Industrial Hygiene Quantitative and Qualitative Assessment
Surveys
HygieneTech offers a wide variety of industrial hygiene services designed to identify, evaluate, and control unhealthful exposures to chemical and physical stressors in industrial, office, and outdoor environments. Our professional staff members have worked extensively in traditional industrial environments such as refineries, metal plating shops, semiconductor and other high technology production facilities, vehicle repair shops, power plants, foundries, wood and metal working shops, as well as in non-traditional environments such as hazardous waste remediation sites and, on an emergency response basis, at chemical spill locations.
Air monitoring surveys are conducted to determine airborne concentrations of varying chemical contaminants in employee breathing zones or other areas of interest. Air contaminants of concern have included benzene, methylene chloride, methyl ethyl ketone, formaldehyde, ethylene oxide, methyl alcohol, gasoline, MTBE, and other hydrocarbon compounds; lead, beryllium, cadmium nickel, chromium, zinc, and other metals; chlordane, chlorpyrifos, DDT, and other pesticides; inorganic and organic acids; ozone; asbestos and other fibrous or non-fibrous dusts; and bioaerosols such as bacteria, yeasts, and molds. All air samples are collected, handled, and analyzed in appropriately qualified laboratories using OSHA, NIOSH, or other recognized and validated methods. When deemed appropriate, direct-reading instruments are used to supplement traditional industrial hygiene techniques for the purpose of determining peak exposure potential data. All air sampling and monitoring instruments are calibrated in accordance with the analytical methods and the manufacturers’ specifications.
The HygieneTech professional staff members also perform surveys designed to determine personal exposures to physical agents such as noise, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, extreme air temperatures, relative humidity, and illumination. Our inventory of direct-reading instruments includes sound level meters, audio dosimeters, ionizing radiation detectors, illumination meters, electro-magnetic radiation detectors, microwave detectors, wet bulb-globe temperature instruments, and moisture detectors that are designed to determine the moisture content in building materials.
Comprehensive reports are prepared which include descriptions of background information; observations of operations and work practices, environmental conditions, engineering controls, and personal protective equipment use; sampling and analytical methods; data interpretation and exposure standards; conclusions; and, when deemed appropriate, recommendations concerning regulatory compliance, engineering controls, work practice modifications, employee training, medical surveillance, and the use of personal protective equipment. All exposure data are evaluated in light of current federal or state OSHA permissible exposure limits (PELs) or other exposure guidelines such as the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists threshold limit values (TLVs), NIOSH recommended exposure limits (RELs), or when applicable, foreign standards.
