Main Slide Show
Workplace Safety & Health Company IH consultants are trained to inventory and assess confined spaces of various types and sizes.
Industrial Hygienists may wear Hazmat or other chemical protective clothing when evaluating highly hazardous atmospheres or environments.
An IH consultant uses sound level meters to assess noise levels in industrial environments.
Industrial Hygienists place noise dosimeters on factory employees to monitor employee exposure to noise levels.
Lockout/tagout involves assessing a machine’s operation and identifying all energy sources.
Tagout of electrical switches in a control room warns employees not to start equipment.
An Industrial Hygienist uses an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer to determine lead-based paint concentrations on a facility’s exterior.
We do air sampling for airborne contaminants using sorbent tubes.
Industrial Hygienists use a filter cassette equipped with a cyclone to collect respirable dust samples.
National Preparedness Month— sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security each September since 2003 — encourages Americans to take steps to prepare for emergencies in their communities – whether they occur at home, at school, or at work.
Though much of the focus for National Preparedness Month is on being ready to deal with emergent situations at home, the observance also raises the issue of being prepared for emergencies on the job. Safety at work is a year round priority, so it’s important to regularly review your company’s safety plans and policies and keep them up to date.
FEMA lists the steps in developing a preparedness program at work as:
-Testing and Exercises
The business preparedness section of the Ready.gov website (www.ready.gov) from the DHS and FEMA recommends that the planning process take an “all hazards” approach. As the term suggests, that means taking into account different types of threats and hazards and their likelihood of happening.
As part of the planning process, the website recommends developing strategies for prevention/deterrence and risk mitigation. This should include threats or hazards that can be classified as probable as well as hazards that could cause injury, property damage, business disruption or environmental impact.
Developing an all hazards preparedness plan includes identifying potential hazards, assessing vulnerabilities and considering potential impacts. A risk assessment identifies threats or hazards and opportunities for hazard prevention, deterrence, and risk mitigation. Of course, human injuries should be highest priority consideration in a risk assessment, but other assets could include everything from buildings and equipment to raw materials and finished products.
In conducting a risk assessment, the Ready.gov site recommends looking for vulnerabilities, or weaknesses, that would make an asset more susceptible to (and possibly contribute to the severity of) damage from a hazard. Such vulnerabilities could range from deficiencies in a building’s structural integrity to its security or protection system – having a working sprinkler system in place to limit damage in the event of a fire, for example.
More information on putting together emergency plans for the workplace is available at http://www.ready.gov/business.