To raise awareness about the need to
keep working hands safe, Marigold
Industrial has teamed up with a
safety consultant who knows only
too well the importance of hand
protection.

Doug McIntosh had
to have his arm
amputated from below
the elbow in 1997, six
months after using a degreasing
bath that
contained
Trichloroethylene. The
chemical entered his
body through a small
cut at the end of one of his fingers,
and was responsible for causing subdermal
cancer. Prior to working with
the substance, McIntosh had
received little training or advice about
safe handling of chemicals or the
importance of hand and arm
protection, COSHH and PPE.

Since his operation McIntosh has
retrained as a safety consultant. He is
at the forefront of a campaign to
highlight the importance of hand
and arm protection and will be
working with Marigold Industrial,
using his story as a case
study that will be included
in its educational and
training materials.

John Thorne, chemical
category manager for
Marigold Industrial,
comments: “Doug’s is a
stark and powerful message
and one that we hope will
strike a chord with workers
across the UK. His was an extreme
case, but the reality is that chemicals
– even mild ones – strip the skin of
its natural protection and without
proper levels of protection for the
chemical being worked with, the
results can be damaging and painful.”