The Synergist - controlbandingcontrolbanding.net/uploads/10March_Synergist.pdf · The Synergist focuses on industry trends and news, government and regulatory activities, key issues

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22 Ethics and OELs

23 Sizing Up OSHA

30 Protecting the Aging Workforce

34 Respiratory Protection in a Pandemic

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Features26 Control Banding and

NanotechnologyNanomaterials turn everything youknow about industrial hygiene upsidedown. How does a concept as simple ascontrol banding save the day?By David M. Zalk and Samuel Y. Paik

30 Prolong the Functional AgeBy 2018, nearly one-quarter of theU.S. labor force will be over 55. Ergonomics principles will be key tomaximizing the productivity and safetyof this aging work force.By Margaret Wan

34 Respiratory Protection in a PandemicOur experience with H1N1 shows thatit’s never too late to plan for the nextpandemic.By Christopher B. Murray26

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8 President’s MessageStrength in NumbersBy Cathy Cole

10 Washington InsiderAs Congress Stalls, an Opening for OSHABy Aaron Trippler

12 CommunityAIHA NEWS

22 Insight: EthicsIntricate MeasurementsBy John P. Burke

23 Insight: Regulatory OutlookSizing Up the New SheriffBy Paul Waters

38 NewsWatchOEHS AND INDUSTRY NEWS

42 OpportunitiesEDUCATIONAL EVENTS FOR

OEHS PROFESSIONALS

44 Product Features

45 Advertiser’s Index/Synergist Fax-Back Card

46 Introductions

The Synergist’s mission is to provide AIHA members with news and information about the occupational and environmental health andsafety fields and the industrial hygiene profession. The Synergist focuses on industry trends and news, government and regulatory activities, key issues facing the profession, appropriate technical information and news on association events and activities.

The Synergist’s objective is to present information that is newsworthy and of general interest in industrial hygiene. Opinions,claims, conclusions and positions expressed in this publication are the authors’ or persons’ quoted and do not necessarily reflect theopinions of the editors, AIHA or The Synergist.

Editor in ChiefConstance Paradise, CAE: [email protected]

Managing EditorEd Rutkowski: [email protected]

Assistant EditorBrooke Morris: [email protected]

Senior Manager, Periodicals and Technology James Myers: [email protected]

Creative Services Associate/DesignerBilly Stryker: [email protected]

Advertising RepresentativeNetwork Media Partners

Ben Ledyard: [email protected]

Executive DirectorPeter J. O’Neil, CAE: [email protected]

The Synergist ® is a copyrighted publication of the AmericanIndustrial Hygiene Association, 2700 Prosperity Ave., Suite250, Fairfax, VA 22031; (703) 849-8888; e-mail [email protected]. No part of The Synergist may be reprinted withoutthe express written consent of AIHA. Submission of articlesor letters to the editor are welcome, but AIHA and The Syn-ergist will determine what to publish and reserve the rightto edit all submissions for content, style, length and clarity.

The Synergist (USPS #009-332) is published monthly ex-cept a combined June/July issue by the American IndustrialHygiene Association, 2700 Prosperity Ave., Suite 250, Fairfax,VA 22031 for $50 per year for members; nonmembers maysubscribe for $250/yr. International nonmembers may sub-scribe for $350/yr (U.S. funds). Periodicals postage paid at Fair-fax, Virginia, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER:Send address changes to The Synergist, American Industrial Hy-giene Association, Attn: Customer Service, 2700 Prosperity Ave.,Suite 250, Fairfax, VA 22031. ISSN 10667660.

Publications Mail Agreement No. 40039445. Return un-deliverable Canadian addresses to PO Box 503, RPO WestBeaver Creek, Richmond Hill ON L4B 4R6.

Editorial Advisory Board Members

Jeff Behar, California Institute of TechnologyWendell Britnell, LMI

Patricia Crawford, ConsultantM. Cathy Fehrenbacher, U.S. EPA

Don Garvey, 3M Co.Stephen Hemperly, Hitachi GST

Steven P. Levine, Emeritus ProfessorJohn Mazur, MACTEC Inc.

Hank Muranko, Muranko & AssociatesDoris Reid, Saxe Coleman Consulting GroupJohn Rekus, John F. Rekus & Associates Ltd.

Volume 21 ■ Number 3Columns & Departments

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COMING IN APRIL ■ Vapor Intrusion Update ■ Safety Data Sheets ■ Telling People You Got It Wrong

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COLUMN | PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

President’s Message

Strength in NumbersBY CATHY COLE, AIHA® PRESIDENT, AND ALLAN K. FLEEGER, AIHA® TREASURER

With the help of the Board of Directorsand the Finance Committee, AIHA staffhave trimmed $1 million out of theAIHA budget since 2008. These cutswere achieved without discontinuing asingle product or service.

Given the still fragile state of theeconomy, the Board and staff will con-tinue to look closely at existing programsto ensure that they meet member needs.Our Products and Services Task Force in2008 indicated that members considerthe vast majority of AIHA programs to bevaluable: while this news suggests thatwe’ve made good decisions about whereto focus our resources, it also makes thejob of identifying potential product andservice resetting more difficult. In theend, our strength as an organization, thehard work of volunteers and staff, andactive management of our invested re-serves will continue to guide us, and willhelp ensure that we are in good positionwhen the economy fully recovers.

Budget MattersTo be sure, the economic downturn leftits mark on AIHA. In 2008, our investedreserves lost approximately 19 percent oftheir value. However, this loss paled incomparison to the decline in the DowJones Industrial Average and S&P 500indexes, which fell by more than 30 per-cent. Prudent financial managementhelped our reserves to recover most oftheir value and offset our 2009 deficit.

Many associations would willinglytrade places with us to have the invest-ment cushion that AIHA has worked sohard to develop. The Board’s long-termgoal has been to keep invested reservesequal to 50 percent of our operatingbudget. The purpose of this goal is to

help us through difficult periods like therecent financial crisis or weather the po-tential impact of a public health, naturaldisaster or homeland security issue thatforces us to cancel a conference. Duringthe worst of the economic crisis, this fig-ure fell to 52 percent, from a previoushigh of 72 percent. But our reserves seemto have stabilized: as of January 2010they had grown to 56 percent of ourbudget, and we anticipate that they willcontinue to grow in the coming year.

The strength of our reserves factoredinto the Board’s deliberations overAIHA’s operating budget for fiscal year2010. The Finance Committee proposed abreak-even budget of $14.3 million atthe January Board of Directors’ meeting.Given the sluggish economy, the Boardfelt that a more modest projection ofrevenues was prudent. The Board ap-proved a budget with revised revenuesof approximately $14.0 million with aresolution that commits AIHA to worktoward raising revenues and reducingexpenses, with the goal of being revenue-neutral by the end of the year.

Long-term ThinkingThe Board is absolutely committed toensuring the long-term financial health

of AIHA, and just a quick glance at thenumbers shows that we are well posi-tioned to weather the economic storm.According to the American Society ofAssociation Executives, associations oursize rely on member dues for more than24 percent of their revenue, while AIHAdues comprise only 11 percent. Ouroverhead expenses of 20 percent aresignificantly lower than the 27 percentaverage for similar associations. Associ-ations with comparable budgets havearound 80 staff; AIHA currently has 49employees, and our revenue per full-time employee is approximately 24 per-cent higher than for similar associations.

But the immeasurable quality that trulysets us apart from other associations is thededication of our volunteers. AIHA wouldnot be nearly as successful without yourcommitment to protecting worker health—and without your continued involvement,AIHA’s strong reserves and efficient man-agement wouldn’t mean much.

To our current volunteers, we extendour immense gratitude and appreciationfor all you’ve done to make AIHA thepremier organization for OEHS profes-sionals. And to members who haven’t yetvolunteered: we encourage you to con-sider joining your peers. Your involve-ment will make us all stronger.

Cathy Cole, CIH, CSP, is president of AIHA and director of corporate occupational health at TheSherwin-Williams Company in Cleveland, Ohio. She can be reached at (216) 566-3096 [email protected].

Allan Fleeger, CIH, CSP, is IH manager, Americas region, with ExxonMobil, Fairfax, Va. He can bereached at (703) 846-7408 or [email protected].

Many associationswould willingly tradeplaces with us to havethe investment cushionthat AIHA has workedso hard to develop.


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COLUMN | WASHINGTON INSIDER

Washington Insider

As Congress Stalls, an Opening for OSHABY AARON TRIPPLER, DIRECTOR, AIHA® GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

The Republicans’ surprise win in theMassachusetts special election to fill thelate Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat tookaway the Democrats’ filibuster-proofmajority. In this climate, the odds arelong that Congress would turn to occu-pational safety and health, but here are afew issues they could consider:

OSHA reform. House of Representativesstaff have been redrafting the ProtectingAmerica’s Workers Act (PAWA). Talk hascentered on the possible omission of thesection that would expand OSHA cover-age to local and state government em-ployees not currently covered by OSHAregulations. AIHA® supports this expan-sion, but this section might stand a betterchance of passage if it were removed andintroduced as a separate measure. A newPAWA might also require employers tohave a written safety and health program.

Safe patient handling. Both the Houseand Senate have introduced bills thatwould require OSHA to enact a safe pa-tient handling rule. AIHA has writtenletters of support for this legislation andhas a position statement on the safehandling of patients and residents.

2011 federal budget. Insiders hint thatthe 2011 budget, which President Obamawill soon propose, may put the brakes onnearly every federal agency in an attemptto control spending. Some say the Presi-dent may recommend an across-the-board cut, perhaps as high as 5 percent.

OSHA’s Opportunity?While expectations for Congress are low,OSHA may have a huge opportunity toassume a more prominent role in movingOHS issues to the forefront. DavidMichaels has been in charge for just a few

weeks, but he has demonstrated a willing-ness to listen and learn. In late January,he announced a public meeting to solicitcomments and suggestions from stake-holders on key issues facing the agency.AIHA presented comments at the February10 meeting in Washington.

OSHA also continues to move forwardon several issues:

GHS. AIHA’s comments on the proposedrule to align the hazard communicationstandard with the Globally HarmonizedSystem of Classification and Labeling ofChemicals (GHS) are available fromwww.aiha.org/news-pubs/govtaffairs/Pages/PublicPolicyComments.aspx.OSHA will hold several public hearingsto allow stakeholders to present addi-tional thoughts. AIHA has requested toappear at one of these hearings.

Our top concern remains that pro-posed changes to the Hazard Communi-cation Standard would removereferences to the TLVs®. AIHA suggestedthat the TLVs remain in the standard, atleast as an appendix, and that they besupplemented with references to otheroccupational exposure limits.

Combustible dust. AIHA’s comments onthe advance notice of proposed rulemakingon combustible dust are available fromwww.aiha.org/news-pubs/govtaffairs/Pages/PublicPolicyComments.aspx.

Injury and illness prevention program.OSHA is considering how it might bestregulate employer occupational injuryand illness prevention programs. Thisissue will likely be one of the agency’stop priorities in 2010.

Safe patient handling. Movement on anergonomics standard probably won’t

begin during the next year or two, butOSHA seems to be considering ways tobuild on efforts at the state level to ad-dress safe patient handling.

Recordkeeping. Many observers expectrecordkeeping to become a top issue forOSHA in 2010. The agency may evenmandate that states implement its nationalemphasis program on recordkeeping.

PELs. OSHA has not stated that it willaddress PELs, but in preparation for itsFeb. 10 meeting the agency asked forfeedback on whether updating PELsshould be a priority.

NIOSH Relationship BuildingOne priority for NIOSH Director JohnHoward is to build a closer working rela-tionship between NIOSH and OSHA.Howard seems to be reaching out to EPAand MSHA as well.

OMNE (OSHA, MSHA, NIOSH, EPA). Aworking group is supposedly under con-sideration that would allow the four agen-cies to discuss issues of mutual concern.

Diacetyl. NIOSH has been conducting re-search on three potentially hazardous di-acetyl substitutes and has provided thisinformation to OSHA. (See related articleon page 38.)

Respirators. NIOSH is evaluating at leastone respirator model to determinewhether or not there are fit-testing diffi-culties. The problem arose in California,where nearly a third of the state stock-pile contains these respirators.

Aaron Trippler directs government affairs for morethan 70 local sections and serves as AIHA’s chiefliaison with Congress and federal agencies. He canbe reached at (703) 846-0730 or [email protected].


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AIHA® Releases Recommendations on OSHA ProposedRule on Combustible DustOn Oct. 21, 2009, OSHA published a request for comments inits Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) on Com-bustible Dust. An increased interest in protecting workers fromrisks related to combustibledust emerged after the 2008explosion at a sugar refineryin Georgia that resulted in 14employee deaths and 60worker injuries. In response tothe explosion, OSHA reissuedits Combustible Dust NationalEmphasis Program (NEP) inMarch 2008, targeting certaingroups in the industry thathave experienced repeatedcombustible dust incidentsand enhancing enforcementdirectives.

In February 2009, the HR 849 bill directing the Secretary ofLabor to issue a provisional final standard regulating combustibledusts and a final standard at least 18 months after the passage ofHR 849 was introduced in the House of Representatives.

In addition to lending support to this bill, AIHA has releasedcomments on the combustible dust ANPR. AIHA recommendsthat the proposed rule:

• consider input from all industries affected by combustibledust in order to ensure that the standard is functional inevery industry;

• require regular inspections and maintenance of engineeringcontrols and equipment, recordkeeping of inspection results,and correction of any problems found during the inspectionswithin a reasonable time;

• contain language that affords the employer compliancewith the standard if an independent third-party evaluatorhas reviewed the work site and certified compliance withthe standard; and

• require that employers with the potential to produce a com-bustible dust hazard use a third-party laboratory to test andanalyze the various production cycles to determine whetheror not a combustible dust hazard is produced.

To view AIHA’s comments on the combustible dust ANPR ormore information on AIHA government affairs, visitwww.aiha.org/news-pubs/govtaffairs/pages/default.aspx.


AIHA NEWS ■ FOUNDATION NEWS ■ ACADEMY NEWS ■ LOCAL SECTIONS NEWS

Community

AIHA® Comments on Proposed Revision of OSHA Hazard Communication StandardAIHA recently released comments supporting OSHA’s pro-posed alignment of its Hazard Communication Standard(HCS) with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonized Systemof Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). Thecomments were provided by the AIHA Stewardship andSustainability Committee, with assistance from individualAIHA members.

