevant equipment and draw a rough sketchmap of how it occurred
• if you believe the hazardous substance produces a work-related sickness, then body mapping and other participatory action research (PAR) techniques may be appropriate. See work related diseases for more information.
• gather personal details of all the people who witnessed the incident
• gather information (backed up by witness statements from others) as to how long the risk had remained unrectified.
• note and detail any measures (such as signage) which had been taken to warn of or otherwise diminish the risk
• note and detail any measures (such as absence of handrails) which exacerbated the risk
• if the injury results from exposure to hazardous substances, your legal team should be able to get a full and detailed report on the likely results of that exposure and how COSHH would indicate such substances should be handled in the workplace..