Chemical Health Risk Assessment (CHRA) in Johor Bahru
The statutory chemical assessment under USECHH 2000 — conducted by a DOSH-registered assessor, with exposure monitoring, medical surveillance and the controls that follow managed in one engagement.
Required before anyone handles the chemical
The Occupational Safety and Health (Use and Standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health) Regulations 2000 — USECHH — require an employer to assess the risk to health from every chemical hazardous to health used at the workplace. The assessment must be conducted by an assessor registered with the Director General of DOSH, and reviewed when the work changes significantly or when more than five years have passed.
For most factories in Johor this means solvents, adhesives, resins, cleaning agents, metalworking fluids, acids and alkalis — chemicals that are ordinary on the floor and easy to underestimate on paper. A CHRA that is out of date, or that never covered the line added two years ago, is one of the more common findings when DOSH inspects.
Every CHRA we deliver is conducted by a DOSH-registered assessor. ProSafe prepares the ground beforehand, coordinates the follow-on monitoring and surveillance, and stays to put the recommended controls in place for manufacturers across Johor Bahru, Pasir Gudang, Tebrau, Senai, Kulai and Iskandar Puteri.
Chemical Health Risk Assessment
The statutory assessment, conducted by a DOSH-registered assessor and reported within one month of completion.
Chemical Exposure Monitoring
Airborne exposure measured by a DOSH-registered hygiene technician where the CHRA calls for it.
Medical Surveillance
Health surveillance for exposed employees, carried out by a DOSH-registered occupational health doctor.
Control Implementation
The recommendations turned into work: labelling, storage, PPE programmes, procedures and LEV where it is needed.
What a CHRA covers
Chemical inventory & SDS
Every chemical hazardous to health in use, its current safety data sheet, and where and by whom it is handled.
Work units & exposure
How each group of employees is exposed — inhalation, skin contact, ingestion — how often, and for how long.
Adequacy of controls
Whether existing ventilation, enclosure, work practice and PPE actually control the exposure, not whether they exist.
Exposure monitoring
For Schedule II chemicals, monitoring at intervals of not more than six months until the assessor is satisfied it is no longer required.
Medical surveillance
Where required, surveillance by an occupational health doctor — for Schedule II chemicals at intervals of not more than twelve months.
Thirty-year records
Assessment reports kept for not less than thirty years, personal exposure records for at least thirty, and other monitoring records for at least five.
Is this you?
- You have never had a CHRAand chemicals hazardous to health are used anywhere on site.
- Your last CHRA is more than five years oldand the review date has passed without anyone noticing.
- You have added a chemical, a line or a processthat the existing assessment never covered.
- Your CHRA recommended monitoring or surveillanceand it has not been done on the interval required.
- DOSH or a customer audit asked for itand you need a current, defensible assessment quickly.
- The recommendations were never closedand the report sits in a file while the exposure continues.
An assessment that ends in controls, not a binder
A CHRA report is only as useful as what happens after it. Most of the value is in the recommendations — and in most factories, that is exactly where the work stalls. We stay through implementation, so the controls the assessor recommended become the controls your operators use.
We also keep the obligations separate and clear. The chemical register and chemical inventory submission are record-keeping duties, made through DOSH's IICMS, and neither requires a registered assessor — ProSafe prepares those directly as part of our HSE consultancy. The CHRA itself does require one, and that work is conducted by a DOSH-registered assessor.
Where the assessment calls for exposure monitoring or medical surveillance, we schedule it, coordinate the registered hygiene technician or occupational health doctor, and track the next due date so the interval is not missed.
How a CHRA runs
Inventory & Preparation
We build or verify your chemical register, collect current SDS and map work units before the assessor arrives — so site time is spent assessing, not searching.
Site Assessment
The DOSH-registered assessor observes each work unit, evaluates exposure and the adequacy of existing controls, and interviews the people doing the work.
Report & Action Plan
The assessment report, with recommendations ranked so you know what to address first, and any immediate risk flagged straight away.
Monitoring & Follow-Through
Exposure monitoring, medical surveillance and control implementation scheduled and tracked, with the five-year review date on the calendar.
CHRA — common questions
What is a CHRA?
A Chemical Health Risk Assessment is the assessment the USECHH Regulations 2000 require before employees work with chemicals hazardous to health. It identifies the chemicals in use, evaluates how and how much employees are exposed, judges whether existing controls are adequate, and sets out what must change. It is a statutory assessment, not a general safety review.
Who is allowed to conduct a CHRA?
Only an assessor registered with the Director General of DOSH. A safety and health officer or an in-house team cannot sign off a CHRA unless the person holds that registration. Our CHRA engagements are conducted by a DOSH-registered assessor, with ProSafe managing the scope, the site preparation and the follow-through on recommendations.
How often does a CHRA need to be reviewed?
When more than five years have passed since the last assessment, when there has been a significant change in the work, or when the Director General directs a review. A new chemical, a new process line or a change in ventilation can each trigger a review well before the five years are up.
What is the difference between CHRA and chemical exposure monitoring?
The CHRA is the assessment; exposure monitoring is the measurement. Where the CHRA recommends it, airborne exposure is measured by a hygiene technician registered with DOSH. For chemicals listed in Schedule II of the regulations, monitoring is repeated at intervals of not more than six months until the assessor is satisfied it is no longer needed.
Do our employees need medical surveillance?
Where the CHRA or the regulations call for it, yes. Medical surveillance is carried out by an occupational health doctor registered with DOSH, and for Schedule II chemicals it takes place at intervals of not more than twelve months unless the doctor sets a shorter interval. Surveillance records are kept for thirty years from the last entry.
Is a chemical register the same as a CHRA?
No. The chemical register and the chemical inventory submission are record-keeping obligations, now made through DOSH's IICMS system, and neither requires a registered assessor. The CHRA is a separate assessment of health risk that does. A current, accurate chemical register is the starting point for a CHRA, so we prepare it first.
How long must CHRA records be kept?
The assessment report is kept for not less than thirty years. Monitoring records that represent an individual's personal exposure are also kept for at least thirty years, and other monitoring records for at least five years.
CHRA is one of several assessments under DOSH's occupational health framework. See our industrial hygiene services for noise, ergonomics, indoor air quality and LEV, or read what HIRARC covers and how it differs.
Where we work
We arrange CHRA for factories across Johor Bahru, Pasir Gudang, Tebrau, Plentong, Masai, Skudai, Senai, Kulai, Iskandar Puteri and Gelang Patah. Assessments are always done on site — exposure has to be observed where the work happens, not estimated from a list of chemicals.
Is your CHRA current?
Send us your chemical list and the date of your last assessment. We will tell you whether a new CHRA or a review is due, and what it will involve.