“As the premier association of occupational and environ-mental health and safety professionals, AIHA membersserve on the front line of worker health and safety,” statedAIHA President Cathy Cole in an accompanying letter toOSHA. “AIHA members, as well as employers, rely on fed-eral and state rules and regulations to improve the healthand safety of the workplace and protect employees fromhazards, including hazards associated with chemical manu-facturing, labeling and handling. We applaud the agencyfor taking this step in proposing this rule.”

Cole added that one of the Stewardship and SustainabilityCommittee’s goals is to “increase the awareness and under-standing of the Globally Harmonized System among AIHAmembers, including providing comments on related regula-tions being proposed that affect product health and safety.”

AIHA’s recommendations focus on hazard classification,chemical labeling, safety data sheets, labeling languagemodifications and definitions, and the scheduling of employeetraining once these changes are implemented. AIHA alsoexpressed support for OSHA’s efforts to work with the inter-national community in develop-ing criteria for combustible dustas part of the GHS regulationsand encouraged the proposeddevelopment of a database ofclassifications.

AIHA also suggested includ-ing a non-mandatory appendixto the HCS that contains refer-ences to the Threshold LimitValues® and other occupationalexposure limits, such as Work-place Environmental ExposureLevels.

AIHA’s comments on the pro-posed revision of the HCS are available from www.aiha.org/news-pubs/govtaffairs/Pages/PublicPolicyComments.aspx.

March 2010 ■ The Synergist 13


Gear Up for AIHce 2010AIHce 2010 in Denver, Colo., May 22–27,will host an array of intriguing speakers,sessions and professional developmentcourses (PDCs), including old favoritesand new programming. Highlights of thisyear’s conference include:

• Opening and general session presenta-tions: “Redesigning Our Future” byJean-Michel Cousteau, son of JacquesCousteau and president of Oceans Fu-ture Society; “The Labor Movement:Building Health and Safety Protectionson the Job” by AFL-CLO PresidentRichard L. Trumka; and “New Frontiersin Science and Practice” by AssistantSecretary of Labor for OSHA DavidMichaels, PhD, MPH, and NIOSH Di-rector John M. Howard, MD, MPH, JD.

• A new symposium on Leadership in En-ergy and Design (LEED) and green build-ing design, construction, and operation.

• More than 70 PDCs, including CertifiedSafety Professional (CSP) Exam Prepara-tion Workshop, Fundamentals of Financeand Accounting for Nonfinancial OEHSManagers, and Time Management in anAge of Turbulence. New weekendcourses will address project manage-ment, decision making in exposure as-sessments, and promoting the value ofindustrial hygiene in business.

• The enhanced Unsolved IH MysteriesWorkshop, luncheon discussions, postersessions, programming geared to stu-dents and early career professionals (in-cluding the Future Leaders and YoungMember Reception and a luncheon talkspecifically for students), “Tech Talks”given by volunteer groups, the NIOSHEmerging Issues/Current Trends discus-sion, and a variety of technical tours.

• The newly added joint AIHA®/MSAReception, Expo Theater Presentationsand Product Demos sponsored by theColorado Safety Association, and anassortment of roundtable discussions.

Attendees can also show their supportfor the American Industrial HygieneFoundation (AIHF) by participating in the26th Annual AIHF Fun Run/Walk.

Participants in the premier conferenceand expo in the health and safety industrywill have the opportunity to experience theMile-High City. Hundreds of museums, gal-leries, shops and restaurants make Denverthe ideal city for the sophisticate, while its

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many bike paths and proximity to theRocky Mountains appeal to the nature loverand adventure seeker. Must-see city attrac-tions include the popular Denver Zoo andDenver Botanical Gardens, LoDo (the lowerdowntown area), and the gold-domed StateCapitol building. Visitors can also indulgein hot springs, enjoy whitewater sports andfly fishing, or take a tour of Colorado’smany “ghost towns” and dude ranches.

For more information, including aschedule of PDCs and educational pro-gramming and registration information,visit www.aihce2010.org. Finding sessioninformation is easy—simply search for asession by day, type and topic. Don’tmiss the opportunity to participate in theleading EHS industry event of the year!

AIHA® Presents TeleWeb on Nanotechnology AIHA will host the TeleWeb “An Intro-duction to the Science of Nanotechnol-ogy and Occupational Health” on March25, 2010. Sponsored by the AIHA Nan-otechnology Working Group, thisTeleWeb will explore current develop-ments in the field. One registration cov-ers an unlimited number of participants,allowing attendees to train as a group.

For more information on this andother upcoming TeleWebs, includingregistration information, visitwww.aiha.org/TeleWeb.

AIHce Student Poster Abstract Submission Deadline: March 30Submit your student poster abstracts byMarch 30, 2010, for the 20th annualAIHce Student Poster Session, which willbe held in conjunction with the Techni-cal Poster Sessions at AIHce in Denver,Colo. The 2010 student poster sessionwill be open to both graduates and un-dergraduates. Selections are limited tothe 55 best student posters submitted.Two posters will be awarded “Best ofSession.”

Posters are also eligible for the fol-lowing committee awards:

AIHA Exposure Assessment StrategiesModeling Subcommittee award for beststudent poster.

AIHA Occupational EpidemiologyCommittee award for significant occu-pational epidemiology content or impli-cations.

AIHA Stewardship and SustainabilityCommittee award for demonstrating theroles, interactions and relationships ofOEHS professionals with others in stew-ardship and sustainability activities.

AIHA Biological Monitoring Committeeaward for best student poster.

AIHA Engineering Committee award forbest poster.

Abstracts will be reviewed by an aca-demic panel. Authors of selected paperswill be notified in mid-April.

Visit www.uab.edu/dsc for informationon format, layout requirements and length;contact Cherie Hunt at [email protected] orUAB RPHB 520D, 1530 3rd AvenueSouth, Birmingham, AL 35295-0022.

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Abstracts should be submitted [email protected] with “2010 AIHce Stu-dent Poster” in the subject field.

For more information about AIHce2010, visit www.aiha.org/aihce10/default.htm.

Hit the Road with AIHA® ContinuingEducation CoursesWith training budgets tightening, it’scritical to keep you and your staff in-formed and prepared for OEHS chal-lenges. AIHA brings you the essentialsvia education opportunities taught bythe industry’s most respected leaders.AIHA Continuing Education roadcourses provide OEHS professionalswith on-site training; help for those inthe field to maintain their certificationby earning CM points, CEUs and COCs;and valuable networking opportunities.The following CE road courses are beingoffered this spring:

Fundamentals of Industrial HygieneCourse

March 22–25, 2010

Gain exposure to the broad field of in-dustrial hygiene through sampling andworkshop sessions, hands-on lab expe-riences, demo sessions and problem-solving exercises. This four-day courseis designed for OEHS professionals newto industrial hygiene and those whohave newly-acquired IH responsibilities.The course also serves as an excellentrefresher. For further details, visitwww.aiha.org/education/ce/roadcourses/Pages/fihroadcourse.aspx.

Comprehensive Industrial HygieneCourse

April 12–16, 2010

This four-and-a-half-day course is an in-tensive, high-level review of a wide rangeof industrial hygiene topics for individu-als preparing to take the ABIH CertifiedIndustrial Hygienist examination (CIH),

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those who have taken the exam but need a refresher, or thosewho desire a comprehensive review of topics relevant to thepractice of industrial hygiene. For further details, visitwww.aiha.org/education/ce/roadcourses/Pages/CIHReview.aspx.

For more information on AIHA Continuing Education pro-grams, visit www.aiha.org/education/ce/Pages/default.aspx, orcontact [email protected].

Help Shape OEHS Education: Apply to the ContinuingEducation Committee

Applications due March 15, 2010

BY CAMILLE CARRAWAY, CIH

The Continuing Education Committee (CEC) is now acceptingself-nominations for membership. The mission of the CEC is toensure that AIHA® provides the highest quality professional de-velopment programs and educational opportunities thatbroaden knowledge, enhance technical competencies, yet alsoprovide practical tools and skills.

The committee plays an integral role in the selection processfor traditional professional development courses (PDCs) and dis-tance learning offerings. As part of an ongoing commitment toquality, the CEC evaluates courses on a continual basis.

The CEC comprises 12 members, appointed for five one-yearterms. All members are required to attend/participate in threemeetings annually. Failure to participate will lead to removal fromthe committee, so AIHA members should ensure that they canparticipate before self-nominating. The required meetings are:

Spring Business Meeting Teleconference: A half-day conferencecall to discuss general business, finalize AIHce issues, select newmembers and elect CEC leadership.

AIHce Business Meeting and PDC review: Held at AIHce, thisfull-day meeting on Monday covers general business and acomprehensive review of all PDC evaluations and reviews.

September Business Meeting and PDC Selection Meeting: Atwo-day (Friday and Saturday) meeting, held at AIHA head-quarters, to select PDCs for the next AIHce. Funding is availableto assist with travel expenses or attendance at this meeting.

In addition to the required meetings, the CEC leadership mayconduct additional teleconferences.

CEC members earn Certification Maintenance Points formembership and leadership. Committee members also receivefree PDC registration(s) for auditing courses at AIHce and op-portunities to attend/participate in free distance learningcourses.

AIHA members interested in joining the CEC should visitwww.aiha.org/Content/InsideAIHA/Volunteer+Groups/conteducomm.htm, review the new member fact sheet andoperating guidelines, and complete Form 9 (CEC application).Applications and a resume should be submitted to CEC ViceChair Camille Carraway ([email protected]) and tostaff liaison Stacey Talbot ([email protected]) by March 15,2010. New members will be elected during the CEC’s Aprilteleconference and begin serving at the AIHce CEC businessmeeting.

Camille Carraway, CIH, is an industrial hygienist for the Department of HomelandSecurity.

2010 Student YouTube ChallengeHave you ever searched the term “industrial hygiene” onYouTube? The videos turned up by such a search are lessthan telling about our field (“Industrial Hygienist on Mars,”for example).

The Students and Early Career Professionals Committee chal-lenges AIHA® student members to post videos that inform theworld about their newly chosen profession. Possible approachesinclude, but are not limited to, the following concepts:

• Interview professionals from local sections.• Show how to collect and analyze samples, and demonstrate

how this information is used to make decisions on the risksof exposures.

• Demonstrate how to evaluate the hazards of an environmentto educate the general population or a particular work force.

• Educate viewers about an event or individual who hasgreatly contributed to the field.

The only requirements for the videos are that they displaycreativity, enthusiasm and scientifically correct discussions ofdata or the field. The target video length is 2–3 minutes.


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Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene

Spring Forward with the March JOEHMarch’s JOEH is now available and features articleson Nanoparticle Emission Assessment Technique(NEAT) and the impact of biological and environmen-tal variabilities on biological monitoring. Memberscan access the following articles online:

Nanoparticle Emission Assessment Technique (NEAT) for the Identification and Measurement of Potential InhalationExposure to Engineered Nanomaterials—Part A By M. Methner, L. Hodson and C. Geraci

The Impact of Ontario Smoke-Free Legislation on Secondhand Smokein Enclosed Public PlacesBy Bo Zhang, Susan J. Bondy, Jo Anne Chiavetta, Peter Selbyand Roberta Ferrence

Underestimation of Terpene Exposure in the Nordic Wood Industry By Karin M. Granström

Wearing the Wrong Size Latex Surgical Gloves Impairs Manual Dexterity By Tomas Drabek, Charles D. Boucek and Charles W. Buffington

Development of a Personal Bioaerosol Sampler Based ona Conical Cyclone with Recirculating Liquid FilmBy Alexander D. Tolchinsky, Vladimir I. Sigaev,Genneday I. Sigaev, Alexander N. Varfolomeev, Ekate-rina V. Zvyagina, Trevor Brasel and Yung Sung Cheng

Impact of Biological and Environmental Variabilities onBiological Monitoring—An Approach Using Toxicokinetic ModelsBy A. Berthet, A. de Batz, R. Tardif, G. Charest-Tardif,G. Truchon, D. Vernez and P.O. Droz

Nanoparticle Emission Assessment Technique (NEAT) for the Identifi-cation and Measurement of Potential Inhalation Exposure to Engi-neered Nanomaterials— Part B: Results from 12 Field StudiesBy M. Methner, L. Hodson, A. Dames and C. Geraci

Members can access the full texts of JOEH articles via the AIHA®

website at www.aiha.org. Abstracts are available to everyone athttp://oeh.informaworld.com. Members can also access the full-text archives of the AIHA Journal from 1940 to 2003. Full-textarchives of Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygienefrom 1999 to 2003 are also available.

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To enter, upload your video toYouTube by April 15, 2010. Student sec-tions are encouraged to work together,but both individuals and groups are wel-come to enter. Entrants should tag theirvideos with the words “industrial hy-giene,” “student” and “AIHA.” Once yourvideo is posted, send an e-mail to ThursaLa at [email protected] with “YouTube Chal-lenge” in the subject line. Make sure toinclude your student section name, con-tact information and club faculty advisorcontact information (if applicable) alongwith the video web link.

The winning video will be recognizedin The Synergist and shown at AIHce 2010in Denver, Colo. Entrants do not need toattend AIHce 2010 to be eligible. Formore information, visit www.aiha.org/insideaiha/Studentsection/Pages/StudentLocalSectionNewsOpportunity.aspx.

The Golden Seed Award: Call forNominationsThe Students and Early Career Profes-sionals (SECP) Committee is seekingnominations for the Golden Seed Award.This award is given to an individualwho has made significant contributionsto industrial hygiene in the area of stu-dent development, mentoring or earlycareer guidance. Nominees must havedemonstrated a commitment to promot-ing and advancing the professionamong students and early career profes-sionals, and/or providing guidance andmentorship to students or early careerprofessionals. Nominees must also bemembers of AIHA®. The award will bepresented at the Volunteer RecognitionReception at AIHce in Denver on May23, 2010.

Nominations for the Golden SeedAward should be submitted using thenomination form on the AIHA SECP vol-unteer group website at www.aiha.org/insideaiha/volunteergroups/Pages/SECP.aspx. Statements should detail howthe nominee meets the above criteria.Send nominations to Ann Lori (am-lori@mmm. com), with “Golden Seed” inthe subject line. The nomination shouldbe presented in writing; the deadline fornominations is March 30, 2010. Formore information, please contact AnnLori, Mike Sheppard at [email protected] or Renée Anthony [email protected].

