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PROTECTING YOUR WORKFORCE: INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SOLUTIONS

Sampa Das Ostrem, MS, CIHD.A.S. Consulting Services, LLC

CDC

D.A.S. CONSULTING SERVICES• Industrial Hygiene (IH), Environmental,

Health and Safety (EHS) firm• Located in Springfield, IL • Serve clients throughout the country• Woman, minority owned business

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HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED?• Headaches or dizziness while working

with chemicals?• People telling you that you are talking

louder than normal? § Maybe working around noisy equipment?

• Air quality at home making your family sick?

• Working around asbestos or lead-based paint?

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An Industrial Hygienist can help you answer these

questions and find solutions

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WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE?

• Defined as the science and art dedicated to the§Anticipation§Recognition§ Evaluation§Control

of hazards in the workplace and environment

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IH IS SYNONOMOUS WITH:

• Occupational or Workplace Health• Occupational Hygiene• Environmental or Occupational

Health and Safety

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EARLY HISTORY

• 4th Century BC – Hippocrates noted lead toxicity in mining industry

• 1st Century AD – Pliny the Elder (Roman scholar) identified health risks associated with zinc and sulfur and devised a face mask from animal bladder

• 1556 – Agricola (German scholar) published book De Re Metallica that described the diseases of miners and preventative measure (ventilation, worker protection, etc.)

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• 1700 – Bernardo Ramazzini (Father of Occupational Medicine) published first comprehensive book on industrial medicine (De Morbis Artificum Diatriba –Diseases of Workers)

• 1943 – Dr. Alice Hamilton (Mother of Industrial Hygiene) published book Exploring the Dangerous Trades

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HISTORY

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OSHA HISTORY• 1970 – The Occupational Safety and Health Act

passed which created OSHA and NIOSH• 1971 – OSHA adopts its first permissible

exposure limits (PELs) based on the American Conference of Governmental His (ACGIH) Threshold Limit Values (TLVs)

• 1989 – OSHA updates >200 existing PELs and establishes new PELs for 160 additional substances

• 1992 -11th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses the 1989 OSHA rulemaking returning PELs to their 1971 levels

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WORKPLACE STATISTICS• From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

(www.bls.gov)§ The Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities ProgramØData collected and reported annually through the

Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses and the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI)

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RECORDABLE CASES• OSHA definition:§ Any work-related fatality§ Any work-related injury or illness that results in loss of

consciousness, days away from work, restricted work or transfer to another job

§ Any work-related injury or illness requiring medical treatment beyond first aid

§ Any work-related diagnosed case of cancer, chronic irreversible diseases, fractured or cracked bones or teeth, and punctured eardrums

§ Special recording criteria for work-related cases involving needlesticks and sharps injuries, medical removal, hearing loss, and tuberculosis

WORKPLACE FATALITIES• US - 5,250 workplace fatalities in

2018 § 2% increase from 2017 (5,147)§ Transportation incidents remained most

frequent type at 40% (2,080)§ In manufacturing, 343 fatalities

• IL -184 workplace fatalities in 2018§ Increase from 2017 (163)§ In manufacturing, 8 fatalities § (12 in 2017)

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WORKPLACE FATALITIES (cont.)

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WORKPLACE INJURIES & ILLNESSES

• In the US§ Over 3.5M recordable cases in 2018 Ø In manufacturing over 430,000 cases

• In IL§ Over 136,000 recordable cases in 2018 Ø In manufacturing over 20,500 cases

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IH BACKGROUND• Scientists with knowledge in:

§ Chemistry, Biology, Physics§ Mathematics§ Toxicology§ Epidemiology§ Radiation§ Community exposures§ Ventilation systems§ Noise and Vibration

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IH BACKGROUND (cont.)

