| Occupational exposure limits - control limits: OEL-CL (table 1)
20. An OEL-CL is the maximum concentration of an airborne substance, averaged over a reference period, to which employees may be exposed by inhalation under any circumstances, and is specified together with the appropriate reference period in Table 1 of Annexure 1.
21. Regulation 19(1) of the HCS Regulations, when read in conjunction with the Act, imposes a duty on the employer to take all reasonable precautions and to exercise all due diligence to ensure that exposure is kept as far below an OEL-CL as is reasonably practicable.
22. To comply with this duty, in the case of substances with a 8-hour reference period, employers should undertake a programme of monitoring in accordance with regulation 6 so that they can show (if it is the case), that an OEL-CL is not exceeded. Such a monitoring programme need not be undertaken if the assessment carried out in accordance with regulation 5 shows that the level of exposure is most unlikely ever to exceed an OEL-CL. For substances assigned a short-term limit, such value should never be exceeded.
23. The assessment should also be used to determine the extent to which it is reasonably practicable to reduce exposure further below an OEL-CL as required by regulation 10(1) In assessing reasonable practicability, the nature of the risk presented by the substance in question should be weighed against the cost and the effort involved in taking measures to reduce the risk. (Also see the definition of reasonably practicable as defined in the Act.)
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