Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments using

Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems

By Matt Noth
 2 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems

Introduction
Effective workplace industrial hygiene management systems provide the structure to
help ensure worker health protection, and integrates workplace safety and health into
all aspects of an organization. Health and safety should be a core value and a driving
force for operational and organizational sustainability. Identifying ways to incorporate
health and safety into existing business processes will allow the protection of
employees and assets to become a core value and driving force for operational and
organizational sustainability.1

Industrial hygiene management programs will typically involve monitoring the

workplace through identifying hazards, sampling, and assessing workplace hazards,
such as air contaminant exposures and repetitive motion, for your workforce. Also, it
gives continued review to make sure hazard levels do not exceed acceptable levels by
monitoring the hazards after controls have been put into place.

IndustRIal HYgIene

Industrial Hygiene is generally defined as the art and science dedicated to the
Anticipation, Recognition, Evaluation, Communication and Control of environmental
stressors in, or arising from, the work place that may result in injury, illness,
impairment, or affect the well-being of workers and members of the organization.
These stressors are normally divided into the categories Biological, Chemical, Physical,
Ergonomic and Psychosocial.2

Typical industrial hygiene activities and responsibilities include:3, 4

Investigating and examining the workplace for hazards and potential dangers

Investigation of safety complaints and accidents

Monitoring of occupational hazards

Developing techniques to anticipate and control potentially dangerous situations in

the workplace

Making recommendations on improving the safety of workers

Recordkeeping

Training and educating employees about job-related risks

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 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems 3

An effective Industrial Hygiene management programs should be designed to facilitate

the anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of exposure hazards using a
systematic and standardized approach based on internationally recognized principles.
At a minimum, an effective IH management system should include the following
elements:5

Identify potential health hazards (Anticipate)

Walk-Through Surveys / Self-Audits

Review new chemicals and processes before use (incl. Management of Change)
Regular (ie. Annual, etc.) review of existing and ongoing chemicals and
processes
Job Hazard Analysis (JHAs) / Job Safety Analysis (JSAs), Standard Operating
Procedures (SOP) & (Similar Exposure Groups) SEGs (New and Reviewed)
New / Revised Regulations or Company Standards

Recognition of health hazards (Recognize)

Recognize potential and existing chemical, physical, ergonomics and biological

hazards

Hazard Assessment (Evaluate)

Exposure Assessment (Qualitative / Quantitative) & Risk Rating

Sampling / Monitoring
Chemical / Product Review
Acceptable Risk Levels
Control Assessment / Control Assignment

Control of health hazards (Implement Control)

Recordkeeping
Write New Procedures, Standards, etc.
Training / Competency
Action / Task Management

Periodic program review (Review)

Data Gathering and Management

Reporting and Tracking
Audits - Inspections / Management of Change / Management Reviews

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 4 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems

Iden t if ic at ion a nd R ec o gni t ion o f He a lt h H a z a r d s

How the industrial hygiene program proposes to address these
elements needs to be contained in a written plan. In addition, an
organized means to document and record the associated information
must be put into place. Especially important is a computerized data
management system to store, retrieve, treat and review the industrial
hygiene exposure data.6

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 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems 5

Although there are many aspects to industrial hygiene work, the most known and sought
after is in determining or estimating potential or actual exposures to hazards. Several
methods can be applied in assessing the workplace or environment for exposure to a
known or suspected hazard.7, 3

Walk-through survey with someone knowledgeable of the processes

Inspections / Audits, Regular intervals, keep records (recordkeeping)

Sampling Surveys / Grab Samples (chemical, inhalable / respirable material, noise,
etc.)

Equipment / process modification reviews (MoC)

MSDS and Chemical Inventory Reviews (Raw materials, by-products, products, etc.)

Records of accidents, events and diseases

Research industry process and operations / manufacture practices

Further discussion on the identification and recognition of occupational hazards can be

found in our Effective Hazard Identification and Management whitepaper located at:
http://www.saiglobal.com/compliance/resources/environment-health-safety.htm.

