INDUSTRIAL

HYGIENE
 INTRODUCTION
 Apart from chemical, physical, biological & ergonomic
hazards, organisation depends on industrial hygiene
monitoring programmes managed by industrial
hygienists;
 Scope of practice is more specific compared to safety
officer  concentration is more on the conditions
related to workplace injury & illness;
 These analysis require a systematic sampling with
complex equipment and sometimes performing higher
mathematical computations;
 Also need to create awareness among employers &
workers on importance of organisational hygiene
practices in industry to preserve & protect the health
of workers from being affected by hazards in the
working environment.
 BASIC TERMINOLOGY

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

 Science devoted to the anticipation, recognition,

evaluation, and control of those environmental factors
or stresses, arising in or from the workplace, that may
cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or
significant discomfort & inefficiency among workers.
 ROLE OF INDUSTRIAL HYGIENIST
 The goal of the industrial hygienist is to keep workers,
their families, and the community healthy & safe;
 An industrial hygienist (IH) might well be
described as part medical scientist, part
detective, part engineer where;
• Extensive training gives an IH the knowledge to
look & make educated guesses about what hazards
might exist;

• The IH is a detective, seeking information about

workplace hazards. Monitoring & analytical
methods are used to detect exposure to the
hazards;

• IH recommends engineering (technology) & work-

practice to control potential health hazards.
 ACTIVITIES
Anticipation (based on):
Expectation of hazard existence
Design of process, equipment
Existing & future legislation/regulations
Proposing or conducting research

Recognition of:
 Presence of workplace exposure
 Materials, process & operations
 Records of accidents & diseases
 Walk around – inspection, senses, & talk to workers
Evaluation of:
 Assess magnitude of exposure
 Instrumentation (Real time & non real time)
 Standard, regulations, etc
Control for:
 Reduction to acceptable levels
 INSPECTION & ANALYSIS

 Develop controls and procedures using scientific

methods and the latest research to prevent future
injury or illness;

 Identify dangers in the work-place and community by

testing and monitoring potentially harmful situations
and hazardous work practices.
 DEMAND
 Industrial hygienist is a specialty in great demand
because;
i. The IH has a unique ability to provide specific
recommendations to reduce exposures or eliminate
problems altogether.
ii. Employers need to comply with OSHA
requirements.
iii. Management needs to verify their work
environments are “non-hazardous” with
measurable, objective data.
iv. Public Relations…the public’s right to know;
demand is increasing to know and understand the
potential hazards of industrial and manufacturing
facilities within or near their communities in order
to anticipate potential problems.
 MAIN HAZARDS
Factors Include:
i. Chemical hazards
◦ gases, vapours, dusts, fumes, mists, and smoke
ii.Physical hazards
◦ radiation, noise, vibration, temp. & pressures
iii.Ergonomic hazards
◦ workstation, repetitive motion, improper lifting / reaching, lighting
iv.Biological hazards
◦ insects, mold, yeast, fungi, bacteria, and viruses

Types of Exposure
 Acute : Short term period between exposure & onset of
symptoms
 Chronic :Long time period between exposure to an
agent & the onset of symptoms
CHEMICAL
Routes of entry;
• Inhalation - airborne contaminants
• Absorption - penetration through the skin
• Ingestion – eating, drinking, smoking, etc

i-Inhalation
Particulates
◦ Non-respirable particles : > f10 m
◦ respirable particles : < f 10 m in
Types;
◦ Fumes
 hot vapor + air (unpleasant)
◦ Mists
 a condensation vapors to liquid
◦ Fibers
 solid, & elongated structures
EXPOSURE LIMITS
• No exposure on free silica dust at
concentration > 5mg/m3
• No exposure on dust containing
crystalline silica at concentration
 0.05mg/m3 of respirable cristobalite
 0.1mg/m3 of respirable quarzt
 0.05mg/m3 of respirable tridymite

Programme
 Use of PPE
 Employee training
ii-Absorption
 The skin is the largest organ of the
body and a common exposure site for
liquid and airborne chemicals.
 It is a multilayered organ which has
good protective features. Chemicals
that contact the skin can cause either
local or systemic damage, or both.
i. Local effects occur at the site of contact, like an
acid burn.
ii. Systemic effects occur when compounds penetrate
the skin, enter the bloodstream, and cause damage
to other organs of the body distant from the site of
entry.
iii-Digestion
 Toxic materials can also be swallowed
and enter the body through the
gastrointestinal tract.
 Opportunities for accidental ingestion
of chemicals through eating or
smoking under certain conditions.
Good practices
 Drink clean, potable water
 Wash your hands and the exposed parts of the body
regularly, and take daily baths
 Never eat in locker rooms, washrooms or where
dangerous materials are used
 Do not mix up working & street clothes
 For contaminated working clothes, clean with
special laundry
 HEARING

Workers commonly experience 8-hrs noise exposures > 90 dBA

Legally enforceable
◦ FMA regulations, 1989 (Noise exposure)
i. Continuous sound
◦ Permissible exposure limits (PEL) : 90 dBA
◦ At any time, noise level <115 dBA
ii. Impulsive noise
◦ employee’s exposure impulsive noise shall not exceed a
peak sound pressure level of 140 dB

Programme
Mandatory for working conditions of 8-hr > 85 dBA
 Exposure monitoring
 Audiometric testing
 Hearing protection
 Employee training
 Recordkeeping
 POSITIVE SAFETY CULTURE
 Good Housekeeping
 Personal hygiene
 Employee training/education
 Proper job procedures
 Proper job instruction
 Compliance with rules and regulations
 Compliance with protective equipment
 Proper labeling & storage of hazardous materials
 Group communications
 Workplace inspections

BENEFITS OF IH PROGRAMME
 Improve health and hygiene
 Reduce compensation
 Improve job satisfaction & Reduce absenteeism
 Improve workers’ attitude towards management
 NIOSH SERVICES
 NIOSH provide consultation & laboratory services for
industrial hygiene assessment
 For consultation : specialty is in Chemical Health Risk
Assessment, monitoring of airborne contaminant,
inspection & testing of engineering control equipments
(LEV) and noise level measurement at workplace
 Analytical Equipment in the NIOSH’s laboratory
i. Atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS)
ii. Ion chromatograph (IC)
iii. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS)
iv. High performance liquid chromatography
v. Fourier transformation infra-red
vi. Phase contrast microscope
vii. UV-spectrophotometer
viii.Portable gas chromatograph
ix. Portable infrared analyser
THE
THE END
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