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What an Industrial Hygienist can provide for a
Safety Professional (besides a hard time) - C.
Jones, 5/9/02, USPS Joint Labor Mgmt Mtg,
Norfolk, VA

• Everything you wanted to know, in less than one
  hour Ill primarily review Navy related
  material, with some OSHA stuff thrown in for good
  measure
• Disclaimer this is a picture of the world as I
  see it, not as seen by the DOD, the Navy, the
  NAVMEDCEN Portsmouth, the F FM Directorate, the
  PC W Service Line, or the IH Product Line

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Boy, the US Treasury put him on a 100 bill, but
the US Postal Service put him on a one cent
stamp .
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The IH Safety relationship, particularly in the
Navy, has evolved over the years

• The rude beginnings
• IH Homo sapiens Safety Neanderthal
• IH bourgeoisie Safety proletariat
• IH quarterback Safety offensive guard
• The intermediate stages
• IH Ralph Lauren shirt Safety flannel (before
  it was cool)
• The present era
• IH professional being realigned
• Safety professional being optimized

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Traditional IH work has also evolved over these
years

• Pre 1970 - pre-OSHA IH was rarely seen
• Pre me (pre 1984) - IH was reactive responded to
  calls, did IH evaluations, wrote small reports
• Early me (late 80s early 90s) - IH was proactive
  did IH surveys, identified who was overexposed,
  wrote big reports
• Today me (21st Century IH) - IH is proactive
  still does IH survey, identifies everyone who was
  exposed at what level, writes bigger report
• in many areas, OH is used as the nom de plume
  instead of IH

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The 21st Century IH is being driven by new
philosophies, especially exposure assessments

• The Navys Safety Health Manual (ashore)
  OPNAVINST 5100.23E, Chapter 8, part 0803 -
  defines the foundation of IH work, an exposure
  assessment composed of
• basic characterization
• qualitative risk assessment and setting of
  priorities
• exposure monitoring
• interpretation and decision making
• recommendations and reporting
• reevaluations
• These ideas first published in the AIHAs
  Exposure Assessment Sampling Strategies Book

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Procedure for exposure assessments as described
in AIHA Exposure Assessment Sam. Strategies Book
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This new exposure assessments philosophy has
altered the way IH work is done

• This is a new way of doing business a shifted
  paradigm some of that out of the box stuff .
• OWODB - IH was interested in determining which
  worker was overexposed, and recommending ways to
  fix it relatively easy to do
• Go find what looks like the high exposure,
  measure it, and reduce it in some cases this was
  done by grabbing a single sample
• Comply with OSHA rules, Navy rules in Navy
  workplaces, National consensus guidelines

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This new exposure assessments philosophy has
altered the way IH work is done

• NWODB - IH is interested in what each worker is
  exposed to all the time, and at what level, and
  recommending ways to fix it not so easy to do
• Now interested in documenting the exposure
  condition of a population of workers over their
  working lifetime
• Requires multiple samples of a work task
  (typically six to ten) over multiple days
• Still need to comply with OSHA, (Navy for me) and
  National consensus guidelines

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So, what does IH provide for a Safety
Professional that is worth a hoot?

• A whole lot of services at no charge, thats
  what such as
• Sampling representing your employees exposures
  sample for noise, airborne stressors, etc.
• Notification letters (for OSHA regulated
  stressors)
• Letters (SF600) for inclusion into an
  individuals medical records
• Engineering plan reviews
• Indoor air quality (IAQ) studies
• Supporting info for respirator change out
  schedules
• And most importantly, a comprehensive IH survey
  of your facility, and a report that reflects this
  comprehensiveness
• And pretty much anything else that youd like .

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What about these Notification letters (for OSHA
regulated stressors)?

• When a Navy IH samples an individual for an OSHA
  regulated stressor such as lead, the results from
  that particular sampling event (both raw and
  time-weighted results) are mailed to that
  persons employer results are provided as
  enclosures, one per person per day of sampling
• The employer can provide the enclosure to the
  sampled individual, thus complying with the
  employer must notify the sampled individual
  within five calendar days of the receipt of the
  sampling results.

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What about these SF 600 letters?

• When a Navy IH samples an individual for any
  stressor, the results from that particular
  sampling event (both raw and time-weighted
  results) are mailed to the facility where that
  individuals medical records are maintained
  results are provided as enclosures, one per
  person per day of sampling
• The medical facility can place the enclosure into
  the individuals medical records

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What about engineering plan reviews and IAQ
studies?

• Engineering plan reviews - send those ventilation
  system plans to us before you build those
  systems, and we can ensure that you arent buying
  a pig in a poke contractors will charge you
  for this - we do it for free
• IAQ studies - Too stuffy in your office? Getting
  drowsy on the job? Mold on the walls? Hokey
  smokes, is that black stuff stachybotrys? We can
  evaluate these scenarios for you

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What about respirator cartridge change out
schedules?

• Eights great, but it doesnt rate, mate the old
  wear it for eight hours mantra is no good
  anymore
• An IH can provide the objective data for your
  facility to have an exposure driven,
  mathematically supported change out schedule for
  organic vapor cartridges
• Well crunch the numbers, and give you something
  you can use in many cases, the change schedule
  that we calculate may be longer than the one you
  were using, thus saving your facility money

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What about this comprehensive IH survey of your
facility?

• This is the deal, Neal it is a Navy requirement
  
• A survey of your facility, wall to wall, that
  examines every work task that your personnel
  report performing, including an evaluation of
  each of these tasks to determine if the personnel
  that perform them are at risk
• A report that contains all of this info, in what
  an IH thinks (hopes?) is a user-friendly format

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Whats in the report? Lots of stuff ...

• Individual report sections, usually one per work
  center or shop includes an evaluation of each
  task that the folks in that shop perform plus
  PPE checklists and data tables
• Executive summary - Cliffs Notes for your mgmt
  folks
• Other summaries - asbestos, lead, respiratory
  protection, medical surveillance
• Well tell you whats going on who is exposed
  to what if someone is overexposed, well tell
  you how to fix it well even tell you where we
  want to spend more time with an exposure
  monitoring plan

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So, what can an IH do for you? What is the bottom
line?

• We provide comprehensive evaluations of every
  work task that your personnel perform ( we like
  doing it)
• We put this info in a user-friendly report that
  goes to you, not your Mother
• We are always pondering adjustments to our report
  format even as we speak, in an attempt to
  transform them into a better tool
• If you can think of alterations to the report
  that would improve it, call us
• You can use our reports as a trigger to determine
  where to spend your Safety time

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How can you better use what an IH provides?

• Read the report/letter/stuff that an IH sends to
  you
• Save the report - dont throw it away
• When you do throw it away, call the IH for
  another one
• Make a copy of it, and distribute the individual
  parts of it to your shops so that workers can see
  a written evaluation of the work that they
  perform
• Call your IH when things change, or when new
  things pop up, and the IH will actually get up
  from their desk and check them out

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Any questions? You can reach me at 757-444-7612.
Thanks! C.J.