E va l uat ion o f He a lt h H a z a r d s ( E x p o sur e A s se s smen t )

Exposure assessment is typically defined as the determination or estimation (qualitative

or quantitative) of the magnitude, frequency, duration, and route of exposure using a
systematic and standardized approach based on internationally recognized principles,
such as International Society of Exposure Science (ISES) and International Programme on
Chemical Safety (IPCS). As standard, the management of health hazard evaluation should
include:

Purpose / Reason for Evaluation

Similar exposure groups (SEGs)

Qualitative and quantitative assessments of exposures

Sampling / Measurement Plans,

Tracking and monitoring the collection of quantitative samples and analysis of sample
results

Recordkeeping / Record Management

The system should be able to define the activities that need to be carried out to mitigate
exposures and to ascertain that scheduled activities are completed by those assigned to
the tasks. It should be able to assign and track the accountabilities of individuals within
the process.

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 6 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems

An Industrial Hygiene management system often begins with the definition and
continuing management of similar exposure groups (SEGs.) For each of these groups,
the records of the performance and results of qualitative exposure assessments (QEAs)
are maintained. The QEA records also contain the details of their respective agents and/
or stressors. Standard exposure assessment workflows are designed to ask the user to
first identify the exposure agent/stressor of interest and then gauge the likelihood that
an employee would be exposed to it.

The exposure monitoring portion of the exposure assessment process is used to verify
the qualitative exposure assessment ratings and ensure personnel are adequately
protected from potentially hazardous exposures. Monitoring typically consists of both an
annual plan as well as unplanned monitoring for non-typical activities that may come
up during the year, changes in conditions, or if there is a much higher frequency of
those activities.

Control of Health Hazards

After a hazards exposure and risk assessments have been performed, if the residual
risk is deemed unacceptable, the safety and health assessor will typically propose a
treatment (control) plan, including the assignment of any associated control measures.

Industrial hygienists recognize that engineering, work practice, and administrative

controls are the primary means of reducing employee exposure to occupational hazards.
Engineering controls minimize employee exposure by either reducing or removing the
hazard at the source or isolating the worker from the hazards. Administrative controls
include controlling employees exposure by scheduling production and workers tasks
(ie. standard operating procedures), or both, in ways that minimize exposure levels.3
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is also another method for controlling risk that is
commonly used. And of course, training and employee job task competency is essential
for all these types of control elements.

Hazard risk mitigation and control is often achieved by using a predetermined hierarchy
of controls. The primary aim of risk control is to eliminate the risk and the best way of
achieving this is to remove the hazard. If this is not possible the risk must be minimized
by using one or more of the other control options from the hierarchy. The risk control
measure selected must be the highest possible option within the hierarchy to minimize
the risk to the lowest level as reasonably practicable. Existing controls should be re-
evaluated to determine if the most appropriate control measure is in place.8

Further discussion on the control of hazards can be found in our Effective Hazard
Identification and Management whitepaper located at: http://www.saiglobal.com/
compliance/resources/environment-health-safety.htm.

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 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems 7

Recordkeeping / Records Management

Records are evidence of what happened, why and by whom. They underpin
accountability and provide an essential means to meet legal / regulatory requirements
and other organizational needs.

Records are a basic tool of Industrial Hygiene management. Records provide

information for effective metrics visibility, resource planning and decision making.
They form the foundation for accountability and are often subject to specific regulatory
requirements. Records are essential for effective and efficient administration, but if
poorly managed they can become a liability, hampering operations, EHS compliance
and misallocation of resources.

A summary of primary reasons why recordkeeping is an

important aspect of industrial hygiene management:5
A management system
Important in all phases of the program will streamline and
Often required by regulation optimize the overall
Increase program effectiveness management of your
Useful in legal challenges workplace safety and
All of these have an impact on the ability of an organization health.
to meet both its internal and external accountability
requirements and business needs, such as meeting legal and
regulatory requirements.

Due to the high number of records typically generated by an industrial hygiene system
and the need for effective management and reporting of this data against employees
and standards, such as exposure limits, a management system will streamline and
optimize the overall management of your workplace safety and health.

