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§ 48 Physical and chemical working environment

The employer shall ensure that the work is organised such that the employees are not exposed to unfortunate strains as a result of manual handling, working position, repetitive movements, work intensity, etc., cf. also Section 23.
Organisation of ergonomic conditions in safety-critical work systems shall also safeguard good interaction between humans, technology and organisation and requirements for prudent psychological loads.
The employer shall ensure that hazardous chemical exposure during storage, use, handling and disposal of chemicals, and during work operations and processes that produce chemical components, is avoided, cf. Section 20.
The employer shall ensure that hazardous exposure during storage, use, handling and disposal of radioactive sources is avoided, cf. Section 28.
The employer shall ensure that no employees are exposed to hazardous noise as mentioned in Section 25, first subsection, or hazardous vibrations, cf. Section 26.
Criteria shall be set for which climatic conditions require protective measures during outdoor work, and under which conditions such work shall be limited or halted, cf. also Section 24.
Section last changed: 01 January 2011

In addition, the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority's
  1. Orientation relating to production and use of polyurethane products (isocyanates),
  2. Guidelines regarding organisation and arrangement of work – guidelines for Sections 4-1 through 4-4 of the Working Environment Act, and
  3. Regulations relating to conduct of work chapter 5 on hot work (in Norwegian only), should be used.
Radiation as mentioned in fourth subsection, means ionising and non-ionising radiation. Handling also means handling during hazard and accident situations.
The Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority’s Regulations relating to radiation protection and use of radiation (Radiation protection regulations) (in Norwegian only) also apply to the petroleum activities. To fulfil the requirement for avoiding exposure, the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority's
  1. Guideline 1 relating to industrial radiography, and
  2. Guideline 9 relating to industrial control sources in fixed installations as well as use of radiation for research purposes,
should be used in addition.
Criteria as mentioned in the sixth subsection, should reflect the overall exposure, e.g. for temperature, wind and precipitation.
Evaluation of the physical and chemical working environment factors should be part of the safety-related clearance of the activities, cf. Section 56 of these regulations.