Academy Call for NominationsAre you interested in serving as an offi-cer on the Academy Council, or do youknow someone who would make an ex-cellent officer? TheAcademy is lookingfor nominees for theposition of vice pres-ident to serve for aterm of four years.At the expiration oftheir terms, the vicepresident automatically becomes presi-dent-elect, the president-elect automati-cally becomes president, and the presidentassumes the role of past president.

The Academy is also looking for candi-dates for the Henry F. Smyth Jr. Award—an individual who has recognized theneeds of the industrial hygiene professionand made major contributions to fulfillthose needs, thereby contributing to theimprovement of the public welfare.

For more information about submit-ting nominations for Academy vicepresident and the Smyth Award, vistwww.aiha.org.

AIHA® Presents IH Course in Mandarin In partnership with General Electric,AIHA will conduct a new four-daycourse, “Measurements of HazardousSubstances,” June 28–July 2, 2010. Partof a series of internationally developedand peer-reviewed training modules atthe GE China Technology Center inShanghai, China, this course will includelectures and hands-on demonstrationstaught in Mandarin. E-handouts inEnglish will be provided.

Developed in accordance with theinternational module syllabus W501–Measurement of Hazardous Substances,the goal of this course is to providestudents with a sound understanding ofthe techniques for assessing exposureto hazardous substances in the work-place and with an understanding of howexposure information can be used toassess risk. Students will have the oppor-tunity to explore case studies, reviewoccupational chemical health risk assess-ment, perform atmospheric monitoring,and measure airborne contaminants. In addition, students will learn how toselect appropriate equipment, create asampling strategy, comply with relevant


[From: 16]


http://www.raecorents.com

http://sph.umdnj.edu/ophp/

legislation, and present ways to improveworker health and safety to management.

Current corporate sponsors for theevent include SKC and ESIS. If your or-ganization is interested in sponsorship,contact course director Mark Katchen at(310) 474-3937. For complete informa-tion on this new educational endeavor,visit www.aiha.org/international.

Green Building Working Group Presents Symposium at AIHceA symposium conducted by the AIHA®Green Building Working Group at AIHce2010 in Denver, Colo., will explore theeffects of green building strategies onoccupational health and safety. The sym-posium, “How IH Can LEED in GreenBuilding,” is intended to elevate thehuman element of occupational healthand safety in aspects of green buildingthat are perceived as environmental andenergy-specific, including building de-sign, engineering, environmental issues,construction and procurement.

Using the metaphor of the building asa living organism, speakers will addressthe following topics:

• LEED design criteria as the framework(the building’s skeleton) of integratedbuilding design

• the building envelope (its skin)

• the building’s energy pathways (itsmetabolism) and the effects of tighterbuildings on occupant health

• the building’s ventilation design (itsrespiratory system) and its impact onindoor environmental quality

• the building’s water loop (its circula-tory system) and infection prevention

• occupational safety and health con-siderations as criteria in product se-lection (the building’s nutrition anddigestion)

• construction, maintenance and janito-rial operations as part of the build-ing’s DNA

• consideration of these Preventionthrough Design) elements as part ofbuilding design and not as after-thoughts

Symposium presenters, who were selected based on their experiences andreputations in the green building arena,

include Davoor Novosel from the Na-tional Center for Energy Managementand Building Technologies, Tom Lent ofHealthy Building Network, and MikeBehm from East Carolina University. Thesymposium will also feature an introduc-tion from former OSHA Director JohnHenshaw and concluding remarks fromEd Quevedo, a general session speaker

from AIHce 2009 who works extensivelyin sustainability.

Participants will learn how to relateindustrial hygiene skills to green building;integrate issues of worker, occupant andcommunity health, safety, comfort andproductivity into the design/build process;implement green building research andstandards in their work by using the




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http://www.helmetsystems.com/



[From: 19]LEED rating system’s criteria; and address safety and healthimpacts on construction, maintenance and custodial staff ingreen buildings. Also, participants will better understand theimpacts of sustainable design on building costs and occupantlifestyle.

For more information on the Green Building Working Group,visit www.aiha.org/insideaiha/volunteergroups/Pages/ GreenBuilding.aspx. For further details about AIHce 2010, in-cluding registration, visit www.aihce2010.org.

AFL-CIO President Trumka to Open AIHce General SessionRichard L. Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, will be the open-ing General Session speaker for AIHce 2010 in Denver, Colo. Inhis first-ever AIHce appearance, Trumka will present “The LaborMovement: Building Health and Safety Protections on the Job,”on Tuesday, May 25, at 8 a.m.

The leader of the nation’s largest labor federation, Trumka isa third-generation coal miner from Nemacolin, Penn. He has aBS from Pennsylvania State University and a law degree fromVillanova University. He worked on the legal staff of the UnitedMine Workers Association (UMWA) for four years, and eventu-ally became UMWA president. In 1995, Trumka was electedsecretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, the youngest person ever to

hold that office. He was elected AFL-CIOpresident in September 2009.

Trumka’s awards include the LaborResponsibility Award from the MartinLuther King Jr. Center for NonviolentSocial Change, the Gompers-Murray-Meany Award from the MassachusettsAFL-CIO, the Jewish National Fund Treeof Life Award and The Sons of ItalyFoundation’s 2003 Humanitarian Award.

In 2009, President Obama namedTrumka to the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

For more information on Trumka and other AIHce 2010keynote speakers, visit www.aihce2010.org/aihce10/education/opening-general.htm.

AIHA® Launches Internet Radio ShowJoin Melissa Hurley Alves and Craig Sorrell for the weeklybroadcast of Safe and Sound, a new AIHA radio show that ex-plores the latest news and trends in health and safety. Safe andSound, which can be accessed from your computer, will featurean array of guests each week who discuss various topics in theOEHS field. The special guest for the inaugural show was

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Sheree Gibson, PE, CPE, ergonomics consultant for ErgonomicsApplications in Salem, S.C. and member of the AIHA Ergonom-ics Committee. Gibson brought a unique perspective to the dis-cussion of ergonomics, ergonomics principles and the updatedAIHA Ergonomics Committee posi-tion statement.

Safe and Sound also featured KatieRobert, AIHA’s manager of productdevelopment, and Ed Rutkowski,AIHA periodicals managing editor,who gave listeners tips on writing forAIHA publications.

If you have any show suggestionsor corrections, the hosts of Safe andSound want to hear from you. They can be contacted at [email protected]. For more information on the show, orto listen to a broadcast, visit www.aiha.org/news-pubs/Pages/SafeandSound.aspx.

Mission NAOSH 2010: Safe WorkplacesOnce again, AIHA will support the North American OccupationalSafety and Health (NAOSH) Week on May 2-8, 2010. The goal ofthis annual event is to help demonstrate the importance andlong-term benefits of workplace safety and health. Pioneering ef-forts in worker health and safety for businesses, workers andcommunities will be highlighted during this year’s NAOSH Week.

Launched in June 1997, NAOSH Week occurs every year dur-ing the first full week of May and is intended to raise awarenessabout occupational safety, health, and the environment, as wellas the OEHS profession as a whole. Through its alliance withOSHA, AIHA is a partner in NAOSH Week. The American Societyof Safety Engineers (ASSE) and the Canadian Society of SafetyEngineers (CSSE) are also sponsors.

Health and safety professionals will be honored during theOccupational Safety and Health Professional Day on May 5. Inaddition to presentations from key OSHA administration mem-bers, the winners of the annual children’s poster contest willalso be recognized.

For more details about NAOSH Week 2010, visitwww.naosh.org.

ACGIH® Ratifies 2010 TLVs® and BEIs®

In February, the ACGIH Board of Directors ratified the 2010Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) for Chemical Substances andPhysical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices (BEIs). ACGIHalso approved recommendations for additions to the Notice ofIntended Changes (NIC).

The TLVs and BEIs are not designed to be used as standards;they are health-based values established by committees that re-view existing published and peer-reviewed literature in variousscientific disciplines. Based on the available information, ACGIHformulates a conclusion regarding which level of exposure thetypical worker can experience without adverse health effects.ACGIH gives no consideration to economic or technical feasibility.

The NIC comprises the following substances and physicalagents:

• those for which a limit or BEI is proposed for the first time• those for which a change in the adopted value or index is

proposed• those for which retention as an NIC is proposed• those for which withdrawal of the documentation and

adopted TLV/BEI is proposedIn each case, the proposals should be considered trial values

during the period they are on the NIC. These proposals wereratified by the ACGIH Board of Directors and will remain on theNIC for approximately one year following this ratification.

ACGIH recommends that all TLV and BEI users read theStatement of Position Regarding the TLVs and BEIs, whichoutlines the proper usage of TLVs and BEIs. The Statement ofPosition can be found at www.acgih.org/TLV.



“When you’re able to adapt the work to the worker instead of the other way around,workers typically become much more productive.”

—Sheree Gibson, PE, CPEFrom “Ergonomics,” episode 1 of

Safe and Sound, AIHA’s internet radio show.

http://www.aemtek.com


ETHICS

Intricate MeasurementsEthics and OELs

BY JOHN P. BURKE

Ethical decisions involve a values conflict: is it better to do thisor that? What are the consequences of an action for myself, forothers, and for my environment? Does my decision conflict withmy personal values? When I make my decision, what are thestandards against which I will be judged?

We measure our actions against the values recognized by asociety, a community, a group or a profession, and these valuesare not always directly aligned. In a literal sense, occupationalexposure limits (OELs) are standards that practicing industrialhygienists use to manage exposure risk. The preface to the AIHA®Strategy for Assessing and Managing Occupational Exposures, 2ndedition, states, “The OEL, whether formally established or looselydefined, is identified as an essential tool for judging any and allworkplace exposures.” Like any tool, the OEL is designed for anintended purpose. OELs may be perceived as “go/no-go” valuesfor regulatory compliance, but they are most valuable when in-dustrial hygienists who understand their basis and fundamentallimitations apply them in a manner that effectively reduces risk.

Can exposure judgments based on OELs contribute to a valuesconflict? The following scenario explores this question.

Chemical XMike, a corporate industrial hygienist for a global business, con-ducts air sampling for chemical X in China, Taiwan and Japan.The OELs for chemical X in these three countries are different:the Japanese OEL is 40 ppm, the Taiwanese OEL is 50 ppm andthe Chinese OEL is 100 ppm. The 2009 Threshold Limit Value(TLV®) for chemical X is 5 ppm. Mike’s company has a similarwork process in all three countries, and the air sampling resultsfrom all three sites show that exposures range between 8 to 12ppm. Mike is confident that these data are representative. Nowhe must decide whether these exposures are acceptable. His rec-ommendations will be made to his company’s regional businessmanager for Asia.

Mike knows that the 2009 documentation for the newlyadopted TLV was based on exposures to chemical X in industries

where several other confounding exposures created uncertaintyabout the primary agent responsible for the noted health effects.He has reviewed the U.S. OSHA Advanced Notice of ProposedRulemaking, which proposes a new permissible exposure limitequal to the TLV. Further research shows that the EuropeanUnion’s Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limitshas noted other independent toxicological studies of chemical Xwith significant conflicting data. Mike also knows that his com-pany’s current business performance is poor and that capital ex-penditures are sharply reduced. Exposure reductionimprovements to the existing processes would take considerablefunding.

QuestionsDoes this scenario include opportunities for ethical conflict?How has the variability of the OEL values contributed to Mike’sdilemma? How much interpretation should Mike make aboutthe basis of each OEL? Is it right to recommend the spending ofadditional money in all three locations? Is it always more ethicalto make the conservative decision?

Any industrial hygienist who has performed internationalwork has probably wrestled with some of these questions. Often,they have no simple answers. Industrial hygienists are ethically

ETHICS ■ REGULATORY OUTLOOK

Insight

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INSIGHT | DEPARTMENT

REGULATORY OUTLOOK

Sizing Up the New SheriffWhat’s Ahead for OSHA?

BY PAUL WATERS

Last year the Obama administration, with the help of theDemocrat-controlled Congress, began to transform employ-ment policies from pro-employer (in the view of many) to anapproach that, if anything, is decidedly pro-labor. There ismuch evidence of this change, including the Lily LedbetterFair Pay Act, which amended Title VII of the Civil Rights Actto make it easier to meet the time limits on pay discriminationclaims; and the administration’s support for the EmployeeFree Choice Act, which would make it easier to unionizeworkplaces. In addition, the president has acted throughunion-friendly executive orders, such as one that gives prefer-ence to union labor on large federal construction projects.

The president’s appointments to the Department of Labor andmost of the agencies under its purview, including OSHA, havealso been characterized as pro-labor. The Secretary of Labor,Hilda Solis, began her public career in the Carter administra-tion, and, prior to her nomination, was serving her fourth termas a member of Congress from California. John Sweeney, thenpresident of the AFL-CIO, was pleased with her nomination,stating that she “voted with working men and women 97 per-cent of the time.” When she was publicly sworn into office onMarch 13, 2009, Solis declared, “To those who have, for far toolong, abused workers, put them in harm’s way, denied them fairpay, let me be clear: There is a new sheriff in town.”

Ambitious AgendaIndeed, in 2009 OSHA became increasingly serious and aggres-sive in its enforcement. Secretary Solis’ words were put intoaction by OSHA’s interim administrator, Jordan Barab. Barabhas a long history with organized labor, including working as ahealth and safety specialist for the AFL-CIO from 2001 to 2002,and directing the safety and health program for the AmericanFederation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)from 1982 to 1998. In a May 2009 speech at an American Fed-eration of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)convention, Barab boasted that “I always tell people that I stillbleed AFSCME green.” Then, in a November speech to theConnecticut Council for Occupational Safety and Health, Barabechoed Solis, stating, “The law says employers are responsiblefor workplace safety and health, and there's a new sheriff intown to enforce that law.”

Next, Deborah Berkowitz was named OSHA’s chief of staff.Berkowitz formerly served as the health and safety director forthe United Food and Commercial Workers’ union. Moreover, shewas a leading voice for the union during OSHA’s first round ofergonomics cases in the meatpacking industry in the 1980s and

during Clinton’s ergonomics rulemaking proceedings.For OSHA’s top spot, President Obama nominated David

Michaels, PhD, MPH, on July 28, 2009. The Senate confirmed himon Dec. 3, 2009. Barab will continue at OSHA as a deputy assis-tant secretary. Michaels, an epidemiologist, was most recently aresearch professor at the Department of Environmental andOccupational Health at The George Washington UniversitySchool of Public Health and Health Services. He wrote the bookDoubt Is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on ScienceThreatens Your Health. In the Clinton administration, Michaelsserved as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safetyand Health, where he lead the effort to compensate nuclearweapons workers for occupational illnesses resulting from expo-sure to radiation, beryllium and other hazards.

