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INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

Also known as Occupational Hygiene


What is Industrial Hygiene?
It is a science and art devoted to the
anticipation, recognition, evaluation, prevention,
and control of those environmental factors or
stresses arising in or from the workplace which
may cause sickness, impaired health and well
being, or significant discomfort among workers or
among citizens of the community.
What is Industrial Hygiene?
The British Occupational Hygiene Society
(BOHS) defines that "occupational hygiene is
about the prevention of ill-health from work,
through recognizing, evaluating and controlling
the risks".
What is an Industrial Hygienist?
Industrial hygienists are scientists and
engineers committed to protecting the health and
safety of people in the workplace and the
community. They work closely with toxicologists
for understanding chemical hazards, physicists for
physical hazards, and physicians and
microbiologists for biological hazards
What is an Industrial Hygienist?
The goal of the industrial hygienist is to keep
workers, their families, and the community
healthy and safe. They play a vital part in
ensuring that federal, state, and local laws and
regulations are followed in the work environment.
Typical roles of the industrial hygienist
include the following:
Typical roles of the industrial
hygienist
• Investigating and examining the workplace for
hazards and potential dangers
• Making recommendations on improving the
safety of workers and the surrounding
community​
• Conducting scientific research to provide data on
possible harmful conditions in the workplace
Typical roles of the industrial
hygienist
• Developing techniques to anticipate and control
potentially dangerous situations in the workplace and
the community
• Training and educating the community about job-
related risks
• Advising government officials and participating in
the development of regulations to ensure the health
and safety of workers and their families
• Ensuring that workers are properly following health
and safety procedures
Issues Industrial Hygienists
work with
• Indoor air quality (sick building syndrome, second-
hand tobacco smoke)
• Evaluating and controlling environmental lead
exposure
• Emergency response planning and community right-
to-know
• Occupational disease (AIDS in the workplace,
tuberculosis, silicosis)
• Potentially hazardous agents such as asbestos,
pesticides, and radon gas
Issues Industrial Hygienists
work with
• Cumulative Trauma Disorders (repetitive stress
injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome)
• Radiation (electromagnetic fields, microwaves)
• Reproductive health hazards in the workplace
• Setting limits on exposure to chemical and physical
agents
• Detection and control of potential occupational
hazards such as noise, radiation, and illumination
• Hazardous waste management​​
Workplace Assessment Methods
• Basic Characterization (identify agents, hazards,
people potentially exposed and existing exposure
controls)
• Exposure Assessment (select occupational exposure
limits, hazard bands, relevant toxicological data to
determine if exposures are "acceptable",
"unacceptable" or "uncertain")
• Exposure Controls (for "unacceptable" or "uncertain"
exposures)
Workplace Assessment Methods
• Further Information Gathering (for "uncertain"
exposures)
• Hazard Communication (for all exposures)
• Reassessment (as needed) / Management of Change
Summary
Industrial hygiene is concerned with identifying,
evaluating, and controlling real or potential workplace
environmental stressors or hazards. To ensure proper
industrial hygiene and thus the health and safety of the
workers, an industrial hygienist is employed. The role of
an industrial hygienist is to “anticipate health and safety
concerns and design solutions to prevent them. After a
hazard is identified, an industrial hygienist will work with
the company to control or eliminate the hazard.

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