• First priority is to protect the health of workers – “do no harm”

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IH ROLES• Investigate workplace for hazards• Make recommendations on improving

safety or workers and community• Prepare assessments• Use specialized instrumentation and

monitoring equipment to determine exposures

• Develop action plans• Conduct regular inspections• Provide training and education

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WHERE ARE IHs• Chemical Companies• Manufacturing• Colleges, universities• Government• Consulting firms• Hospitals• Labs• Insurance companies• And More

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WHAT IS A CIH?• Certified Industrial Hygienist• Meet requirements to pass American Board

of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH) exam§ Educational and experience requirements

• Adhere to Code of Ethics• Keep knowledge and skills up to date on

current information§ Continuing education

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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE• Anticipate§ Proactively identify potential hazards

• Recognize§ Identify potential hazards posed by a

chemical, physical, biological or other hazard

• Evaluate§ Determine if a hazard exceeds exposure

limits• Control§ How to minimize or eliminate the hazard

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EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT• Process of designing exposure profiles and

judging the acceptability of workplace exposures to environmental agents

• Foundation of the IH program

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Exposure Monitoring

Epidemiology

Hazard Communication

Education and

Training

Hazardous Materials

Management

AdministrativeControls

Hearing Conservation

Engineering Controls

Work Practice Controls

Personal Protective Equipment

RadiationSafety

MedicalSurveillance

Exposure Assessment

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EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT (cont.)

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Start

Basic Characterization

Reassessment

Acceptable Exposure

Exposure Assessment

Uncertain Unacceptable Exposure

Further InformationGathering

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EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT (cont.)

• Anticipate Potential Hazards & Health Effects§ Chemical, Physical, Biological, Ergonomic

& other• Gather Information§ Processes, tasks, shifts§ Walk-through, interview, review documents

• Review Processes and Operations§ Raw materials, products, quantities used

• Review occupational exposure limits

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BASICCHARACTERIZATION

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• OSHA – Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)§ 29 CFR 1910.1000 (Z tables)

• ACGIH – Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) & Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs)

• NIOSH – Recommended Exposure Limits (RELs)

• AIHA – Workplace Environmental Exposure Limits (WEELs)

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EXPOSURES LIMITS

DEVELOPING A SAMPLING STRATEGY

• Questions:§ What are the sampling objectives?§ Where? When? Who?§ Expected contaminant concentrations§ Type of sample (air, wipe, bulk)§ What to sample with (instrument, badges

pumps/media)§ How many samples?§ Duration of the samples?§ Interferences?

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DEVELOPING A SAMPLING STRATEGY (cont.)• Detector Tubes- Draeger

• Direct Reading Instrument§ Confined Space Meter – H2S

• Analytical Method§ Passive sampler§ Sampling media – sampling

pumps (cassettes, tube, etc.)§ Collection devices (cyclone,

impactor, impinger, etc.)

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• Implement Workplace Controls

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CONTROL MEASURES

CONTROL MEASURES (cont.)• Factors affecting a Control Plan§ Magnitude of the health risk§ Technical feasibility§ Economic feasibility§ Reliability of the control method§ Worker acceptance§ Consequences of control failure§ Maintenance requirements§ Associated safety hazards§ Associated environmental hazards

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DOCUMENTATION• Sampling and testing data including

calibration records• Ventilation system records• Maintenance activities/records• Systems operations• Work procedures (SOPs)• Training records• Safety Data Sheets (SDS)• Worker complaints

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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENISTS

• IHs are:§ the eyes and ears of the workplace§ guardians of workplace safety § unifying management, workers and all

segments of a company behind the common goal of health and safety

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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENISTS (cont.)

• IHs must be able to:§ Listen to people§ Understand § CommunicateØTrainingØMeetingsØManagement and workersØReports

§ ProtectØHealthy workers = healthy business

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PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS• American Conference of Governmental

Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)

• American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)

• International Occupational Hygiene Association

• American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH)

• American Public Health Association (APHA)

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WEB SITES

• AIHA (www.aiha.gov)• ACGIH (www.acgih.gov)• ABIH (www.abih.org)• OSHA (www.osha.gov)• NIOSH (www.cdc.gov/niosh)• EPA (www.epa.gov)• IOHA (www.ioha.net)

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GOAL

• All of us want to go home without injuries or illnesses to take care of ourselves, our families and our friends

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DISCLAIMER

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D.A.S. and IMEC are here to help.

Submit your questions to the Illinois Manufacturing Helpline and receive a direct response from IMEC.

• IMEC helpline: https://www.imec.org/helpline/• For additional information or to speak with D.A.S. Consulting Services,

LLC, please contact Sampa Das Ostrem at sostrem@das-cs.com

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