Hazard Communication for Pesticide Safety in Developing Countries: When Is the Message Adequate

1
Hazard Communication for Pesticide Safety in
Developing CountriesWhen Is the Message
Adequate?

• HA Rother, L London, M Maruping S Miller
• Occupational Environmental Health Research
  Unit, University of Cape Town
• Chemical Workers Industrial Union, South
  Africa

2
PRESENTATION OBJECTIVES

• To illustrate the assumptions behind chemical
  hazard communication affecting effectiveness
• To present some interpretations of pesticide
  pictograms by South African farm workers and
  small-scale farmers
• To illustrate that hazard communication
  strategies cannot be effective as isolated
  strategies

3
Intention of hazard communication

• ? to convey to users and other
• recipients key information so as to
• influence behaviour to promote safety
• (ILO, 1991)
• ? Through the use of hazard communication
  strategies labels SDSs

4
Other Roles of CHC

• Advocacy to advocate safety
• Awareness to draw attention to potential risks
  and hazards
• Legal Liability for example, pesticide labels
  have legal implications in South Africa through
  enabling regulations

5
WHAT MECHANISMS ARE USED TO COMMUNICATE
PESTICIDE HAZARDS?

• Pesticide labels legal document end-user
  liable for any misuse
• Material Safety Data Sheets complex for
  general public, workers

6
Basic Elements on a Pesticide Label

• First Alert to Potential Chemical Hazards
• Pesticide (active ingredient) company
  information
• Precautions (safety info protective measures)
• Emergency First Aid
• Hazard Statements
• Measurement/mixing information
• Symbols icons pictograms
• Signal words (caution harmful)
• Colour codes for level of toxicity

7
How Comprehensible Can a Label Be?

• Attributes of the Message label layout
  information provided language used, symbols
• Attributes of the Worker/Reader gender age
  levels of formal education experiences (hazard
  knowledge injuries exposure training) visual
  literacy
• Attributes of the Environment product
  familiarity reduces reading of label message
  context plays key role

8
Questions Arising from Assumptions Behind Label
Effectiveness

• Who selects the information to be included on a
  label?
• Is the information selected suitable for every
  use environment and target group?
• Is the information understandable?
• Is the information noticed, used and interpreted
  into adequate safety/protective behaviours?

9
ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND CHEMICAL HAZARD COMMUNICATION
(1)

• Provision of information alone will lead people
  exposed to hazardous chemicals to adopt cautious
  and safe behaviour
• Assumes understanding of risk/hazard, however,
  risk/hazard is a social construct
• Assumes behaviour interpretation

10
Industry View of Labels

• The labels provides the only method of direct
  transmission of technical information,
  instructions and advice from the supplier
• The information is informed by industry research
  and development
• Information reaches the purchaser and user of the
  product.
• (AVCASA)

11
ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND CHEMICAL HAZARD COMMUNICATION
(2)

• Scientific Data
• 
  understand/interpret message
• End-User
• translate into action
• Intended Behaviour

12
ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND HAZARD COMMUNICATION (3)

• CHC strategies are simplistic and easily
  understood across target and culturally different
  populations
• Assumes literacy, technical
  literacy,
• language proficiency
• Assumes universal culturally understood
  symbols

13
PICTOGRAMS (according to AVCASA)

• The international pesticide industry (GCPF)
  advocates the use of a series of pictograms to
  convey information without using words.
• These are designed to appear on the labels of
  pesticides, especially in countries where degrees
  of illiteracy exist.
• The pictograms have been widely tested in
  collaboration with the FAO.

14
OEHRU STUDY ON PICTOGRAM COMPREHENSIBILITY

• Questionnaire describe what the 10 pictograms
  mean to you if you see these on a pesticide
  label.
• Interviews with farm workers and small-scale
  farmers in 2 provinces of South Africa
• Pictograms are open for interpretation. Next
  slides show some of the responses given correct
  answer a top of slide

15
(No Transcript)
16
Wear Boots

• Danger or harm on legs
• Protection of legs
• Man is working
• People walking
• Avoid contact with the mixture
• Pass through
• Dont breath, you better walk out

17
St. Andrews Cross - Harmful

• First aid
• Ambulance
• Hospital
• You can die
• Flammable
• Good pesticide
• Cross road

• Emergency
• Keep Pesticide locked in a safe place
• No entry
• Apply on pests
• Just a cross

18
Wash after use

• Person washing
• Kills
• Wash your eyes
• Cleanliness and health
• Tap water
• Position of the tap
• Dangerous, dont drink

19
Dangerous/harmful to
livestock and poultry

• To apply on livestock and poultry
• Rural areas
• Market for cattle and poultry
• Kills cows and chickens pests
• Use pesticides on cows and chickens
• Be alert when driving
• Not allowed in roads or gardens

20
Keep locked away and out of
reach of children

• Medicine inside
• Spray
• Take care of pesticides
• Person putting pesticide in a locker
• The thing inside is very dangerous
• Climb the chair and take it
• Very poisonous, dont touch
• Some places are out of bounds

21
How Well Do You Know Your Colours?Pesticides
registered in South Africa have a colour code on
their labels to indicate the level of toxicity
and are ranked in the following order from most
to least toxic
Very toxic. Most toxic pesticide registered in
South Africa
Harmful. Second most toxic pesticide registered
in South Africa
Use with caution
Keep locked away. Although least toxic of the 4,
can still be poisonous.
22
Contextual Issues for CHC

• Initial chemical legislation in developing
  countries was for product efficacy not health and
  safety
• target populations exposed to chemicals for
  years with limited health safety protection
  mechanisms
• ? limited safety culture

implication
23
Contextual Issues for CHC (2)

• Risk perceptions highly culturally sensitive
• Severity of injury more NB than likelihood?
• Ease of imagining hazard ? risk? What of
  non-Western concepts of health
• Ranking and multiple icons Western concepts

24

• No hazard communication system is intuitively
  obvious (Clevestine, 1994).

25
Problems Associated With CHC Tools in Southern
Africa

• Chemical hazard data comes from developed
  countries (relevant? appropriate?)
• Technical language too difficult to understand
  (e.g., perforation)
• CHC labels written mostly in English
• Limited training on CHC interpretation
• Limited awareness of CHC info.

26
What Can Be Done to Foster Understanding of
Chemical Hazards?

• Awareness exposure draw attention for a wider
  audience beyond the work context
• Training starting with primary education
• Develop distribute educational materials (e.g.,
  posters, pamphlets) explaining label components
• Ensure pesticides are appropriately labeled
• Limit exposure to pesticides
• Conduct CHC evaluation research, esp. in
  developing world
• Ensure info. On labels is adequate appropriate
  to protect populations in developing countries