Be sure your sampling meets OSHA’s requirements
Sampling is more than just slapping a pump on an employee to see if their exposures exceed legal limits. The expectations of sampling strategy and recordkeeping are best exemplified in OSHA’s expanded standards. First, we’ll discuss general best sampling strategies and then we will use the Methylene Chloride standard, 1910.1052, to demonstrate OSHA’s expectations for […]
Reproductive Hazards
How many people do you know that waited to have kids until after they got more financially secure? So, they work and put money away, buy the house, and then find they have trouble conceiving or bringing a child to term. Data from the 2006–2010 National Survey of Family Growth studies of women under the […]
When do you need to bring in a Certified Industrial Hygienist, CIH?
OSHA has required air or noise sampling, they only accept sampling data from a CIH. Your concerns are related to employee exposures to chemicals on site, especially when chemical exposures include: Adverse health effects that are not immediately apparent, such as cancer or reproductive hazards. You are planning a process and need to identify hazards […]
Reusable Vs Disposable Personal Protective Equipment
Reusable versus disposable PPE. Both have their assets and defects. Disposable Must be kept in stock and a system to identify and respond when the stock runs low or exceeds the expiration date. The distributor must be relied upon not to run out of the gloves you need. The manufacturer must be relied upon not […]
Protein Based Vs Gene Based Vaccines
By Susen Trail, CIH A viral invader triggers an immune response that creates an antibody specific to the viral antigen. The antibodies attack the antigens by binding to them to prevent them from binding to healthy body cells. Antibodies remain in your system for several months after you recover, during this time you are immune […]
The Long Term Use of Air and Noise Sampling Records
It is not unusual for an employer to be aware of the employee exposure sampling requirements of standards such as 1910.95 Occupational Noise Exposure, or 1910.1026 Hexavalent Chromium. However, many employers are unaware that this sampling triggers the documentation content and duration requirements of 1910.1020. The records must contain sufficient data to meet the requirements […]
Noise, Adverse Effects, and OSHA Compliance
Noise is one of the most common occupational hazards in any industry. While the manufacturing sector is 13% of the American workforce this sector has 72% of all recordable hearing loss cases. Not only does the employee suffer from reduced or lost hearing our economy loses an estimated $242 Million/year in worker’s compensation for the […]
Basic Information About Viral Pathogens & The Current State Of Information About COVID-19
As we ‘shelter in place’ as a means of controlling the spread of the Novel Corona Virus, first diagnosed in November of 2019, it is a good time to evaluate not just COVID-19 but viruses in general. But first, a little perspective on the numbers game. The following reasons indicate that COVID-19 fatality rate will […]
IH Assessment of Current Viruses
According to the Chinese government’s statistics COVID-19 currently has 2% mortality rate, SARS was 10% and, the usual influenza mortality rate is 0.1%. We live in a progressively “smaller” world. Before we could fly it would have taken months to travel to America from China. During the trip infections contracted there would have already played […]