Industrial Hygiene

What is Industrial Hygiene?

A. Industrial Hygiene is the art and science devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of environmental stresses arising in the work place. These stresses may be of chemical, physical, ergonomic, or biological origin. Industrial Hygiene includes protecting the health of employees, as well as the health of those in the community, by sampling and monitoring for exposure to hazardous substances or activities arising in or from the work place. Analytical methods and risk assessment procedures are used to detect the extent of exposure. The goal of Industrial Hygiene is to find alternative methods to reduce or eliminate these health hazards.

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Hazards and Risks in the Workplace

Hazard is the potential to cause harm. Risk is a measure of the likelihood of a specified harmful effect in specified circumstances. It is important to distinguish between hazard and risk.

Hazards in the workplace include the following:

Physical

• Non-ionizing radiation, e.g. microwaves, infra red, visible and ultraviolet light.
• Ionizing radiation, e.g. X-rays, gamma rays, beta particles, alpha particles from radon daughters.
• Noise (usually measured in decibels: dB) and vibration.
• Temperature humidity etc.
• Ergonomic Posture, movement (e.g. keyboard operation), load bearing (e.g. patient handling).

• Inorganic - e.g. lead, arsenic, silica
• Organic - e.g. solvents, resins, glues, fluxes (vapors and gases are usually expressed in concentrations of parts per million or per billion: ppm or ppb)

• Allergens of biological origin: laboratory animals, insects, mites, wood and other plant material, fungal spores.
• Infections: Bacterial, Tuberculosis, Brucella, Leptospira etc.
• Viruses: e.g. Hepatitis B from needlestick injuries.

Psychological

• Various aspects of work organization may be stressors.

The following are the essential areas that require continual risk reduction assessments in order to identify previously unrecognized hazards:

Assessment Of Health Risks Created By Work

• Identification of hazards.
• Assessment of exposure, work practices etc.

• Elimination of hazards.
• Substitution of hazards.
• Enclosure/Segregation so as to reduce exposure.
• Local exhaust ventilation if appropriate.
• Personal protection, e.g. gloves, goggles, masks, footwear.
• Appropriate work organization and practice.

• Checking of control measures.
• Environmental monitoring: personal and background.
• Appropriate health surveillance.

Record Keeping, and Reporting

Occupational Diseases and Injuries

For information on some common occupational diseases and injuries, visit the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) web site. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/diseases.html

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Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html