Unfortunately, Dr. Michaels’ confirmation hearing wasclosed, which prevented a public airing of his views on how hewill steer OSHA. However, Michaels has indicated a desire toaggressively increase enforcement efforts and to jump-startOSHA’s standards-setting process with a focus on chemicalexposure issues, hazard communications and ergonomics.

So, given the leadership, what can we expect from OSHA overthe next several years? Enforcement certainly will increase.OSHA’s budget for 2010 represents a 10 percent increase over2009. Part of the increase will be used to hire more than 100 newinspectors, many bilingual, as well as 25 whistleblower investiga-tors. As OSHA’s enforcement efforts increase, its emphasis on thecooperative programs favored by the Bush administration, suchas the Voluntary Protection Program, is decreasing.

After years of virtually no new regulations, OSHA has embarkedupon an ambitious agenda.

OSHA is holding a stakeholders meeting concerning a stan-dard for combustible dusts, which is in the pre-rule stage.OSHA and other groups have stated that if dust from certainmaterials is suspended in the air in the right concentrations, itcan become explosive, leading to massive explosions (such asthe Imperial Sugar plant explosion in February 2008) that causeemployee injuries and death. This standard is likely to be issuedover the next few years.

Another standard in the pre-rule stage involves crystallinesilica, which OSHA’s regulatory agenda indicates is a priority.Crystalline silica can cause silicosis, a serious and debilitatinglung disease. OSHA has been analyzing possible regulation ofthis substance for years, but the current leadership seems likelyto act. Beryllium and diacetyl will likely be regulated. Also, fol-lowing the lead of California, which already has such a standard,

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The Synergist ■ March 201024

OSHA will begin to address a standard for infectious diseaseswith an airborne vector, such as H1N1.

Penalties and PrioritiesA key focus of OSHA’s regulatory agenda will be musculoskele-tal disorders (MSDs). OSHA has proposed a rule that would re-quire employers to report defined MSDs, with a special columnfor work-related MSDs on the OSHA 300 log. (AIHA® has is-sued a position statement on ergonomics, supporting the devel-opment of a standard to reduce the incidence of work-relatedMSDs.) Although OSHA may avoid promulgating a specificstandard on MSDs, given Congress’ repeal of such a standard in2002, OSHA has explicitly announced that it will focus on andissue citations for work-related MSDs under Section 5(a)(1) ofthe Act (the general duty clause). Barab has stated several timesthat work-related MSDs remain a high priority for OSHA.

Another of OSHA’s priorities will be to bring OSHA’s currentHazard Communication Standard into line with the GloballyHarmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals(GHS). The effort is supposed to provide more information toincrease the usefulness of safety data sheets (SDS), for example.The end result will likely require the revision of nearly everylabel and SDS for hazardous chemicals in the U.S.

If passed, the Protecting America’s Workers Act, pending be-fore Congress, will significantly amend the Occupational Safety

and Health Act. The law would extend OSHA’s coverage to fed-eral, state and local government employees, as well as presentlyexempt sectors like airlines and railroads. It would strengthenwhistleblower protections, such as extending the filing deadlinefrom 30 to 180 days. It would also prohibit employers from dis-couraging injury/illness reporting and prohibiting retaliationfor reporting. In addition, employers would be required to payfor employee participation in OSHA inspections. The act wouldsignificantly increase penalties and allow for criminal prosecu-tions for deaths and “serious bodily injury” arising from willfulviolations, even against individual company officers.

Committed to SafetyThe new sheriffs now in charge at OSHA have proposed manyother changes in line with their aggressive attitude. Employersand their health and safety professionals must assess their work-places to ensure that labor and management are committed tosafety and have the programs and resources in place to ensureit. In addition, every employer should have a plan to handleOSHA inspections of its workplace, ensure optimal outcomes,and deal with citations and OSHA contests when necessary.

Paul Waters, JD, is with Akerman Senterfitt. He can be reached at (813) 223-7333or [email protected].

challenged by various factors. Their final decisions are influ-enced not only by their professional knowledge, experience andpersonal values but also by the company’s organization, culture,philosophy and operating principles.

For example, one company’s regulatory philosophy may bea strict compliance-only approach where the OEL for eachcountry is deemed sufficient and always applied. An industrialhygienist working for this company may be conflicted aboutthe level of worker protection afforded by the OEL. Anothercompany may have several industrial hygienists who can fullyreview the toxicological research and OEL documentation andmake a scientific risk-based decision about the most appropri-ate exposure limit.

If considerable research variability exists, the industrial hygien-ist’s personal values may be conflicted in arriving at a consensusdecision. In cases where the industrial hygienist is the sole profes-sional company resource, he or she may feel compelled to alwaysapply the lowest exposure limit. The impact of this conservativeapproach on business performance, including job retention, maycreate an ethical conflict. For example, could the costs associatedwith unvarying application of the lowest limit compel thecompany to outsource part of the manufacturing process, andtherefore cause some workers to lose their jobs?

Society SupportMike’s scenario shows that even something as fundamental asOELs can create ethical challenges. The broader reality is thateveryday interactions and circumstances can present industrialhygienists with myriad values conflicts.

Our professional associations—ABIH, AIHA and ACGIH®—recognize our challenges and have provided us with several

framework and guidance documents for professional ethicalconduct. For example, ABIH provides its diplomates with anenforceable code of ethics that lists their responsibilities toABIH, our profession, the public, our clients, employers andworkers. AIHA, ACGIH and AIH (the Academy of Industrial Hy-giene) have developed member ethical principles that provide asimilar a set of guidelines for meeting our responsibilities tovarious “customers” directly and indirectly affected by our serv-ices. When internalized, these documents can help us navigatethe ethical challenges of our work and make the best decisions.

Further emphasizing the importance of professional ethics, theABIH has new requirements for 2 hours of ethics training (0.33CM points) as part of its certification maintenance process for the2006–2010 cycle. CIHs can refer to the ABIH CM activity databaseat www.abih.org/members/roster/coursesearch.cfm for a list ofapproved ethics courses.

The Joint Industrial Hygiene Ethics Education Committee(JIHEEC) provides ethics training and information through PDCs,TeleWebs, Synergist articles and the AIHA website. The commit-tee has also conducted ethics presentations at local sectionmeetings. For more information, visit the JIHEEC web page atwww.aiha.org/insideaiha/volunteergroups/Pages/JointIHEthicsEducation.aspx.

Ethical conflict is an intrinsic part of the industrial hygieneprofession. Like stress, a moderate amount can increase ourfocus and invigorate our performance. It is comforting to knowthat we have the support of our professional organizations todeal with the challenge.

John P. Burke, CIH, CSP, is a member of the Joint Industrial Hygiene Ethics Edu-cation Committee. He can be reached at (607) 974-6926 [email protected].

DEPARTMENT | INSIGHT

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[Ethics, from: 22]


http://www.spiramid.com/index.htm

Two industrial hygienists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratoryreveal the latest version of their control banding tool for nanomaterials.

Industrial hygienists love challenges. Here’s one with more than a few twists:

Let’s say you’re going through the basics of a risk assessment. You have some chemical

agents, a few workers, and the makings of your basic exposure characterization. However,

you have no occupational exposure limit (OEL), essentially no toxicological basis, and no

epidemiology. You cannot use sampling pumps, cassettes, tubes, or any of the media in

your toolbox, and the whole concept of mass-to-dose is out the window, even at high

exposure levels.

CONTROL BANDINGAND NANOTECHNOLOGY

BY DAVID M. ZALK AND SAMUEL Y. PAIK

O


Control Banding and Nanotechnology | FEATURE

Of course, by the title, you knew wewere talking about nanomaterials. Butdid you know that nanomaterials turneverything you know about industrialhygiene upside down? The very founda-tions of the profession, which youworked so hard to master, are pulled outfrom under you. And nanomaterials makethe gold standard of our profession, thequantitative science of exposure assess-ment, look pretty rusty.

Quantitative measurements of nano-materials are possible, but the instru-ments are generally very expensive, andgetting an appropriate workplace per-sonal exposure measurement can be verydifficult, if not impossible. The potentialfor worker exposures, however, is veryreal, as evidenced by a recent publicationreporting worker exposures to polyacry-late nanoparticles in a Chinese factory(Song et al. 2009).

With something this complex andchallenging, how does a concept as sim-ple as control banding save the day?Many industrial hygienists know of con-trol banding from its application in theCOSHH (Control of Substances Hazardousto Health) Essentials toolkit from theBritish Health and Safety Executive.Considerable disagreement about COSHHEssentials and its value for risk assess-ments exists in the published research.But almost all the experts agree that con-trol banding can be useful when no OELsare available (Zalk and Nelson 2008).

This aspect of control banding—its util-ity with uncertainty—led international ex-perts to recommend it for nanomaterials.However, since this recommendation wasonly theoretical, we took on the challengeof developing a working toolkit, the con-trol banding (CB) Nanotool (see Zalk et al.2009 and Paik et al. 2008), as a meansto perform a risk assessment and protectresearchers at the Lawrence LivermoreNational Laboratory.

Dealing with UncertaintyWhile engineered nanomaterials havepotentially endless benefits for society,the very properties that make them souseful to industry could also make themdangerous to humans and the environ-ment. The uncertainties and unknownswith nanomaterials include the contri-bution of their physical structure totheir toxicity, significant differences in

their deposition and clearance in thelungs when compared with their parentmaterial, a lack of agreement on the ap-propriate indices for exposure to nano-materials, and a dearth of backgroundinformation on exposure scenarios orat-risk populations.

Our insufficient background knowledgeof nanomaterials can be traced partly tothe lack of risk assessments historicallyperformed in the industry. A recent surveyindicated that 65 percent of companiesworking with nanomaterials are not doingany nanomaterials-specific risk assess-ments; instead, companies are focusingon traditional parent material methods forindustrial hygiene (Helland et al. 2009).The number of peer-reviewed publicationsthat address environmental, health andsafety aspects of nanomaterials has in-creased over the last few years, but thepercentage of these that address practicalmethods to reduce exposure and protectworkers is orders of magnitude lower.

Our intent in developing the CB Nan-otool was to create a simplified approachthat would protect workers while unrav-eling the mysteries of nanomaterials forexperts and non-experts alike. Since alarge part of the toxicological effects ofboth the physical and chemical proper-ties of nanomaterials were not only un-known but changing logarithmicallywith the continued growth in nanomate-rials research, we needed to account forthis lack of information as part of the CBNanotool’s risk assessment.

We chose a standardized 4x4 risk ma-trix (see Figure 1) as our starting point,working with the severity parameters onone axis and the probability parameterson the other. The development of theseverity axis was the hardest part of oureffort. It required the dissection of nano-materials and their physicochemical prop-erties, which are often unknown; addinginformation on the parent material, whichis far more available; and somehow scor-ing these input factors in a manner thatappropriately weighted each factor.

We decided to give unknown inputfactors a score of 75 percent of the pointscorresponding to the highest rating foreach category. Assigning maximumpoints for unknowns would havebranded nearly every nanomaterial asextremely dangerous, necessitating thehighest level of control. Balancing a

conservative approach with a reason-able scientific estimate was the bestway not to stifle research ingenuity,yet still protect workers. The probabilityaxis, which fits well with traditionalindustrial hygiene knowledge, was mucheasier to develop and score. The detailsof the CB Nanotool go far beyond this,but we give the basics below.

Severity FactorsBased on the literature available prior topublication of the CB Nanotool, the fac-tors below were considered to determinethe overall severity of exposure to nano-materials. The research and logic behindboth the composition and scoring distri-bution of these factors can be found inour publications (see Zalk et al. 2009 andPaik et al. 2008). These factors influencethe ability of particles to reach the respi-ratory tract, deposit in various regions ofthe respiratory tract, penetrate or be ab-sorbed through skin, and systemicallyelicit biological responses. The division ofseverity factor points taken cumulativelyis 70 percent for the nanomaterial and 30percent for the parent material. Researchto date does not contraindicate the poten-tial for engineered nanomaterials to bemore toxic than their parent materials.

The following factors contribute tonanomaterials severity. (NM stands fornanomaterial; PM for parent material.)

Surface chemistry NM: Surface chem-istry is known to be a key factor influ-encing the toxicity of inhaled particles.Points are assigned based on knowledgeof whether the surface activity of thenanoparticle is high, medium or low.

High . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Medium . . . . . . . . . . . 5Low . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 7.5

Particle shape NM: Points are assignedbased on the shape of the particle. Thehighest rating is given to fibrous or tubu-lar-shaped particles based on toxicologicalstudies. Particles with irregular shapes(anisotropic) have higher surface areasthan isotropic or spherical particles andtherefore are given the next highest rating.

Tubular, fibrous. . . . . 10Anisotropic . . . . . . . . 5Compact/spherical . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 7.5

FEATURE | Control Banding and Nanotechnology

Particle diameter NM: Points are as-signed based on the particles’ depositionin the respiratory tract, regardless of theregion in the respiratory tract.

1–10 nm . . . . . . . . . 1011–40 nm . . . . . . . . . 541–100 nm . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 7.5

Solubility NM: Poorly soluble, inhalednanoparticles can cause oxidative stress,leading to inflammation, fibrosis or can-cer. Soluble nanomaterials can alsocause adverse effects through dissolutionin the blood, but to a lesser degree.

Insoluble . . . . . . . . . 10Soluble . . . . . . . . . . . 5Unknown . . . . . . . . 7.5

Carcinogenicity NM: Points are assignedbased on whether the nanomaterial iscarcinogenic, regardless of whether thematerial is a human or animal carcino-gen. Little information is available.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 4.5

Reproductive toxicity NM: Points are as-signed based on whether the nanomater-ial is a reproductive hazard or not. Littleinformation on this factor is available.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 4.5

Mutagenicity NM: Points are assignedbased on whether the nanomaterial is amutagen or not. Little information onthis factor is available.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 4.5

Dermal toxicity NM: Points are assignedbased on whether the nanomaterial is adermal hazard or not. Little informationon this factor is available.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 4.5

Asthmagen NM: Points are assignedbased on whether the nanomaterial is anasthmagen or not. Little information onthis factor is available.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 4.5

Toxicity PM: Although research agreesthat nanomaterials can be more toxicthan parent materials, knowledge of thePM toxicity is a good starting point forunderstanding the NM toxicity. Pointsare assigned according to the OEL of thebulk material.

