Occupational Hygiene
OCCH-616 /001 /088
Basic principles
Course 1
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Course participant and content
�Course outline
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Standard industrial hygiene
report : semester assignment
�Standard content of a technical report
� Executive summary
� Goal/Objective
� Introduction
� Material and method
� Results
� Discussion
� Recommendation
� Conclusion
� References
�The conclusion must be in line with the
goal/objective
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�Standard IH report model
Semester assignment
�You will have to choose a topic in the daily
news
�Prepare a preliminary report to stackholder
�Is there a risk?
�Is it important?
�What should be done about it?
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Web sources of information
http://www.reptox.csst.qc.ca
http://www.irsst.qc.ca/
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/
http://www.inrs.fr/
http://www.aiha.org/
http://www.hse.gov.uk/
http://www.riotinto.com/
http://www.ccohs.ca/
http://www.worksafebc.com/
http://www.acgih.org/home.htm
And many more…..
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Occupational Hygiene
�Occupational hygiene is the science and
art of anticipating, recognizing, evaluating
and controlling occupational health hazards,
whether they be chemical, biological,
physical or ergonomic in nature-that may
impair the health or well-being of workers
and the community. The degree of
impairment can range from discomfort and
inefficiency, to compensable or even fatal
occupational diseases.
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Occupational Hygiene
And
soci
al
imag
e
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Health risk evaluation
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high
very high
medium
3
2
low
1
neglectable
0
0
8
.
1
2
3
4
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Toxicity index
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The
industrial
hygiene risk
assessment
process
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Occupational Hygiene
� In today's world, it is fair to add : and
communicating….
�Peter Sandman :” I spent half my career
convincing management on acting on serious
issues and the other half convincing union
the importance of choosing the right risks for
priotization “
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Code of EthicsRegistered Occupational
Hygienists and Registered Occupational Hygiene
Technologists
� Place the health and safety of workers above all other interests in
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the performance of their professional work.
Direct professional activities toward the protection and improvement
of the health, safety, and well-being of all persons.
Make every reasonable effort to protect the environment from adverse
effects resulting from the performance of their work.
Perform their work honestly , objectively , and in accordance with
currently accepted professional standards.
Respect the privacy of confidential personal , professional , and
business information.
Participate only in projects or situations that do not place them in
personal or business conflicts of interest. This provision is waived if
the principal parties to the ROH's or ROHT's conflict of interest have
given their informed, specifically expressed, consent.
Conduct themselves with integrity.
Maintain a working knowledge of current developments in the
profession and a detailed knowledge of areas in which they claim
expertise.Promote activities that advance and disseminate
occupational hygiene knowledge .
Co-operate with the directors of the Canadian Registration Board of
Occupational Hygienists in administering this Code of Ethics.
Adopted June 19, 1992
http://www.crboh.ca/page.cfm?onumber=11
Book review
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Book review
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Book review
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Book review
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Industrial hygiene in an EHS
world
Environment
Safety
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Health
�Chemical release
from the process
�Confined space
entry
�Accident/incident
management
�SDS
�Management of
change
�…..
�…..
�…..
Shifting state of the art in
exposure assessment
�From compliance monitoring to comprehensive
exposure assessment
�Compliance monitoring : focus on maximum
exposure employees to determined wheter
exposure is above or below limit
�Comprehensive exposure assessment :
characterization of all exposures for all workers
on all days
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Some Working Definitions
�Hazard - Any substance, process,
chemical capable of causing harm
�Exposure - Physical contact with
substance or agent of concern (All route
of entry)
�Dose – Degree of intake of
substance/energy into body
�Risk Assessment - Process of
calculating numerical value of risk
�Risk Analysis - Process of evaluating
the results of the risk assessment
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Additional Working Definitions
�Causation - Can the chemical/agent in
question cause the disease ?
�Dose Response - Increasing dose results in
increased disease incidence and/or increased
severity of adverse health effect
�Risk Management - Manipulation of the
causes of the risk in order to minimize the
risk or its effect
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Risk manager vs risk assessor
� The risk assessor evaluates the frequency and magnitude of human and
ecological exposures that may occur as a consequence of contact with
the contaminated medium, both now and in the future.
� Risk assessment provides "INFORMATION " on potential health or
ecological risks, and risk management is the "ACTION" taken based on
consideration of that and other information, as follows:
� Scientific factors provide the basis for the risk assessment, including
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information drawn from toxicology, chemistry, epidemiology, ecology, and
statistics - to name a few.
Economic factors inform the manager on the cost of risks and the benefits
of reducing them, the costs of risk mitigation or remediation options and the
distributional effects.
Laws and legal decisions are factors that define the basis for the Agency’s
risk assessments, management decisions, and, in some instances, the
schedule, level or methods for risk reduction.Social factors, such as income
level, ethnic background, community values, land use, zoning, availability of
health care, life style, and psychological condition of the affected
populations, may affect the susceptibility of an individual or a definable
group to risks from a particular stressor.
Technological factors include the feasibility, impacts, and range of risk
management options.
Political factors are based on the interactions among branches of the
Federal government, with other Federal, state, and local government entities,
and even with foreign governments; these may range from practices defined
by Agency policy and political administrations through inquiries from
members of Congress, special interest groups, or concerned citizens.
Public values reflect the broad attitudes of society about environmental risks
and risk management.
Hazards
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Hazards
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Occupational Hygiene
�While occupational hygiene is mainly a
science for the primary prevention of acute
or chronic health impairment, it also serves a
vital role in investigating causes of health
complaints resulting from workplace and
environmental exposures.
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The Industrial Hygiene Process
•
•
•
•
•
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Anticipation
Recognition
Evaluation
Control
Communicate
of environmental
factors that can cause
disease or impairment.
Recognition
PURPOSE
• Identify potential health hazards in
the workplace
• This is the objective of IH inspections
or surveys
Most critical step
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Occupational Hygienist
�An occupational hygienist is a professional
trained to study and control occupational
health hazards that may affect the health of
workers.
�One of the main functions of the industrial
hygienist is the assessment of the degree of
exposure to health hazards.
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Occupational Health Hazards
Table 1-1.1
Examples of occupational health hazards
CHEMICAL: Dust, Fume, Mist, Smoke, Vapour, Gas
BIOLOGICAL: Moulds, Bacteria, Viruses, Parasites, Pollen
PHYSICAL: Heat, Cold, Noise, Ionizing Radiation, Non-ionizing
Radiation, Vibration, Abnormal Pressure
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ERGONOMIC: Mental Stress, Fatigue, Repetitious Work
Evaluation of Health Hazards
�Generally, evaluation of a health hazard
refers to the process of estimating the
concentration of the chemical or biological
agent in the air that would typically be
breathed by the worker or, for physical
hazards, measuring the intensity of the
energy received by the worker's body.
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Evaluation of Health Hazards
�Once the concentration or intensity of an
agent has been formally evaluated, the
degree of exposure can then be compared
with an appropriate health-based standard,
and a decision taken to act, not act, or to
seek more data.
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Evaluation of Health Hazards
�Sometimes it is possible to go beyond
exposure concentrations of a substance in
the work environment, and measure the level
of the substance in a body fluid (usually
urine or blood)
�For some substances, such measurements
can determine whether or not a worker is
over-exposed (biological monitoring)
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Control of Health Hazards
�Adequate control of health hazards is the
final step in protecting worker health. Control
begins by eliminating health hazards at
their source at the design stage of a
machine, process, or workplace, and ends
with the evaluation and surveillance of the
effectiveness of control measures.
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Hierarchy of controls
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