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Many chemicals used at work are flammable or explosive, either on their own or when mixed together. Dust explosions can also occur if enough dust of any solid material in the air is ignited by a flame or spark. Risks of fire and explosion need to be controlled by storing and handling chemicals correctly.

Certain chemicals emit ionising radiation, a specific type of radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum (other types include radiowaves and visible light). Some kinds of ionising radiation penetrate body tissues. High doses of radiation, as occurred after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and in Chernobyl after the nuclear reactor accident, are lethal. At low doses, ionising radiation causes DNA damage and so can lead to cancer. Workers at risk of exposure to ionising radiation include those in hospitals and laboratories.

The Ionising Radiation Regulations 1985 require that exposures are kept "as low as is reasonably practicable". Exposure above specified single and annual doses must be reported to the HSE. The regulations also specify that certain areas be designated as "controlled areas" or "supervised areas" according to likely radiation exposure. Employers must also appoint qualified radiation protection advisers in workplaces with "controlled areas" or where doses above a certain level occur. New regulations to implement two Euratom directives will come into force during 2000. A European directive on physical agents, which would have covered non-ionising radiation, appears unlikely to see the light of day.

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