< 10 µg/m3. . . . . . . . 1010–100 µg/m3 . . . . . . 5101 µg/m3–1 mg/m3 2.5> 1 mg/m3 . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . 7.5

Carcinogenicity PM: Points are assignedbased on whether the PM is carcinogenicor not.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . . 3

Reproductive toxicity of PM: Points areassigned on whether the PM is a repro-ductive hazard or not.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . . 3

Mutagenicity of PM: Points are assignedon whether the PM is a mutagen or not.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . . 3

Dermal hazard potential of PM: Pointsare assigned on whether the PM is adermal hazard or not.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . . 3

Asthmagen PM: Points are assignedbased on whether the PM is an asthma-gen or not.

Yes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4No . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0Unknown . . . . . . . . . 3

The overall severity score is deter-mined based on the sum of all the pointsfrom the severity factors. The maximumscore is 100. An overall severity score of0–25 is considered low severity; an over-all severity score of 26–50 is consideredmedium severity; an overall severityscore of 51–75 is considered high severity;and an overall severity score of 76–100is considered very high severity.

Probability FactorsThe probability scores are based on fac-tors determining the extent to whichemployees may be potentially exposedto nanomaterials:

Estimated amount of NM used duringoperation: For nanomaterials embeddedon substrates or suspended in liquid, theamount is based on the mass of thenanomaterial and not the substrate orliquid portion.


Extremely Unlikely(0–25)

Less Likely(26–50)

Likely(51–75)

Probable(76–100)

Very High(76–100) RL 3 RL 3 RL 4 RL 4

High(51–75) RL 2 RL 2 RL 3 RL 4

Medium(26–50) RL 1 RL 1 RL 2 RL 3

Low(0–25) RL 1 RL 1 RL 1 RL 2

Figure 1. Risk level (RL) matrix as a function of severity and probability scores. Control bands are based on overall risk levels.

Probability Score

Control bands by risk level: RL 1: General ventilation; RL 2: Fume hoods or localexhaust ventilation; RL 3: Containment; RL 4: Seek specialist advice.

Sev

erit

y S

core

Control Banding and Nanotechnology | FEATURE


> 100 mg . . . . . . . . 2511–100 mg . . . . . . 12.50–10 mg . . . . . . . . 6.25Unknown . . . . . . 18.75

Dustiness/mistiness: Since employees arepotentially exposed to nanoparticles ineither dry or wet form, this factor encom-passes dustiness and mistiness of thenanomaterial. Knowledge of the opera-tion (e.g., handling dry powders versusliquid suspensions of nanoparticles)would be a means to estimate dusti-ness/mistiness. A CB Nanotool designfeature is that a rating of “none” fordustiness/mistiness level (and only forthis factor) automatically results in anoverall probability score to be “extremelyunlikely” regardless of the other proba-bility factors, since the other factorswill not be relevant if no dust or mist isgenerated.

High . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Medium . . . . . . . . . 15Low . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5Unknown . . . . . . . 22.5

Number of employees with similarexposure: Points are assigned by thenumber of employees assigned to thisactivity. More employees means a higherprobability of employees being exposed.

> 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . 1511–15 . . . . . . . . . . . 106–10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Unknown . . . . . . 11.25

Frequency of operation: Points are assigned based on the frequency of theoperation. More frequent operations aremore likely to result in employee expo-sures.

Daily . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Weekly . . . . . . . . . . 10Monthly . . . . . . . . . . 5Less than monthly . . 0Unknown . . . . . . 11.25

Duration of operation: Points are assignedbased on the duration of the operation.Longer operations are more likely to result in employee exposures.

> 4 hours . . . . . . . . 15

1–4 hours . . . . . . . . 10

30–60 minutes . . . . . 5

< 30 minutes . . . . . . . 0

Unknown . . . . . . 11.25

The overall probability score is basedon the sum of all the points from theprobability factors. The maximum score is100. An overall probability score of 0–25is considered extremely unlikely; an over-all probability score of 26–50 is consid-ered less likely; an overall probabilityscore of 51–75 is considered likely; andan overall probability score of 76–100 isconsidered probable. Based on the sever-ity and probability scores for an operation,the overall level of risk and correspondingcontrol band is determined by the matrixshown in Figure 1.

Nanotool 2.0The outcome of taking on this challengeby developing the CB Nanotool can befound in our first published article (Paiket al. 2008). Much to our surprise, the CBNanotool generated quite a large amountof interest, particularly among interna-tional organizations, including the Inter-national Labor Organization and theWorld Health Organization. The Interna-tional Organization for Standardizationis developing a control banding approachfor nanomaterials (ISO/NP TS 12907-2).Control banding for work with nanoma-terials is now recommended by manycountries worldwide, including Canada,Australia, the Netherlands and SouthKorea.

Our co-author, Paul Swuste of theDelft University of Technology, wasvital in obtaining high-profile Europeanopportunities for presenting our work.Suddenly, experts were considering ourqualitative CB approach to be as good asand—dare we say—possibly better thanthe current quantitative risk assessmentapproach. As more nanomaterials profes-sionals became aware of the CB Nanotool,they raised additional questions andchallenges. Our latest article (Zalk et al.2009) thoroughly evaluates the CBNanotool to address these questions.The professional evaluation of our quali-tative methods provided an opportunityto improve the tool—resulting in version2 of the CB Nanotool, which is presentedin this article—and shine a new, positivelight on control banding.

Good things happen when industrialhygienists take on challenges.

Acknowledgement: This work was performed underthe auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy byLawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Con-tract DE-AC52-07NA27344, LLNL-JRNL-421516.

David M. Zalk, CIH, MPH, is the Site 300 EHS man-ager at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory inLivermore, Calif. He can be reached at (925) 422-8904 or [email protected].

Samuel Y. Paik, PhD, CIH, is an industrial hygienistat Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Liver-more, Calif. He can be reached at (925) 424-6377 [email protected].

ReferencesHelland, A., M. Scheringer, M. Siegrist, etal.: “Risk Assessment of Engineered Nano-materials: A Survey of Industrial Ap-proaches.” Environ. Sci. Technol.42(2):640–646 (2008). Available athttp://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es062807i.

Paik, S.Y., D.M. Zalk, and P. Swuste: “Ap-plication of a Pilot Control Banding Tool forRisk Level Assessment and Control ofNanoparticle Exposures.” Ann. of Occup.Hyg. 52(6):419-428 (2008). Available athttp://annhyg.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/52/6/419.

Song, Y., X. Li, and X. Du: “Exposure toNanoparticles Is Related to Pleural Effu-sion, Pulmonary Fibrosis and Granuloma.”Eur. Respir. J. 34(3):559–67 (2009). Avail-able at http://erj.ersjournals.com/cgi/content/abstract/34/3/559.

Zalk, D.M., and D.L. Nelson: “History andEvolution of Control Banding: A Review.” J.Occup. Environ. Hyg. 5:330–46 (2008).Available atwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18350442.

Zalk, D.M., S.Y. Paik, and P. Swuste:“Evaluating the Control Banding Nanotool:A Qualitative Risk Assessment Method forControlling Nanoparticle Exposures.”Nanopart. Res. 11(7):1685–1704 (2009).Available at www.springerlink.com/con-tent/4t3241552m176137/.

VIRTUALTOOLBOX TALK

Join David Zalk and Samuel Paik at 1 p.m. ETon April 23 for a Virtual Toolbox Talk: Trans-forming information into knowledge. This60-minute conversation will help readersget support and practical advice to apply intheir own practice. For more information,go to www.aiha.org/DLProgram.

http://www.aiha.org/education/dl/Pages/SynergistTestSeries.aspx

Tips for Maximizing

Performance,

Productivity

and Safety of the

Aging Work Force

Prolong the Functional Age

BY MARGARET WAN

T


Prolong the Functional Age | FEATURE

The work force is aging due to shifting demographics,longer lifespan, and financial realities. Recent projectionsby the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimate that thenumber of workers 55 and older will increase by 43 per-cent to almost 40 million between 2008 and 2018 (BLS2009). That will be nearly one-quarter of the labor force.How can employers maximize the performance, produc-tivity and safety of this aging work force? Application ofhuman factors and ergonomics principles is the key.

Individuals vary tremendously in the rate and severityof aging depending on physical activity, environment,lifestyle and genetics. Still, by taking into account com-mon age-related changes, OEHS professionals can improvethe worker-environment interaction. Many of the followingrecommendations contribute to efficiency and effectivenessof workers of all ages.

Materials Handling and Tool DesignIn general, muscle mass, strength and aerobic capacity, as represented byoxygen uptake, decline with age. Older workers may have a lower physi-cal capacity and experience higher physiological strain for the same taskcompared with younger workers. The best way to make certain that thework demand is within the individual’s capacity is to determine thephysical strain on a worker by measuring the oxygen uptake and heartrate while the worker performs the task and comparing the values to theindividual’s peak values when using the same muscle groups.

Tendons at the shoulders, elbows, knees and ankles are likely to showage-related degenerative changes and become more susceptible to dam-age by mechanical strain. To lessen the physical demands on olderworkers, reduce load size and weight for manual materials handlingtasks and redesign jobs or workplace layout to avoid reaching or liftingabove shoulder height, squatting or bending. Teach older workers tokeep their feet farther apart for better balance if they must perform tasksthat require squatting. Provide tools such as telescopic cleaning polesfor environmental services staff to reduce squatting or reaching. Usemotor power for transfers and lift tables to eliminate bending. Somepackaging and assembly jobs are stressful because of the speed at whichthe worker must perform the task. If a task is machine paced, verify thatthe speed does not create excessive strain on the worker. Ideally, aworker should be given some control over the pace of performing thetask to reduce subjective fatigue.

Research in grip performance has shown that a relatively smaller gripspan may be more suitable for older workers than a larger grip span.Keep this in mind when designing or selecting hand tools or equipmentthat has handles. Be aware, however, that a smaller grip may be inap-propriate for people suffering from arthritis in the hands, since theymay be unable to use fine motor skills.

Computer WorkstationThe National Center for Health Statistics reported that adults 40 to 59years of age were more likely to be obese, with a body mass index thatequaled or exceeded 30, compared with older and younger adults(Ogden et al. 2007). The shoulders of obese individuals are broader. Astandard keyboard 16 to 18 inches wide puts their arms and wrists in a


FEATURE | Prolong the Functional Age

non-neutral position, which is a riskfactor for musculoskeletal disorders. Anergonomically designed split keyboardalleviates this situation. Also, the largerthe body size, the more often the armmay be extended beyond a comfortablereach to access frequently used items.Educate workers to organize their work-space and place the most frequently useditems within their primary work zone.

Many older persons have knees thathurt. Rather than having the olderworker sit in the traditional “ergonomi-cally correct” position with the backstraight, thighs parallel to the floor, andfeet resting on the floor, try seating thema little higher with the seat back tilted at15 to 20 degrees from the vertical whilemaintaining a 90-degree angle betweenthe seat back and the seat pan. This posi-tion helps relieve the pressure on theback as aging “flattens” the back some-what. Tip the monitor slightly forward toallow perpendicular viewing so theworker can see the screen without tiltingthe head or neck. Provide a footrest andplenty of legroom for the worker tostretch the legs periodically. The distancebetween the armrests of the chair shouldbe adjustable to support the forearms ata comfortable position.

Monitors should have high resolutionand large display. For bifocal wearers,the monitor should be lower than usualso the screen is visible in the readingpart of the glasses. Advise workers to asktheir eye doctor about computer glassesthat may allow more flexibility in differ-ent sitting positions. Because an olderworker may take longer to adjust focus,document holders placed between themonitor and the keyboard may be help-ful. Older persons are more sensitive toglare than younger persons. Positioningmonitors to avoid glare is especiallyimportant. For example, install antiglarecomputer filters, place the screen betweenoverhead lights, use window coverings,dim the light intensity of the areasaround the workstation, and use tasklighting.

Older workers may have difficultyperforming mouse tasks, especially withclicking and double clicking. A commonproblem is the inability to simultane-ously hold the mouse still and rapidlypush the mouse button. Adjusting thesensitivity of the mouse or training in-tervention may improve mouse control

performance. Consider using other formsof input devices or methods includingspeech-to-text software.

Illumination and Visual TasksVisual acuity and contrast sensitivitygenerally begin to decline after age 40.Whenever possible, provide a high levelof contrast between the target and thebackground. For visual inspection tasks,use special purpose lighting to make low-contrast targets more visible. Displaysshould provide large targets and ade-quate illumination. Older persons requirea higher level of illumination for visualtasks because of the thickening of thelens of the eyes and constriction in thepupil size, both of which reduce theamount of light reaching the retina. Withincreased illumination, glare in the fieldof view must be controlled. Age-relatedchanges in the eye increase the scatteringof light within the eyeball and accentuatethe effects of glare. In addition, an olderperson takes about 50 percent more timethan a younger person to adapt to glare.

The most common methods of con-trolling glare are providing a work sur-face with a matte finish, using indirector diffuse lighting, installing severallow-intensity luminaires instead of onebright luminaire, and positioning theworkstation so that light comes from thesides instead of the front or back. Anyreflected light should be directed awayfrom the eyes.

Color matching ability in the bluerange may decline with age. As part ofthe job placement tests, include a colorvision test under viewing conditions andtask demands similar to the actual work-ing conditions. For monitoring taskswith high demands on perceptual andsensory capabilities, shape coding ofcontrols can supplement color coding toimprove the ease and speed of informa-tion processing.

NoiseOlder persons are less able than youngerpersons to tune out background noise.The effects of distractions caused byworking in a noisy area may be moreproblematic for older workers, especiallyif the task is complex or the worker ismultitasking. Try to reduce or eliminatebackground noise or reverberations byimplementing engineering controls, suchas enclosures. A noise-canceling headsetis an option, but setting the volume toohigh can cause noise-induced hearingloss.

Heat and ColdDue to reduced efficiency of the body’sthermoregulatory mechanisms, olderpersons are more susceptible to heat orcold stress. The risk is increased if theperson consumes alcohol or has medicalconditions such as cardiovascular diseasesor renal disorders that further diminishthe thermoregulatory functions. If the


Prolong the Functional Age | FEATURE

job exposes an older worker to excessiveheat or cold and engineering controls arenot feasible, make sure that administra-tive controls are in place and proper per-sonal protective equipment is provided.

