Industrial Hygiene

Industrial hygiene- is one of the disciplines necessary in the

1. Chemical Hazards
2. Physical Hazards
3. Biological Hazards
4. Ergonomic Hazards
5. Special Considerations
1. Chemical Hazards-Occupational health hazards arise from inhaling
chemical agents in the form of vapors, gases, dusts, fumes, and
mists, or by skin contact with these materials.
 TYPES OF CHEMICAL HAZARD
• Gases are substances in gaseous state are airborne at room temperature.
• Vapor results when substances that are liquid at room temperature
evaporate.
• Mist is a fine particles of a liquid float in air (particle size of 5 to 100 um
approximately.
• Dust is a solid harmful substances are ground, cut or crushed by mechanical
actions and fine particles float in air (particle size of about 1 to 150 um).
• Fume is a gas (such as metal vapor) condensed in air, chemically changed
and becomes fine solid particles which float in air (particles size of about 0.1
to 1 um).
2. Physical Hazards- Problems relating to such things as extremes of
temperature, heat stress, vibration, radiation, abnormal air
pressure, illumination, noise, and vibration are physical stresses.
TYPES OF PHYSICAL HAZARD
a) Extreme temperature-Extreme temperatures (extreme heat and
extreme cold) affect the amount of work that people can do and the
manner in which they do it.
b) Radiation-Electromagnetic waves are produced by the motion of
electrically charged particles. These waves are also called
“electromagnetic radiation” because they radiate from the
electrically charged particles.
c) Extreme pressure-It has been recognized as from the beginning of
caisson work (work performed in a watertight structure) that men
working under pressures greater than at a normal atmospheric one,
are subject to various illnesses connected with the job.
d) Inadequate illumination- The measure of the stream of light falling
on a surface is known as illumination.
e. Excessive vibration
• A body is said to vibrate when it is in an oscillating motion about a
reference point. The number of times a complete motion cycle takes
place during the period of one second is called the frequency and is
measured in hertz (Hz).
f. Noise or unwanted sound
• is a form of vibration conducted through solids, liquids, or gases. The
level of noise in an industrial operation can constitute a physical
hazard to the exposed workers.
3. Biological Hazards Biological hazards are any virus, bacteria, fungus,
parasite, or living organism that can cause a disease in human
beings.
4. Ergonomic Hazards “Ergonomics” literally means the customs,
habits, and laws of work.
5. Special Considerations:
The following items have become important OSH issues that need to
be addressed by Industrial Hygiene professionals and employers:
a) Confined space is an enclosed or a partially enclosed space. It has
restricted entrance and exit (by location, size, and means) thus, the
natural airflow is limited.
b) Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the quality of the air inside
buildings as based on the concentration of pollutants & thermal
(temperature & relative humidity) conditions that affect the health,
comfort and performance of occupants.
Methods of Recognizing occupational
health stresses/hazards
1. Walk-through/ocular inspection – this is necessary in identifying
the potential hazards and determining the critical conditions in the
workplace. It will be good to make a checklist for inspection.
2. Review of the process involved – The identity of the chemical
intermediates formed in the course of an industrial process and the
toxicological properties of these intermediates may be difficult to
establish.
3. Knowing the raw materials, by-products and finished products –
Knowing about the raw materials used and the nature of the
products manufactured will help you determine the specific
contaminants to which workers are actually exposed.
4. Gathering workers’ complaints – the actual chemicals or
substances handled may be determined by interviewing the
workers.
5. Safety Data Sheet (SDS) is a summary of important health, safety
and toxicological information on the chemical or the mixture
ingredients.
 Globally Harmonized System (GHS)
The GHS is an international standard for classifying chemicals and
communicating its hazards. It is a basis for establishing a
comprehensive national chemical safety program, and a
comprehensive approach to defining and classifying hazards and
communicating information on labels and safety data sheets.
Benefits of GHS
• enhance the protection of humans and environment
• facilitate international trade in chemicals
• reduce the need for testing and evaluation of chemicals
• assist countries and international organizations to ensure the sound
management of chemicals
Elements of GHS
• Hazard Classification Criteria has three major hazard groups namely
physical, heath, and environmental hazards. Based on the three
classifications of hazards, the following compose the GHS criteria
Physical hazards
Health hazards
Environmental hazards
d) Hazard communication composed of Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and
Labels.
GHS labels must include specific:
signal words
hazard statements
symbols/ pictograms.
Types of Environmental Monitoring
1. Personal Monitoring – the measurement of a particular employee’s
exposure to airborne contaminants.
2. Area/Environmental Sampling – Environmental sampling is the
measurement of contaminant concentration in the workroom.
Instruments used to measure the different hazards:
Lux Meter - illumination
Psychrometer – humidity
 Anemometer - air movement
Smoke Tester - air direction
 Globe Thermometer - heat
Sound Level Meter - noise
3. Biological Monitoring – involves the measurement of changes in
the composition of body fluids, tissue or expired air to determine
absorption of a potentially hazardous material. Examples are
measurement of lead and mercury in blood or in urine.
Environment Control Measures
 THREE GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTROL
MEASURES
• Engineering Controls
• Administrative Controls
• Use of Personal Protective Equipment
1. Engineering Controls - eliminate the hazard by considering safety
and health provisions, substitution, modification of
process/equipment, isolation, wet methods and industrial
ventilation.
a. Proper design and planning – Initial consideration regarding safety
and health aspects must be made in the planning and construction
stage.
b. Substitution/replacement of materials used. One of the control
methods is through substitution of non-toxic chemicals for the
highly toxic ones.
c. Modification in the process/equipment. A change in the process
offers an ideal chance to concomitantly improve working conditions
d. Isolation. Hazardous operations should be isolated to minimize
exposure of workers
e. Wet methods. Airborne dust hazards can be minimized or greatly
reduced by applying water or other suitable liquids.
f. Industrial ventilation. A very important aspect of engineering
control has to do with ventilation
2. Administrative Controls - control employees’ exposure by
scheduling hazardous work process; reduced working hours in hot
processes and work areas with excessive noise levels; assigning
workers to other less hazardous work areas of production and
training of workers on various health and safety aspects.
a. Reduction of work periods.
b. Adjusting work schedules.
c. Job Rotation.
d. Education of supervisors.
e. Employee information and training.
f. Emergency response training and education
g. Housekeeping and maintenance.
3. Use of Personal Protective Equipment - should be considered as
the last resort when engineering controls are not feasible or are not
sufficient to achieve acceptable limits of exposure.
Types of respirators:
a. Air-purifying respirators
b. Air-supplying respirators
THANK YOU!