March 2006, Issue #47
Feature Story: Industrial Hygiene
What do emergency response, ergonomics, mold, workplace safety, indoor environmental quality, and nanotechnology have in common? These and many other threats to safety in the workplace are all monitored by safety specialists called industrial hygienists. Think of industrial hygienists as workplace detectives. They investigate potential hazards and create solutions to protect the health and safety of workers and the public.
Click here for the full feature article....
Industrial Hygienists track the latest trends in occupational health and safety in an effort to stay one step ahead. Here are a few of the hot topics in industrial hygiene today:
Pandemic Flu: A Pandemic is an outbreak of a disease that initiates simultaneous infections of humans throughout the world. In the event of pandemic influenza, industrial hygienists will play a key role in helping the business community protect employee health and safety as well as limit the negative impact to the economy and society.
Methamphetamine Lab Cleanup: Three issues are paramount from clandestine methamphetamine drug manufacturing:
- Safety concerns for police or fire fighters entering operational meth labs during drug busts or fires
- Health and safety concerns pertaining to cleanup and remediation and waste disposal
- Lingering health concerns caused by chemical and meth residues in meth lab sites and adjacent affected areas
The role of the industrial hygienist is to recommend proper steps to be taken to reduce the contamination to acceptable or achievable levels. The lab site must be tested for contamination caused by dangerous chemicals and lingering traces of methamphetamine itself.
Dirty Bombs: There are many industrial uses of ionizing radiation sources that are safe, reasonable and exciting; however, if a worker is adversely exposed to ionizing radiation the results can range from severe burns to cancer. Many industrial hygienists have discovered that radiation safety has become part of their responsibilities and they are called to action in the case of dirty bombs and other ionizing radiation incidents.
Nanotechnology: Nanoscale particles are already being used in the electronic, magnetic and optoelectronic, biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, energy, catalytic and materials industries.
Dealing with submicroscopic health hazards is nothing new to industrial hygiene, but now, "the next industrial revolution" of nanotechnology presents many workplace health and safety concerns. As nanotechnology-related industries grow, more than 4 million people in the United States are expected to be exposed to nanometer-diameter particles on a regular basis-twice the level of people exposed to this technology today.
Emergency Response: Industrial hygienists are an important resource for governmental agencies, private response organizations, and Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) providing a wide range of health, safety and environmental health expertise to responders, support staff, and the surrounding community.
With their broad professional experience, training, and educational background, industrial hygienists provide planners, incident commanders, and community leaders with effective methods to identify, manage, and ultimately, control risks associated with natural disaster, hazardous material accidents, and terrorism events (e.g., 911 Terrorist attacks, Anthrax, Hurricane Katrina, and Asian Tsunami).
Mold: Molds are everywhere in the environment, and can be found almost anywhere samples are taken. It is not known; however, what quantity of mold is acceptable in indoor environments with respect to health. The key role of industrial hygienists is protecting individuals from exposure to hazardous substances, (i.e., lead, asbestos, noise, radiation, biological chemicals) including exposure to fungi and other potentially hazardous microorganisms, commonly referred to as "mold."
Click here for the full feature article. For additional information on these topics, visit the AIHA Web site.