Older persons have less touch sensi-tivity. Their reflexive response to anextremely hot or cold surface may notbe fast enough to avoid injury. If theworker must perform tasks on or nearvery hot or cold surfaces, protectiveclothing should be used.

Shift WorkAge and shift work have additive effectsthat affect sleep disorders and sick leave.Some older, more experienced workersmay practice accommodation techniquesthat allow them to continue workingshifts. Over time, these workers maycross a threshold beyond which the bodycan no longer tolerate a shift schedule.It is better to reassign older workers toregular daytime work to prevent healthproblems associated with shift work.

Workplace Safety The biological control mechanisms forhomeostasis tend to decrease with age,which is one reason why older workerstake longer to recover from an injury orillness than younger workers. For olderworkers, an ounce of prevention may beworth two pounds of cure.

Traffic accidents accounted for approx-imately 25 percent of all fatal occupa-tional injuries in 2008 for workers age55 to 64 years (BLS 2009). Navigationtasks require complex information pro-cessing and multitasking skills, cognitiveresources that may decline with age. In-stall a global positioning system (GPS)in the corporate fleet to facilitate thesafe performance of driving tasks. Thesystem should have voice prompts anda high-resolution, large touch-screendisplay (minimum four inches). Somesystems are specially designed for truckdrivers and have features supportingtruck-related highway restrictions. If adriver must communicate with otherpeople while driving, the radio or mobilephone should allow hands-free operation.Mobile phones should have voice dialingfeatures. Some GPS systems have inte-grated Bluetooth® wireless technologywith a built-in microphone and speaker.Mobile phones that have larger buttons

and can display larger fonts are desir-able. When such communication tech-nologies are used, be sure to train theworkers so they are familiar with the de-vices before going on the road!

Make auditory signals louder and visualsignals brighter for older workers. Pro-vide both auditory and visual alerts foremergency notification. Restrict thefrequency of auditory signals to therange between 1,000 and 2,000 Hz;age-related hearing loss usually beginsat higher frequencies. Use larger printand fonts in instructions and warnings.For vigilance tasks, especially thosethat require the operator to monitormore than one screen concurrently,keep the visual field uncluttered andeliminate irrelevant details.

Older persons are more prone to slips,trips and falls due to changes in proprio-ception, balance and gait. Help them selectnon-slip footwear with the appropriatesoles based on the job tasks. For example,rubber soles may work well on dry floorsand neoprene soles may be better for wetconditions. Avoid extended reach, whichcan contribute to a loss of balance. Wall-to-wall anti-fatigue flooring is preferableto anti-fatigue mats whose edges createtrip hazards. If anti-fatigue mats are used,select a mat color that contrasts with thefloor color or a product that has a bevelededge of a contrasting color—for example,a black mat with a yellow edge. Avoid theuse of risers.

Training Training can enable older workers toregain performance loss. Reasoning andcomprehension are not affected muchby age. Older persons learn new materi-als better if they know the relevanceand benefits to their job. Allow time forthem to digest new information. Keep itsimple. Avoid jargon and get directly tothe point. Use illustrations and visualaids both during the training and in theworkplace as reminders. If the trainingpertains to how a task is done, givethem an opportunity to practice anddemonstrate their abilities in performingthe task. This way you can documenttheir competencies for the specific job.

Universal DesignWith the aging of the baby boomers, olderworkers will comprise a large percentage

of the working population. Human factorsand ergonomics design for an aging workforce takes into account age-relatedchanges in anthropometry, physical ca-pacity, and perceptual, sensory, and cog-nitive capabilities.

Though not covered here, organiza-tional factors and generational differ-ences in the workplace are important aswell. It is also not possible to list all thereferences in a brief article; selected re-sources are listed.

Functional age can be quite differentfrom chronological age because olderpersons often are able to compensatefor the age-related changes by accom-modation, strategy change, experienceand retraining. The best practice is toapply the principles of universal designto enhance the performance, productiv-ity and safety of all workers.

Margaret Wan, PhD, CIH, CET, HEM, is consultantand trainer at EOH Consulting in Saint Petersburg,Fl. She can be reached at (727) 643-9389 [email protected].

Resources

Bureau of Labor Statistics: “Employ-ment Projections 2008-18.” [Online]Available at www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecopro.pdf. Accessed Dec. 11, 2009.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: “NationalCensus of Fatal Occupational Injuries in2008.” [Online] Available at www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf. AccessedDec. 13, 2009.

Eastman Kodak Company: Kodak’s Ergonomic Design for People at Work,2nd edition. New York: John Wiley &Sons, Inc., 2004.

Ogden, C.L., M.D. Carroll, M.A. Mc-Dowell, and K.M. Flegal: “ObesityAmong Adults in the United States—NoStatistically Significant Change Since2003–2004.” [Online] Available atwww.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db01.pdf. Accessed Dec. 14, 2009.

Sanders, M.S., and E.J. McCormick:Human Factors in Engineering and Design, 7th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1993.


BY CHRISTOPHER B. MURRAY

in a

PANDEMIC

RESPIRATORY PROTECTION

Time and Planning are Imperative

MRespiratory Protection in a Pandemic | FEATURE

35March 2010 ■ The Synergist

Media coverage of the spread ofthe H1N1 virus has caused manyorganizations to consider prepar-ing a respiratory protection planfor their employees. And as manyorganizations learned, the keyingredient for crafting an effectiveplan—time—was initially in shortsupply. Fortunately, H1N1 hasproduced mainly mild to moder-ate symptoms similar to those ofthe seasonal influenza. But wemay not be so lucky next time,and as our experience withH1N1 shows, it’s never too lateto plan.

Pandemic BackgroundThe virus was first identified in April2009; in June, when human-to-humantransmission was sufficiently sustained,the World Health Organization (WHO)classified the virus’ spread as a pan-demic. (WHO defines pandemics accord-ing to geographic spread rather thanseverity.) In response to growing fears inthe United States, OSHA and severalother public health agencies developedrecommendations to help employersminimize transmission of a pandemicvirus in the workplace.

The Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC) responded quickly,producing interim guidelines regardingrespirator usage for the health-care indus-try. Health-care workers’ risk of exposureis high because of the tasks they perform.OSHA has also developed numerousguidelines to assist employers, many ofwhich are published on OSHA’s 2009pandemic Influenza Safety and HealthTopics page, located at www.flu.gov.

In November 2009, OSHA issued acompliance directive intended to ensurethat field staff conduct H1N1 inspectionprocedures in a uniform manner. Thedirective focuses on high- to very high-risk occupational exposures and defineshealth-care personnel as “all personswhose occupational activities involvecontact with patients or contaminatedmaterial in a health-care or clinical

laboratory setting.” Health-care person-nel also perform other tasks, many ofwhich include patient contact in additionto direct patient care, including dietaryand housekeeping services. Health-careworkplaces include not only hospitalsand the offices of private practitionersbut also inpatient and outpatient facili-ties, senior adult care and home health-care settings, and institutional settingssuch as colleges, universities, schoolsand correctional facilities.

Risk CategoriesA worker’s risk of occupational exposureduring an influenza pandemic is charac-terized as very high, high, medium orlow. This characterization depends inpart on whether job tasks and activitiesrequire close contact (within 6 feet) withpatients who have suspected or con-firmed H1N1 influenza and whetherworkers are required to have repeated orextended close contact with others (e.g.,patients, coworkers, the general public,etc.). OSHA notes that the compliancedirective does not apply to medium- orlow-risk occupational exposures. Riskcategories are defined as follows:

Very high exposure risk: a job task oractivity involving a medical or labora-tory procedure during which there is apotential for occupational exposure tohigh concentrations of suspected orconfirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza virus.

Workers at very high exposure risk in-clude health-care workers (for example,doctors, respiratory therapists, nurses,emergency responders or dentists) whoperform aerosol-generating procedureson suspected or confirmed patients (suchas sputum inductions, endotracheal intu-bations and extubations, bronchoscopies,some dental procedures or invasive spec-imen collection). Health-care workerspresent during performance of aerosol-generating procedures during autopsies,such as medical examiners, are also atvery high risk of exposure.

High exposure risk: a job task or activ-ity involving a high potential for expo-sure to suspected or confirmed 2009H1N1 influenza virus. Workers at highexposure risk include health-care work-ers who are in close contact (within 6feet) of suspected or confirmed patientsor entering a small enclosed airspaceshared with the patient (e.g., the size ofan average patient room). Emergencyresponders and other staff who trans-port suspected or confirmed H1N1 pa-tients in enclosed vehicles are also athigh risk of exposure.

Medium exposure risk: a job task oractivity that requires frequent, closecontact (within 6 feet) with others (e.g.,coworkers, the general public, schoolchildren, or other such individuals orgroups). Environments that have high-

FEATURE | Respiratory Protection in a Pandemic


frequency contact with the general pop-ulation include schools; workplaces withhigh population density, such as banks;and some high-volume retail stores, suchas grocery stores.

Low exposure risk: a job task or activitythat does not require frequent close con-tact (within 6 feet) with coworkers or thegeneral public. Office workers are an ex-ample of employees who have minimaloccupational contact with others.

Compliance IssuesThe CDC guidelines for H1N1 for health-care workers, finalized in October 2009,present a new enforcement challenge forOSHA. Determining what regulators maybe willing to overlook in the face of apandemic is impossible, but the OSHArespiratory protection standard (29 CFR1910.134) specifies what employers mustdo to establish a compliant program.

Since H1N1 is transmitted via director indirect person-to-person contact ofinfectious droplets when influenza patientscough, sneeze, talk or even breathe, theuse of respiratory protection for health-care workers is a complex but timelytopic. As good industrial hygiene woulddictate, the CDC guidelines focus on theimportance of source control, engineeringand administrative measures to reducethe numbers of workers who come intocontact with patients who have flu-likeillness. Personal protective equipment(PPE) ranks lowest in this hierarchybecause its effectiveness depends on anumber of factors, including training andcontinuous use during all potential expo-sure periods. Failure to comply withproper use requirements or to recognizeinfected patients in a timely manner willseverely limit the effectiveness of PPE. Ifrespiratory protection is used, the CDCcalls for respiratory protection at least asprotective as a fit-tested, disposable N95respirator.

Therein lies the challenge for healthcare administrators. The CDC andOSHA’s hierarchy of controls is intendedto extend the use of, or reduce the con-sumption of, what is likely the mostsought after control mechanism otherthan vaccination—the N95 filtering face-piece respirator. As distributors seek tofill all the orders for disposable respira-tors and fit-testing kits, many organiza-tions may find themselves left out in

their attempt to comply. SavaSeniorCare,affiliated nursing facilities with locationsacross the United States, decided not tocontend with the possible shortage ofN95 respirators and instead chose tosecure sufficient supplies to protect theiremployees and residents from exposure.“We take seriously the health and safetyof our residents and employees,” saidNan Impink, senior vice president andchief operations counsel for SavaSenior-Care. “Therefore, we decided to be proac-tive this year and assure that we wereprepared for an H1N1 and/or seasonalinfluenza outbreak. Our customers expectthat we will do what is needed to protecttheir loved ones.”

CDC details prioritization levels ofrespirator protection during respiratorshortages. (The agency does not define“respirator shortage.”) High-priorityworkers include health-care personnelattending aerosol-generating procedures,which carry a very high exposure risk,and those who manage patients withother diseases that require respiratoryprotection (e.g., tuberculosis).

Where respirators are not commerciallyavailable, OSHA will consider employers

to be in compliance if they can demon-strate that they made a good-faith effortto acquire respirators. CDC adds that facil-ities should “maintain a reserve sufficientto meet the estimated needs for perform-ing aerosol generating procedures andfor managing patients with diseasesother than influenza that require respira-tory protection until supplies are expectedto be replenished.”

According to Chris Milby of Orr Safety,a safety and equipment supplier head-quartered in Louisville, Ky., “Althoughmany suppliers have had to place theirsupply on allocation, there has not beenany disruption to the supply chain.There are only issues with trying topurchase exceptionally large quantitiesrequiring quick delivery. Many suppliershave increased their production andother suppliers have added N95 to theproduct lines they carry.”

Alternatives to N95 respirators includethe use of more protective filtering face-piece respirators, such as elastomeric andreusable powered air-purifying respirators(PAPRs). Other filtering face-piece classi-fications —N, P, R 99 and 100 designa-tions—are as good as, if not better than,

Respiratory Protection in a Pandemic | FEATURE

37

N95s at reducing influenza exposure.Surgical facemasks that have been clearedby the U.S. Food and Drug Administrationfor their ability to resist blood and bodyfluids may also be provided to health-careworkers (while the employer/facility is ina prioritized respirator use mode) whenno other protection is available. Face-masks can be placed on potentially infec-tious patients as an added measure ofprotection. Employers have a variety ofoptions when it comes to respiratory pro-tection against pandemic flu. However,their respiratory protection plans shoulddocument the circumstances under whichextended use or reuse may become neces-sary and determine when respirators willbe considered contaminated and notavailable for reuse.

OSHA anticipates inspecting facilitiesmainly in response to worker complaintsand as part of fatality investigationswhere death or hospitalization occurreddue to suspect occupational exposure topandemic flu. OSHA does not intend toinspect complaints where employeesperform tasks that have medium or lowexposure risk. Employers who undergoinspection should be prepared to pro-vide documentation of exposure orhazard assessments that lead to the de-cision to use respiratory protection and

other protective equipment. The assess-ments should specify employee expo-sure risk categories (very high, high,medium or low). Employers should alsoprovide a pandemic influenza plan aspart of an overall emergency prepared-ness plan.

Respirator Medical Clearance Where workers are required by employersto wear respirators (not surgical face-masks), the respirators must be NIOSHcertified, selected, and used in the con-text of a comprehensive respiratory pro-tection program (see OSHA standard 29CFR 1910.134, or www.osha.gov/SLTC/respiratoryprotection/index.html). It isimportant to medically evaluate workersto ensure that they can perform taskswhile wearing a respirator. For manyworkers, a medical evaluation may beaccomplished by having a physician orother licensed health-care provider re-view a respiratory questionnaire com-pleted by the worker (found in AppendixC of OSHA’s respiratory protection stan-dard, 29 CFR 1910.134) to determine ifthe worker can be medically cleared touse a respirator. Increasingly, organiza-tions are electing to have employeescleared by a physician through onlinequestionnaires.

