Imagine a world where everything in your home and workplace is automated to the point that you are never caught off guard with unforeseen, costly repairs. Imagine never having to call the emergency number for the electrician or pay exorbitant fees for a weekend visit from the refrigerator repairman.
N any work environment, employers need to consider environmental controls before ever putting an employee in personal protective equipment, such as a respirator, to protect them from dangerous contaminants. A fume extraction system should be one of the first steps to minimize employees' exposure of chemicals and particulates.
PICTURE the manufacturing industry as the process of constructing walls. Early manufacturing began by piling one large, irregular-shaped stone atop another, resulting in a wall that was sturdy because of its weight and size but demanding maximum space and materials and reaching only a fraction of its strength potential. As the industry progressed, these stones were shaped into blocks that fit one along another, increasing stability while reducing space and materials.
What is "duct cleaning"?
Ductwork sometimes can become both the source and the pathway for dirt, dust, and biological contaminants to spread through the building. In this case, duct cleaning usually means the removal of dirt, slime, mold, debris, and other materials found in ductwork and other HVAC components (e.g., cooling coil, drain pan).
IN the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, mold has been receiving substantial press, and for good reason. Many health conditions have been attributed to mold exposure; as a result, there have been more than 10,000 mold-related lawsuits in the United States and the coining of the term "toxic mold."
HOSPITAL-acquired (nosocomial) infections are estimated to occur in nearly 10 percent of all acute care hospitalizations. The estimated incidence is more than 2 million cases per year, resulting in an added expenditure in excess of $4.5 billion. Transmission of both normal and pathological microorganisms by the hands of health care workers (HCWs) is one of the main routes of infection spread. Skin microorganisms may be considered resident flora or transient flora.
IT'S 2:30 in the afternoon and you are home in bed with a cold, sore throat, and runny nose, when the telephone rings. Your wife answers, then brings the phone to you. "It's your boss. There's a problem at work," she says.
WHAT are portable air cleaners (PACs) and how are they used? Portable air cleaners (PACs) are small hand transportable air cleaning units used in occupied spaces (classrooms, offices) to reduce the concentration of airborne particles and sometimes vapors and gases. They typically weigh 10-20 lbs, are freestanding, use local electrical current, and can be placed anywhere in a room.
MANKIND has continuously searched for and found evolving means for survival. Gas monitoring instrumentation has been a part of that evolution. In the span of the last 200+ years, the act of monitoring a worker's environment for explosive and toxic gases, as well as for oxygen enrichment or deficiency, has seen a tremendous evolution.
Editor's note: The ranks of safety and health consultants have exploded in recent years. Patricia Carlisle, CIH, who has been certified in the comprehensive practice of industrial hygiene by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene since 1990 and has been a private consultant for about 20 years, discussed competition, networking, and other consulting challenges in an April 21, 2005, conversation with Occupational Health & Safety's editor.
YOU wouldn't think Ed Smolinski has much in common with Sherlock Holmes. But upon closer examination, you would realize the president of Allied Environmental Corp. does bear a similarity to the famous fictional sleuth.
If you've visited an amusement park or outdoor fair in recent years, you've likely encountered with relief the misting stations that are something like the distant cousins of these fogging systems. Heat is by far the number one source of illness and injury at theme parks, largely because visitors often aren't acclimated to the extreme temperatures or aware until it's too late how vulnerable their bodies are to the conditions.
So just how hazardous is mold, and what are the real risks to a facility and its occupants? Here's what we know: Mold is naturally occurring fungi that can thrive wherever moisture is present, especially in combination with poor ventilation and humidity above 60 percent.
WHILE you might not realize it, the chemical chlorine (Cl2) and its compounds are part of almost everyone's daily life. The water you drink, the food you eat, the medicine you take, the clothing you clean, the pool you swim in, the car you drive, and thousands of other products are sanitized or manufactured with chlorine.
EXPOSURE to bloodborne pathogens (BBPs) is an occupational hazard for many workers, including, among others, health care workers, law enforcement officers, fire service personnel, funeral service employees, body piercers, day care workers, environmental service workers, and wastewater workers.
WHEN an employee is injured on the job, the incident usually triggers a predictable series of events. First and foremost is getting the employee appropriate treatment for the injury.
IN the late 1990s, mold became an enormously popular topic because of a dramatic increase in the amount of media coverage and a resulting increase in the awareness by some of the potential health effects fungi may cause.
OSHA regulations for the use of chemical cartridges require the establishment of change schedules based on objective information. One of the most commonly used mathematical models for estimating the service life of organic vapor (OV) cartridges was developed by Wood.
INDOOR air pollution has been present since man moved into enclosed shelters. The earliest dwellings, from caves to lean-tos, undoubtedly held some amount of pollutants, especially once fire was domesticated.
VOLATILE organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds characterized by their tendency to evaporate easily at room temperature.