Industrial Hygiene in Construction

People who work in industrial hygiene try NOT to admit fault. There are reasons;  legal implications, credibility, and of course, pride. Since this blog is about being transparent, I will confess I made a huge mistake. My mistake wasn’t disastrous, but it could have been.

Background:

Employees were using a hudson sprayer (pump style) to apply a liquid waterproofing material. Air monitoring was performed and found to be 50% of the OELs. However, given the environmental conditions, and different areas they would need to access, I recommended they wear 1/2 face respirators. The hazard was isopropyl alcohol and a 1/2 face respirator with organic vapor cartridges was sufficient, with goggles & protective clothing.

However. It wasn’t isopropyl alcohol….it was methyl alcohol (methanol). And, there is a HUGE difference. Organic vapor cartridges (filters) provide NO protection to methanol. I should have recommended supplied air respirators.

I feel terrible, and I apologized.

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time” – George Bernard Shaw

I’ll admit it. My elevator pitch is not the best. I have a hard time trying to briefly describe what I do as an industrial hygienist. I usually answer the question with a recent example of a interesting project.

What would you hire an industrial hygienist for? Well, this article describes exactly when you would hire one. I bet the haz mat crew has at least one hygienist investigating this concern.

AIHA has published video on what IHs do and our job function (s). They did a much better job than I could have done, but, the video is NOT as exciting as real-life.

As you might be aware, there is a loudness of noise which your ears cannot be protected against. Your body’s system of preventing the sound waves from entering your ear are just too much for it to handle. As the noise (sound pressure) hits your inner ear the bones convert the physical energy (noise) into a chemical & neurological process so you are able to hear. Ear plugs and ear muffs are not sufficient enough to protect against the amount of noise exposure.

However! Sometime in the future we might have a pill to prevent this type of hearing loss.

Researchers have found that the chemicals, D-methionine, ebselen & N-acetylcysteine, battle chemical stress on your ears.  We are still a long way from being able to take a pill to avoid hearing loss. They must go through more testing and the FDA approvals.

But, isn’t that cool!?

If you operate a ready-mix plant and have concrete trucks, you are aware of this process. Once a year (hopefully, only once) a person must climb into the drum of the ready-mix truck and chip off excess concrete. What happen during regular use, is that some concrete hardens, which usually sets-up over and around the blades. Access into the drum is by either the 3×4 hole in the side, or down the chute.

Yes, it is a confined space (def’n: 1. large enough to enter, 2. not designed for occupancy, and 3. limited entry/egress).

Here are a list of the possible hazards:

• silica dust (from chipping concrete)
• noise exposure
• hazardous atmosphere (curing concrete uses up oxygen, which we DO need BTW)
• slipping hazard (drum is round inside)
• heat stress (if you’re trying to do this activity in the summer)
• eye hazard (chipping)
• electrical hazard (if you’re using water & have an electric hammer)
• lock out / tag out (if the truck drives away, or if the barrel starts turning)

There are many resources available (see below). Some things to keep in mind; ventilation (fans, etc) to control the airborne silica dust are usually not effective (too much dust versus exhaust). Water controls are best, but you must limit the amount of water and the direction of the sprayer. I suggest looking at what others have done.

Keep in mind, if you perform this activity you will need (as a company):

• respiratory program (medical, fit test, written plan)
• confined space program (multi gas meter, written program, attendant?)
• lock out /tag out policy or procedures
• training (for each of the above, and for this specific activity)

At this point I know what my contractor-friends are thinking…I will subcontract this out!   ha. If you do, please make sure your sub is doing it right.

Resources:

Georgia Tech – good presentation & guidance

Georgia Tech/OSHA – Safe Work Practices (in Spanish too!)

Teamsters H&S hazards & controls

Illinois DCEO – Consultation on ready mix cleaning

Update 10/5/12 – We have fixed the subscriptions! Thank Brian B for the help!

Sorry to those of you who have subscribed, and are not getting an email when there are updates to the blog.

The IT department (me) is working on it…

I love the show, “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe. I find it fascinating what people are willing to do for work. Many of the jobs on the show have a true element of danger. Either a pinch point, an animal bite/kick, struck-by, heat/cold extreme, confined space, etc.

Did you ever consider what makes something hazardous?

My “deep thought for today” (thanks Jack Handy) is that education and training can make a job less hazardous. If you know how to do it right, and you know the risk, it doesn’t seem as dangerous anymore. The risk is there, but you know how to handle it, so the “hazard” seems to fade. This week I’ve given two separate asbestos classes to two different employers. At the beginning the employees were genuinely concerned about the hazards. By the end, they looked a lot more comfortable about upcoming project.

Is it any surprise that the HazCom standard is the most OSHA cited rule year over year?

So, keep up the training! Educate the employees on the dangers.

In  the trainings I perform for employers, I try to explain to them that there IS overexposure to silica on their jobsite. I tell them that if I could be at their site everyday, and be ready to perform air monitoring at a moments notice, I could find overexposures.

Here is an example of a road crew cutting asphalt with a concrete saw. I’m sure it was a small cut (since they were not a concrete cutting subcontractor, and it was a tiny little saw). But the haze you see is the dust plume from the cutting.

I just happened to drive by and be stopped at a red light when this occurred. I know, I probably shouldn’t have touched my phone (while in my car) to take a picture…but I couldn’t resist. And, with that same train of thought, the road construction crew probably thought, “it’s just a small cut and it will only take 5 minutes”. So, neither of us are innocent

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We, in the US, hardly need a reason to celebrate. However, here’s another one.

Most of the time my job feels like a cross between a persuasive speech, an attorney at a deposition, a lab rat, and a mechanic working on a VW. However, once in awhile  you feel like you helped someone live a little better life, or changed things for the better. For those of you doing it…good job!

And, if you feel the urge, share the love! 🙂

No, this is not mine. But how funny is this? It is good to be clean!

There is high demand!

See EHS article, which summarizes the NIOSH findings on the future of EHS jobs.

Yahoo Finance  (look at #6, but the information is a bit off)

If you’re wondering what the heck IH’s do…

• Remember that this is a technical-based career….you have to like science, chemicals, or physics.
• an Oklahoma article
• the standard answer: AIHA,
• another source: industrial hygiene support.

It’s a great career that offers challenges, diversity (as opposed to the daily grind) and… sometimes, you even help people! (ha).