Analysis of occupational exposure limits for hazardous chemical agents of African countries: A comparative study

Occupational exposure limits (OELs) are a valuable tool used by occupational hygiene professionals to assess exposure and determine when measures should be employed to control exposure to hazardous chemical agents (HCAs) in the workplace. Many countries have OELs that are included in their respective occupational health and safety legislation. In South Africa, the Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Substances (RHCS SA, 1995) were first published in 1995. It was repealed and replaced with the Regulations for Hazardous Chemical Agents (RHCA SA, 2021). This study aimed to comparatively evaluate the progress of OELs in South Africa for certain HCAs as stated in the RHCA SA 2021 in terms of the previous version (RHCS SA, 1995) and other countries in Africa with OELs. This was done to provide insights into the gap in OEL development in Africa. The findings show that of the 54 countries in Africa, only 10 have OELs included in their occupational health and safety legislation. Legislative documents from five African countries were compared to the RHCA SA 2021 using the geometric mean method. The results indicate that South Africa has less stringent OELs than the other African countries to which it was compared, with the exception of Lesotho. This highlights the work that still needs to be done to improve OELs in African countries.