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CONTENTS

How to assess employee health hazards in the workplace
(cover page)

Evaluating dust levels in the workplace

Employee accidents are a sign of faulty work processes

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Cover story

How to assess employee health hazards in the workplace

An industrial hygienist can analyze physical and chemical hazards in the workplace.

The primary objective of conducting an initial (qualitative) industrial hygiene assessment is to categorize the potential health hazards, either chemical or physical, to which employees are exposed based upon an estimated degree of exposure.

This first step is needed to develop a sampling strategy to evaluate potential exposures and to develop action plans that will help managers reduce risk by improving the effectiveness of their industrial hygiene program.

Categorizing potential health hazards includes gathering available background information through the review of past loss records and industrial hygiene reports. Such reports may indicate if overexposures existed, what recommendations were made and if corrective actions were taken.

The industrial hygienist (IH) also must observe potential health hazards associated with the workflow from raw materials to final product. A good place to start is in the location’s receiving department or with the chemical inventory.

To characterize exposures, the IH must determine:

• The number of employees potentially exposed
• The frequency of the tasks involving the potential exposure
• The hours per day and days per week of the task
• Other activities employees are performing during the exposure period

During the evaluation, the IH should note any use of personal protective equipment, such as respirators or dust masks and/or ear plugs or ear muffs, and find out why the protection is used. The evaluation also must include comments about the use of engineering controls, such as local exhaust ventilation, general ventilation, control booths, sound barriers or sound-absorbing materials and find out how these controls are maintained. The IH must determine if any medical surveillance programs are in effect and the outcome of that monitoring. An observation of general housekeeping and the condition of employees’ clothing should be conducted, looking for evidence of spills or careless storage practices, such as excessive corrosion, discoloration or stains on walls, floors or structures.

Lastly, the IH must quantify the degree of exposure. For example, after a careful review of available data and observations, the IH must determine if the employee exposures to the contaminant are estimated in excess of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Permissible Exposure Limit or the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values. If so, this might be considered a severe exposure. An estimation that exposures are between 50 percent and 100 percent of occupational exposure limits might be considered moderate; less than that might be considered low exposure. The more conservative of applicable occupational exposure limits should be used in making these evaluations.

The following chart is an example of how to organize the information gathered and estimate exposures. This information can then be used to prioritize sampling and develop corrective action plans as needed.

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