Industry is Turning to More Comprehensive Safety Programs – to Alert Employees to Hazardous Conditions and – Meet OSHA Standards
Baseline - MOCON, Inc. has introduced the Model 8900 A NEW CONTINUOUS AREA MONITORING SYSTEM, which enhances comprehensive plant safety programs and helps insure a safer work environment.Many industries need to carry out indoor air quality testing to ensure employee safety and compliance with OSHA norms. Baseline - MOCON, Inc. toxic gas monitors are among the most reliable in the industry. Air quality testing is crucial to ensure a safe work environment. Rely on a comprehensive and continuous toxic gas monitor to comply with OSHA regulations.
Area monitoring systems are rapidly becoming part of today’s industrial safety programs because of increased safety
awareness and government regulations.
Government Regulation and the Growth of Plant Safety Programs
The federal government agency, OSHA, has instituted regulations to minimize exposure levels to hazardous gases and vapors employees can be subjected to over the course of an eight-hour day. While OSHA has not specifically required companies to install area monitoring systems, it does require periodic monitoring of personnel exposure to hazardous substances.
Current Environmental Monitoring Practices
Two types of environmental monitoring are currently in use in industry – Personnel Monitoring and Area Monitoring. Many companies commonly use both types of monitoring as they expand their safety programs.Personnel Monitoring
Some of the typical methods currently used to comply with OSHA regulations include the use of personnel monitoring badges and adsorption tubes. These devices, worn by employees, track any exposure they receive to hazardous gases as they move throughout a facility during the course of an eight-hour day. At the end of a day, the collection media are sent to a laboratory to be analyzed to determine the average level that an employee was exposed to. Exposure levels determine the frequency a company is required to conduct this type of monitoring. With this method, results are not available until after employees may have been exposed to hazardous gases.OSHA’s goal is to limit employee exposure to levels below their established Threshold Limit Values (TLV’s) for hazardous gases. For example exposure to ethylene oxide over an eight-hour period is one ppm. As long as readings fall below these established values, companies are required to perform these monitoring tasks periodically. However, in areas considered to be “hot spots,” a company may be required to monitor continuously.
Limitations of the Personnel Badge Method
A comprehensive safety program requires more timely monitoring than is possible with employee badges, because exposure information using this method is not reported until after it has occurred and the employee has already been exposed to hazardous conditions. This type of system provides no immediate warning to allow safety engineers to take quick action toprevent further employee exposure in the case of dangerous exposure levels.