Employers who have never beforeneeded to consider a respiratory protec-tion plan should note that it can taketime to select an appropriate respirator toprovide to workers; arrange for a quali-fied trainer; and provide training, fit-testing and medical evaluations for theirworkers. Mobilizing thousands of employ-ees who work in hundreds of facilitiesacross multiple states to complete med-ical questionnaires in a timely manner,having each one reviewed by an occupa-tional health physician, and providingtraining and fit-testing is a monumentalundertaking. Companies should not takethese tasks lightly. Many resources areavailable to help companies prepare forthis pandemic or the next one. For in-stance, the Directorate of Training andEducation (DTE) for OSHA has addedoutreach information in the form of aone-day pandemic influenza trainingcourse to educate employers. The OSHATraining Institute Centers will offer thisfree training, and it may be good placeto start.

Christopher B. Murray, CIH, is vice president of TheEI Group, a consulting firm headquartered in Re-search Triangle Park, N.C. He can be reached [email protected] or (919) 657-7500, ext. 257.

References

Centers for Disease Control andPrevention: Interim Guidance on In-fection Control Measures for 2009H1N1 Influenza in Healthcare Settings,Including Protection of HealthcarePersonnel. [Online] Available atwww.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/guidelines_in-fection_control.htm (Accessed Oct.2009).

OSHA: Enforcement Procedures forHigh to Very High Occupational Expo-sure Risk to 2009 H1N1 Influenza—Di-rective Number CPL-02-02-075.[Online] Available at www.osha.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL_02_02-075.pdf (Accessed Nov. 2009).

March 2010 ■ The Synergist



CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT

New EPA Policy Rejects Confidentiality ClaimsChemical manufacturers will no longer be able to use confiden-tiality claims to disguise the identity of dangerous chemicals,EPA announced in January.

Under the Toxic Substances Con-trol Act (TSCA), companies are re-quired to register chemicals theyintend to market with EPA and no-tify the agency immediately if theylearn that a chemical poses a sub-stantial risk to health or the envi-ronment. EPA makes thesenotifications available on its web-site. TSCA allows companies toconceal certain proprietary information as confidential, but ac-cording to an agency press release, companies would routinelyclaim confidentiality for the identity of the chemical. The newEPA policy ends this practice.

The agency’s action came two weeks after an article in theJan. 4 Washington Post estimated that manufacturers have hid-den the identities of approximately 17,000 chemicals registeredwith EPA. Not all of these chemicals are harmful, but the paperreported that more than half of the 65 confidentiality claimsfiled with EPA in March 2008 involved secret chemicals.

For more information on the EPA policy, visit www.epa.gov/oppt/tsca8e/. The Washington Post article “Use of PotentiallyHarmful Chemicals Kept Secret Under Law,” by Lyndsey Layton,is available at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/03/AR2010010302110.html.

DIACETYL

NIOSH, OSHA Concerned about Diacetyl SubstitutesA letter from NIOSH Director John Howard to OSHA Adminis-trator David Michaels indicates that three common substitutesfor diacetyl have raised concerns among researchers and regu-lators about their effects on occupa-tional health and safety. The letterdiscusses research that suggests thesubstitutes 2,3-pentanedione and ace-toin are no more safe than diacetyl,and notes that acetoin often accompa-nies diacetyl in workplaces whereworkers have experienced respiratoryailments.

According to the letter, both NIOSHand the National Institute for Environ-mental Health Sciences are researching 2,3-pentanedione.

The letter, dated Dec. 23, 2009, followed Michaels’ speech at

the NIOSH “Making Green Jobs Safe” workshop on Dec. 16 inwhich the OSHA chief expressed pessimism that chemical sub-stitutions are a viable way to address health concerns. Michaelsnoted that few chemical differences exist between diacetyl andsome of its substitutes and suggested that regulatory action onflavor additives may be preferable to trying to regulate diacetyl.

OSHA’s regulatory agenda for 2010 states that the agency isscheduled to begin reviewing diacetyl in October.

Howard’s letter to Michaels is available on the website ofDefending Science at http://defendingscience.org//case_studies/upload/Howard_Letter_on_Diacetyl_Substitutes.pdf.

HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES

New Agents Added to Haz-MapThe National Library of Medicine (NLM) recently added 265 newagents to Haz-Map, a database of information about the healtheffects of occupational exposures to chemi-cals and biological agents. The new agentsinclude rare earth metals, uranium com-pounds, metallic perchlorate compounds,and others.

The information in Haz-Map comesfrom textbooks, journal articles, and elec-tronic databases. Haz-Map is searchable byoccupation, disease, agent, and adverseeffects. To access Haz-Map, visithttp://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/index.html.

PPE

OSHA Videos Demonstrate Respirator, Facemask Safetyfor Health-Care WorkersNew videos for health-care workers postedon the OSHA website demonstrate correctdonning and doffing of common respira-tors, explain the differences betweenrespirators and surgical masks, and showhow to conduct a user seal check. Thevideos are available in English and Spanishversions at www.osha.gov/SLTC/respiratoryprotection/ index.htm.

STANDARDS

OSHA Publishes Hex Chrome BookletA new booklet outlining industry requirements for hexavalentchromium standards is available from the OSHA website. Thebooklet discusses the health effects of workplace exposure tohexavalent chromium, exposure limits and exposure monitor-ing, control measures, PPE requirements, medical surveillance,

OEHS NEWS ■ GOVERNMENT NEWS ■ INDUSTRY NEWS

NewsWatch


NEWSWATCH | DEPARTMENT

recordkeeping and other topics.Hexavalent chromium is used in inks,

dyes, pigments, coatings, ceramics andother materials. Occupational exposureto hexavalent chromium can lead tolung cancer in workers who breathe thesubstance as a dust, fume, or mist.

The booklet is a supplement to OSHA’sSmall Entity Compliance Guide for theHexavalent Chromium Standards. Both publications are avail-able at www.osha.gov.

WORKER SAFETY

OSHA to Hold Summit for Latino Worker Health andSafetyOSHA, NIOSH and other federal agencies are sponsoring a National Action Summit for LatinoWorker Health and Safety, April 14–15,2010, in Houston, Texas. According toOSHA, the Summit will showcase ef-fective partnerships between govern-ment, consulates, faith and communitygroups/worker centers; successful on-the-job programs; and education pro-grams and materials targeted to a lowliteracy, Spanish-speaking worker pop-ulation. The event will focus on con-struction and other industries with large numbers of Hispanicworkers. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

SMOG

EPA Proposes Stricter Smog Standard In January, EPA proposed to lower the primary (public health)standard for smog to a level between 60 and 70 ppb measuredover eight hours. The current standard, set in March 2008, is75 ppb.

According to an EPA press release, the agency reviewed thescience informing the 2008 rulemaking and public commentson the 75 ppb standard to determine the new level.

Smog is linked to a number ofserious health problems, rangingfrom aggravation of asthma toincreased risk of premature deathin people with heart or lung dis-ease. Ozone can even harmhealthy people who work andplay outdoors. The agency esti-mates that the proposed standardwould result in health benefits ranging from $13 billion to $100billion due to reductions in premature deaths, cases of aggra-vated asthma and bronchitis, hospital and emergency room vis-its and days missed from work.

For more information on smog, visit www.epa.gov/groundlevelozone.

ERGONOMICS

NIOSH Recommends Tools to Lessen MSDs amongRodbustersNIOSH recommends that workers use power tools when tyingrebar on construction projects tolessen their risk of developing muscu-loskeletal disorders (MSDs). Reinforc-ing ironworkers, known as rodbusters,are at risk of developing lower-backand hand disorders from tying rein-forcing steel bars (rebar) on bridgesand other construction projects. Traditionally, workers use pliers to tiewire around the rebar, which requiresworkers to bend at the waist and userapid, repetitive hand movements. NIOSH found that the use ofpower tiers lessened lower-back stress and reduced repetitivemovements.

For more information, see the NIOSH “Workplace Solutions”publication at www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-103/pdfs/2010-103.pdf.

NANOTECHNOLOGY

Safety Considerations Ignored in Developing CountriesIn January, speakers at a workshop on nanotechnology regula-tion in Delhi, India, warned that health andsafety are being ignored in developingcountries engaged in nanotechnology research. According to an article onSciDev.net, speakers mentioned China,India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam ascountries that are exploring the commer-cial potential of nanotechnology withoutimplementing health and safety controls.

SciDev.net quoted a researcher from theIndia Institute of Toxicology Research who described the stateof nanotechnology research in India as “a free-for-all.” The re-searcher explained that Indian companies are not required toconduct any toxicology tests on products made from nanotech-nology, including water filters and clothing.

To read the article on SciDev.net, visit www.scidev.net/en/news/safety-ignored-in-nanotech-rush-warn-experts.html.

RESEARCH

Study Finds New York Subway Workers Not Harmed byParticulate PollutionA limited study of 39 New York City subway workers, publishedin the January issue of EnvironmentalResearch, found no links between occu-pational exposure to steel dust and ox-idative stress or DNA damage that mightindicate a greater risk of disease.

Researchers Steven Chillrud and PaulBrandt-Rauf of Columbia Universitymeasured workers’ biological responsesto iron, cadmium and manganese, three


DEPARTMENT | NEWSWATCH

metals found in steel dust produced by train wheels on subwaytracks. The results suggested that the subway workers were atno greater risk of disease from the particulate exposure thancontrol groups of workers who did not ride the subway.

An article about the study on the website of Columbia Univer-sity’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory reports that the studyhas several limitations, including a lack of assessments of lungfunction and heart rate variations that could indicate potentialhealth problems. For more information, read “Study Sees LittleDust Risk for Subway Workers” at www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news-events.

HEAVY METALS

Prison Recycling Operations Pro-duced High Exposure to Heavy Met-als, NIOSH FindsInmates and staff at federal prisons weresubjected to excessive amounts of heavymetals during electronics recycling oper-ations between 1997 and 2003, accordingto a NIOSH health hazard evaluation(HHE) released in December 2009.

The recycling operations required pris-oners to break up computer componentswith hammers.

NIOSH visited federal prisons in Elkton, Ohio; Atwater, Calif.;Texarkana, Texas; and Marianna, Fla., in 2008 and 2009. Al-though exposure monitoring and medical surveillance were notperformed at the Elkton and Texarkana facilities, interviews withstaff and inmates suggested that exposures to lead and cadmiumwere not well controlled during the period studied. NIOSH alsofound documentation of exposure to lead and cadmium at theAtwater facility that exceeded OSHA exposure limits. No highexposures were found at the Marianna facility.

The HHE is posted on the website of Public Employees forEnvironmental Responsibility atwww.peer.org/docs/doj/1_19_10_NIOSH_Report_on_Prison_Recycling.pdf.

RECORDKEEPING

OSHA Proposal Would Add MSD Column on Recordkeeping FormIn February, OSHA proposed to revise its Occupational Injuryand Illness Recording and Reporting regulation by restoring acolumn on the OSHA Form 300 to better identify work-relatedmusculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). According to an agencypress release, the rule does not change existing requirementsfor when and under what circumstances employers must recordmusculoskeletal disorders on their injury and illness logs.

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Many employers are currently required to keep a record ofworkplace injuries and illnesses, including work-related MSDs, onthe OSHA Form 300 (Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses).The proposed rule would require employers to place a checkmark in a column for all MSDs they have recorded.

To view the proposal, visit www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=21314.

Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted atwww.regulations.gov or by mailing three copies to the OSHADocket Office, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20210. Comments mayalso be faxed to (202) 693-1648 if the comments and attach-ments do not exceed 10 pages.

Comments must include the agency name and docket num-ber for this rulemaking (Docket Number OSHA-2009-0044). Thedeadline for submitting comments is March 15. OSHA will holda public meeting on the proposed rule March 9.

TOXINS

Congress Considers Burn Pit RegistryRepresentative Tim Bishop of New York introduced legislationin January that would create an official registry of militarymembers who were exposed to toxins from burn pits in Iraqand Afghanistan.

According to an article appearing in The Salt Lake Tribune onJan. 21, between 2001 and 2009 the military used burn pits todiscard combat waste, including chemicals, plastics, and medicalwaste. The article estimates that tens of thousands of soldiersand other military personnel may have been exposed to harmfultoxins from the pits. Bishop’s legislation would fund a history ofthe pits for use by affected personnel when attempting to wincompensation for health problems related to burn pit exposures.

In December, the military’s director of force health protectionand readiness programs told the Tribune that burn pit exposureswere likely to be the cause of long-term health problems in “asmall number” of personnel. The acknowledgment reversed themilitary’s long-standing contention that burn pit exposuresresulted in only minor, temporary health effects.

The Tribune reported that a 2006 memo from an air force offi-cer referred to a burn pit near Balad airbase in Iraq as “an acutehealth hazard” where the military disposed of chemicals such asformaldehyde, arsenic, hydrogen cyanide and other toxins.

For more information, read the articles “Military: Burn PitsCaused Illnesses” at www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13996792 and“Legislation Would Create Burn Pit Registry” atwww.sltrib.com/ci_14240107.

AIR QUALITY

EPA Lowers Nitrogen Dioxide StandardA new national, one-hour air quality standard for nitrogendioxide (NO2) is expected to protect millions of Americans frompeak short-term exposures, the EPA announced in January.Short-term exposures to NO2 have been linked to impaired lungfunction and increased respiratory infections.

The agency established the one-hour standard for NO2 at 100parts per billion (ppb) while retaining the existing annual aver-age standard of 53 ppb. EPA is establishing new monitoring

requirements in urban areas that will measure NO2 levelsaround major roads and across communities. Peak exposuresto NO2 occur near roadways.

For more information, visit www.epa.gov/air/nitrogenoxides.

MINING FATALITIES

Mining Fatalities Fell to All-time Low in 2009, MSHA SaysThe Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) releasedpreliminary data in January which indicate that mine fatalitiesfell to an all-time low in 2009. The combined total of 34 min-ing deaths across the U.S. represents a nearly 36 percent dropfrom the 2008 total of 53 deaths.

“This decline in numbers is a testament to the commitmentof miners, mine operators, MSHA, the Department of Labor andother members of the mining community in making safety andhealth our top concern,” said Joseph A. Main, assistant secre-tary of labor for mine safety and health. “At the same time, weare ever mindful that these numbers represent a tragic loss tothe families and friends of the 34 victims. We will not rest untilwe reach zero fatalities in mining.”

In December 2009, MSHA began a program intended to endnew cases of black lung disease among U.S. coal miners. Accord-ing to an agency press release, the program was triggered byrecent NIOSH data that show increasing evidence of lung diseasein young coal miners.

