Workplace Exposure Limits

This edition of EH40 represents a new departure for the setting of, and compliance with, occupational exposure limits (OELs).

The previous system, setting OELs as maximum exposure limits (MELs) and occupational exposure standards (OESs) has been discontinued in favour of a single type of OEL known as the workplace exposure limit (WEL).

The changes came about as a result of concerns expressed by HSC's Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances (ACTS) about how well employers and other stakeholders understood OELs, and about how widely these were being used in industry.

Research carried out for HSE showed that those concerns were justified.

As a result, an ACTS Working Group was given the task of considering a new approach to the setting and use of OELs.