Employee Training

Routine work can dull alertness and a relaxed attitude can replace the caution that
existed when the job was new and interesting. In many jobs the same route is traveled
daily over the same roads or the same tasks are repeated with little conscious thought.
Without some periodic reawakening to the ever-present hazards, lethargy deepens and
the odds of an accident occurring can increase.5

Workers may not always recognize the importance of safety training or think of it as
unnecessary because theyve been doing it for years. But an important benefit of
periodic industrial hygiene training is the reminder that a danger can exist and that no
one is immune to accidents or unsafe exposures to hazards. Therefore, it is important
for workers to understand the purpose of the training session, why it will be useful to
them, and what can result from not following safety rules and procedures.

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 8 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems

Employees should be able to immediately practice and apply new knowledge and skills.
If workers do not understand industrial hygiene training information well enough to use
it on the job, the training has not been effective. There should be immediate feedback
if workers are doing their job safely and effectively or not. Supervisors should watch
employees do their jobs and question them, to identify what they do, or dont know.

Many effective industrial hygiene programs have components that are required by
regulation, such as the chemical right-to-know or hazard communication standards
throughout the world. Also, it is important for the training components of industrial
hygiene programs to encourage regular intervals of training and re-training of material
that is relevant to each employees job responsibilities. It is also important that
thorough training and job competency records are kept that record dates of trainings,
individuals trained, topics covered and the effectiveness of the training (i.e. Course
tests or other assessment tools of knowledge understood and retained by each
individual.)5

Periodic Program Review

There are many reasons to review any management program, but several important
reasons for measuring IH program effectiveness include:9

Educate management to the elements of an IH program

Educate management about the importance of IH in general

Demonstrate value of IH program

Provide management motivation towards continuous improvement of the program

Several things to consider for inclusion in your IH program review:5

Regular intervals (ie. yearly, semi-annual, etc.)

Review the written program as well as the implementation

Updates for new regulations, new chemicals, new processes, or any changes

Audit components of the program

Internal safety OSHA inspection and audits

Involve employees, consultants, management

Results of self-audits and external assessments are used to identify organization-wide

IH program strengths and weaknesses and to target systemic problems for resolution.

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 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems 9

Benefits of IH Management Systems

The industrial hygiene program and process can serve your organization by reducing the
costs for potential health-related claims and protect the workforce. Indirect advantages
of the industrial hygiene process lie in improvement of morale and productivity, as
well as contributing to product and workplace quality improvement.6 Other benefits of
effective IH management programs include:5

Improve health and hygiene

Reduce compensation

Improve job satisfaction

Reduce absenteeism

Improve productivity

Improve workers attitude towards management

Regulatory Compliance

Ci n t e l l a t e E H S

SAI Global has worked with many leading organizations to assist them with their
workplace health and safety programs, including fully implementing comprehensive
industrial hygiene programs using the fully integrated Cintellate EHS solution.

A bo u t M att noth
Matt Noth, Environmental, Health & Safety Sales Specialist with SAI Global, has 15 years
experience in engineering and EHS compliance management enabling him to provide guidance
to organizations trying to bridge a gap between federal, state, and local regulatory obligations
and their organizations business requirements. Matt holds a B.S. Mechanical Engineering
from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.S. Environmental Management from Samford
University in Birmingham, AL.

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 10 Safe and Healthy Workplace Environments Using Effective Industrial Hygiene Management Systems

Ci t a t i o n s / R e f e r e n c e s
1. www.aiha.org; 2012; http://www.aiha.org/consumerinfo/Documents/IH%20Program%20
Management.pdf

2. The Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (AIOH); 2012; http://www.aioh.org.

au/index.aspx

3. Industrial Hygiene: Whats an Industrial Hygienist, principles of industrial Hygiene,

University of Central Missouri

4. The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA); 2012

5. Introduction to Industrial Hygiene, Carter J. Kerk, Industrial Engineering Department,

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 2006

6. The Industrial Hygiene Process: Managing the Occupational Health of Employees to

Contribute to the Health of the Steel Industry, Bernard J. Quinn, Association for Iron
and Steel Technology (AIST), 2009

7. Wikipedia; 2012; ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_medicine; http://www.aiha.

org/consumerinfo/Pages/WhatsanIndustrialHygienist.aspx

8. Hazard Management Procedure, V1.1, October 2011; OHSW&IM Services

9. Industrial Hygiene Performance Metric manual, STAR Consultants, 1999

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