MSHA fatality statistics are available from www.msha.gov.

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March 3Grand Rapids, Michigan

West Michigan Industrial HygieneSociety meeting: CombustibleDust. Contact: www.aiha.org/localsections/html/W.Mich/upcoming%20events.htm.

March 3Peoria, Illinois

19th Annual Downstate IllinoisOccupational Safety and Health(DIOSH) Day. Cosponsored by theAIHA Prairie Local Section. Con-tact: (309) 637-0934;[email protected]; www.dioshday.com.

March 7–11Salt Lake City, Utah49th Annual Meeting and Tox-Expo. Contact: (703) 438-3115;[email protected]; www.toxicology.org/ai/meet/am2010/Sponsors2010.asp.

March 8–9Gatineau, Quebec, CanadaCanadian Centre for Occupa-tional Health and Safety (CCOHS)Forum III: Leading WorkplaceChange. Contact: Krista Travers;(800) 668-4284; [email protected]; www.ccohs.ca/events/forumIII.

March 8–12Manhattan, KansasBiosafety and BiocontainmentTraining for BSL-3 LaboratoryWorkers. CEUs: 3.6. Contact:www.nbbtp.org.

March 9Natick, MassachusettsSafety is Elementary course.Contact: [email protected]; www.LabSafetyInstitute.org.

March 10Natick, MassachusettsSafety in the Laboratory course.Contact: [email protected]; www.LabSafetyInstitute.org.

March 10–12Lausanne, SwitzerlandNanoImpactNet: For a HealthyEnvironment in a Future with

Nanotechnology. Contact: DarrenHart; [email protected];www.nanoimpactnet.eu/object_class/nano_men_home.html.

March 11Laurel, MarylandSafety, Health and the Environ-ment Educational Conference.Cosponsored by the American So-ciety of Safety Engineers (ASSE).Contact: Jim Lewis; (410) 537-3300; [email protected];www.chesapeakeasse.org/meetings.php.

March 11Natick, MassachusettsHow to Be a More EffectiveChemical Hygiene Officer course.Contact: [email protected]; www.LabSafetyInstitute.org.

March 11–12Scottsdale, ArizonaDelivering Safety Results inChanging Times. Contact:www.asse.org/education/safetyresults/index.php.

March 15–19Chapel Hill, North CarolinaComprehensive Industrial Hy-giene Review Course. ABIH (Category 4): 4.5; ABIH Ethics (IH):0.34; CEUs: 3.45; COCs: 2.9. Con-tact: (888) 235-3320; [email protected]; http://osherc.sph.unc.edu/ce/courses/comp_ih_rev.htm.

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MEETINGS ■ CONFERENCES ■ COURSES ■ DISTANCE LEARNING ■ CALLS FOR PAPERS

Send information about OEHS events to [email protected]. For a complete list of events, visit www.aiha.org/education/Pages/CalendarofEvents.aspx.

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March 16Natick, MassachusettsSafety in the Secondary SchoolScience Lab course. Contact: [email protected];www.LabSafetyInstitute.org.

March 17Natick, MassachusettsBiosafety in the Laboratorycourse. Contact: [email protected]; www.LabSafetyInstitute.org.

March 18Natick, MassachusettsLab Waste Management course.Contact: [email protected]; www.LabSafetyInstitute.org.

March 18–19Shanghai, ChinaManaging Industrial HygieneRisks. Contact: Claire Fu;[email protected].

March 22–24Chapel Hill, North CarolinaBuilding Inspection and Manage-ment Planning for Asbestos.CMs: 3.0. Contact: (888) 235-3320; [email protected]; http://osherc.sph.unc.edu/ce/courses/ahera_bldginsp.htm.

March 22–25Indianapolis, Indiana

Fundamentals of Industrial Hy-giene. CEUs: 3.2; CMs: 5.0; COCs:32. Contact: (703) 849-8888; [email protected];www.aiha.org/education/ce/roadcourses/Pages/fihroadcourse.aspx.

March 22–26LaPlata, Maryland2010 System Safety TrainingSymposium. Contact: Kate Perrone;[email protected]; (540)284-1118; http://ss-training.net.

March 23–26Atlanta, GeorgiaFood Safety Education Confer-ence. Contact: (734) 827-5681; [email protected];www.fsis.usda.gov/Atlanta2010.

March 24–26Vancouver, BC, CanadaGlobe 2010. Contact: (800) 274-6097; [email protected];www.globe2010.com.

March 25An Introduction to the Science ofNanotechnology and OccupationalHealth. Contact: www.aiha.org/education/dl/Pages/NanoOccHealth.aspx.

March 25–26St. Petersburg, Florida2010 International Conference on Biocontainment Facilities.Contact: (925) 254-1744; [email protected]; www.tradelineinc.com/conferences.

March 29–31Boston, MassachusettsManagement Skills for EmergingLeaders in Environmental Healthand Safety. CEUs: 2.2; CMs: 3.51.Contact: (617) 384-8692; [email protected];www.hsph.harvard.edu/ccpe/lms.

March 29–31San Diego, CaliforniaPacific Southwest Safety andHealth Conference. Contact:www.pacificsw.org.

March 29–31Rome, Italy9th Conference of the EuropeanAcademy of Occupational HealthPsychology. Contact: Aditya Jain;[email protected];http://eaohp.org/conference.aspx.

March 29–April 2Lake Buena Vista, Florida10th Annual Safe Patient Han-dling and Movement Conference.Contact: www.cme.hsc.usf.edu/sphm/#cd.

March 30–April 1Columbus, Ohio2010 Ohio Safety Congress andExpo. Contact: (800) 644-6292;[email protected];www.ohiobwc.com/employer/programs/safety/SafetyCongress.asp.

April 1ASP/CSP Online Review. Eight-week online course. CMs: 5.0;COCs: 3.125. Contact: (866) 264-5852; www.BowenEHS.com.

April 6Natick, MassachusettsRadiation Safety course. Contact:[email protected];www.LabSafetyInstitute.org.

April 8Chapel Hill, North CarolinaDesigning Asbestos AbatementProjects Refresher course. CMs:1.0. Contact: (888) 235-3320; [email protected]; http://osherc.sph.unc.edu/ce/courses/ahera_des_ref.htm.

April 12–16Chapel Hill, North CarolinaCertified Safety Professional Re-view course. CEUs: 3.5; CMs: 4.5;COCs: 2.9. Contact: (888) 235-3320;[email protected]; http://osherc.sph.unc.edu/ce/courses/csp_rev.htm.

April 13–15Anaheim, CaliforniaAmerican Association of Occupa-tional Health Nurses (AAOHN)2010 Annual Conference. Contact:(850) 474-6963; [email protected]; www.aaohn.org.

April 19–21Cincinnati, OhioFundamentals in Industrial Venti-lation. CMs: 3.0; COCs: 1.5. Contact:(513) 742-2020; www.acgih.org/events/course/BurtApr10.htm.

April 19–23Chapel Hill, North CarolinaShort Courses in OccupationalSafety: Supervisors and SafetyIssues. Contact: (888) 235-3320;[email protected]; http://osherc.sph.unc.edu/ce/courses/short-courses.htm#iv.

April 20–21Taipei, TaiwanInternational Symposium of Re-productive Hazards in the Work-place and Environment (RHICOH).Contact: [email protected];www.rhicoh2010.tw.

April 20–23Boston, MassachusettsForces of Change: New Strategiesfor the Evolving Health CareMarketplace. Contact: (617) 384-8692; [email protected];https://secure.sph.harvard.edu/ccpe/programs.cfm?CSID=TPHF0410&pg=cluster&CLID=1.

April 20–25Taipei, TaiwanEPCOH–Medichem 2010: Occupa-tional Health under Globalizationand New Technology. Contact:[email protected];www.epicohmedichem2010.tw.

April 22–23Cincinnati, OhioPractical Applications of UsefulEquations. CMs: 2.0; COCs: 1.0.Contact: (513) 742-2020;www.acgih.org/events/course/BurtApr10.htm.

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45March 2010 ■ The Synergist

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6—This issue is addressed to:A ❏ MyselfB ❏ Someone else

7—Please have a salespersoncontact me

A ❏ Yes B ❏ No

8—Select the primary type of products you recommend, specify, and/or buy in your job (check all that apply):

A ❏ All of the followingB ❏ Air Sampling EquipmentC ❏ Direct Read. EquipmentD ❏ Respiratory ProtectionE ❏ Protective ClothingF ❏ Medical/Occ. HealthG ❏ Environ./Waste ControlH ❏ Training/EducationI ❏ Safety EquipmentJ ❏ Asbestos AbatementK ❏ Computer Software

Please type, print or affix self-addressed label from front mailing label.

Name:

Title:

Company:

Address

City: State: Zip:

Phone:( )

FB# Advertiser Page

16 . . Aemtek Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

7 . . Aerobiology Laboratory . . . . . . .13

6 . . Assay Technology . . . . . . . . . . .11

18 . . . Bowen EHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

19 . . . Colden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

10 . . . Datachem Software . . . . . . . . . .15

11 . . . El . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

1 . . . EMSL Analytical . . . . . . . . .Cover 2

3 . . . Environmental Monitoring Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

15 . . . Interactive Safety Products . . . . .19

20 . . . Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health . . . . . . .42

21 . . . Microanalisis (De Texas) . . . . . .43

4 . . . NEXTTEQ LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

12 . . . Occupational Health Dynamics .17

9 . . . On-Site Instruments . . . . . . . . .15

2 . . . Open Range Software . . . . . . . .3

FB# Advertiser Page

13 . . . Raeco Rents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

5 . . . RJ Lee Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

8 . . . SKC Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

17 . . . Spiramid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

29 . . . TSI Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 3

14 . . . University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey . . .18

22 . . . University of South Florida . . . . .43

30 . . . Zefon International . . . . . .Cover 4

PRODUCT FEATURES

23 . . . Assay Technology . . . . . . . . . . .44

24 . . . The El Group, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . .44

25 . . . Interactive Safety Products . . . . .44

26 . . . Nextteq, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

27 . . . Occupational Health Dynamics .44

28 . . . TSI Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . .44

March 2010

Synergist

The Benefits of AIHA® MembershipMembership in AIHA is a crucial part ofstaying connected to the OEHS profes-sion and others in the field. As a mem-ber, you have access to an array oftools for promoting the profession andadvancing your career:

• Opportunities for learning and professional development througheducational programming, confer-ences such as AIHce and PCIH, andsubscriptions to The Synergist andJOEH

• A sense of community and expand-ing professional ties through volun-teer and special interest groups,local sections, global outreach andcareer leadership opportunities

• Advocacy for the OEHS professionvia AIHA Government Affairs

• Exclusive access and discounts tovaluable products and services suchas the AIHA Consultants Listing,Buyers Guide, CGI’s Exposure As-sessment System, liability insuranceand health insurance

Find out about these and moreAIHA member benefits at

www.aiha.org/aboutaiha/AIHAMembership/Pages/

MemberBenefits.aspx.

AIHA

®

Advance Your

Career

®


Introductions

How is environmental health and safety incorporated into the curriculum ofthe courses you teach? My position in the College of Medicine and my associatepositions within the College of Nursing and School of Public Health provide me withnumerous opportunities to incorporate OEHS into the undergraduate and graduatecurriculums. Occupational health, rural health, nursing research methods, and publichealth and agricultural rural ecosystems are courses I have been involved in teaching.Most of these courses are naturally associated with elements of health and safety, andI’m working to provide additional content to our School of Public Health, specificallyin the area of industrial hygiene.

What do you enjoy most about teaching? My teaching philosophy includes pro-viding an environment in which open communication is encouraged and students feelsafe and confident to engage with the instructor and other students. I particularlyenjoy when these exchanges occur and it’s clear that the students understand theconcepts. Most of my classes utilize alternative methods to classroom instruction, in-cluding tele-transmission, Elluminate and Blackboard, which allow students to receiveclassroom instruction remotely. These methods have allowed students from rural andremote settings, or on a worksite, to take classes without being on campus.

You previously worked as a research nurse. How has that position helpedyou in your career? My faculty position within the College of Medicine is housed inthe division of CCHSA, the only Canadian organization that provides service, educa-tion and research to agricultural populations. A major focus of CCHSA is agriculture,but we’re also involved with rural-based industries and issues such as access to healthcare. We work with these populations at the ground level, from where many of our re-search questions are derived. My experience as a research nurse has provided me withthe background and confidence to develop and implement my own research projects.

Other than H1N1, what current public health concerns should OEHS profes-sionals be aware of? Much of my work is with the agricultural sector. Discussionsduring producer meetings often reflect health and safety practices for both the workersand the animals. Discussions of general health and safety practices for respiratory agents,chemical agents, needle safety, animal handling safety, zoonoses and ergonomics arecommon. Ways and means of protection, including appropriate safety apparel relatedto job tasks, are common points of discussion. Discussions take on a more urgent tonewhen agriculture and public health appear to cross, such as with avian influenza andH1N1. The interface between humans and food production is difficult to separate. Asan occupational hygienist, assessing, recognizing and informing about how to bestreduce the possibility of transfer of pathogens is of major importance.

If you weren’t teaching, what would you be doing with your life? My earlyeducational intentions were to be a nursing administrator or a nurse lawyer. However,taking on a research position as a student nurse opened doors and provided me withinsights that I had never before considered exploring. Those positive early work expe-riences shaped my future career.

Introductions presents profiles of in-dustrial hygienists working to protectworker health worldwide. This monthwe feature Shelley Kirychuk, BSN, MSc,MBA, PhD, an assistant professor at theUniversity of Saskatchewan CanadianCentre for Health and Safety in Agri-culture (CCHSA). Kirychuk teachescourses on medicine, nursing researchmethods, and environmental and occu-pational public health. In addition toher position in the Department of Med-icine, Kirychuk is an associate memberat University of Saskatchewan’s Schoolof Public Health.

Kirychuk received a BScN from theUniversity of Saskatchewan College ofNursing, an MSc from University ofIowa’s College of Public Health, and anMBA and PhD from the College ofGraduate Studies at the University ofSaskatchewan. She is a member ofAIHA®, ACGIH®, the Canadian ThoracicSociety and the Canadian Society ofAgricultural Engineers. She is also apast member of the Iowa Local Sectionof AIHA®. She can be reached at [email protected].

Shelley Kirychuk

COLUMN | INTRODUCTIONS


http://www.tsi.com


http://www.zefon.com/

Documents

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