Patty's Industrial Hygiene, Hazard Recognition. Группа авторов

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СКАЧАТЬ emerging technology is powering unprecedented collaboration in the workplace, with many benefits, including increased productivity and the ability to monitor worker risk and exposure. However, changes to the work environment and the introduction of new technology introduce the potential for unknown hazards and unexpected exposures. Advanced and biosynthetic materials are not yet understood in regard to their potential effects on workers, the environment, and nearby communities. It is very challenging for industrial hygienists to protect workers at this stage of development.

       2.9.2 Service

      The growth of service‐related businesses has expanded to various industries. Contributions by the manufacturing sector are declining in favor of those by the service industry. Labor‐intensive tasks have also shifted from the manufacturing industry, where industrial hygienists primarily served in the past, to the customer service and health care industries in which workers are experiencing a range of hazards while lacking proper protection. These shifts to the taskforce have made safety specialists necessary to new and diverse industries.

       2.9.3 Education and Training

      Distance learning and professional development training have increased demands for learners, and the scope of learning has broadened and now involves virtual and/or multi‐disciplinary training. Learners are more in favor of learning at their own pace and pursuing their own interests. In the first two decades of the twenty‐first century, higher education has been experiencing an overall decline in enrollment. However, this is not the case for online learning. Education and training for industrial hygiene professionals have been changing in a similar manner. A comprehensive survey on college education enrollment reported that while overall enrollment has been decreasing for an unprecedented 12 consecutive terms in the early 2000s, in 2017 alone, online enrollment grew by 3% to 3.85 million full‐time online learners (56). This report had several key findings, such as the need for career services for online students and more diversified online programs that can satisfy the required training for the environmental health and safety profession. The use of distance learning and the promotion of diverse training have created great opportunities for employed learners from various fields to pursue degrees and/or training in the industrial hygiene, safety, and environmental health fields.

      The trend of unprotected workers is growing. By 2020, only two workers will support each retiree, compared to 16 workers supporting each retiree in 1950. The pace of twenty‐first century technological innovation will be even more punishing to the government‐based risk assessment and management strategies than it was to government in the later part of the twentieth century (57). Further delays in setting chemical and physical agent occupational exposure limits (OELs) will only leave workers more vulnerable. In addition, practitioners will be at a greater loss when they turn to the government for OEL advice. Dr. John Howard Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, has noted that “things will only grow worse unless some action is taken soon” (57).

      2.10 Continuing Evolution of the Profession

The practice of industrial hygiene is still well‐rooted in the principles that evolved from the earliest days of the profession. Today it is well known that a well‐implemented comprehensive industrial hygiene program leads to a healthful workplace and that “good health is good business.”

      The current practice of industrial hygiene relies on having valid data, on proper judgment in evaluating these data, and effective follow‐through. Exposure assessment techniques utilizing historical as well as contemporaneous and/or analogous sampling data have become critical tools in the practice of industrial hygiene. Enormous strides have been made during the past century in characterizing and controlling environmental health hazards in places of work. In many industrial plants where comprehensive industrial hygiene programs are in effect and exposures to work hazards are well controlled, the off‐the‐job risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, and hobby activities may have a greater negative effect on workers' health than do their on‐the‐job stresses or may increase the effects or risks associated with workplace exposures alone.

3 CURRENT STATUS OF PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN OCCUPATIONAL AND INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

      The IOHA is an association of occupational hygiene organizations from across the world. All of these are dedicated to the discipline and application of the inherent principles of occupational hygiene. The goal of IOHA is to enhance the international network of occupational hygiene associations that promotes, develops, and improves occupational hygiene worldwide, providing a safe and healthy working environment for all. There are approximately 34 organizations in IOHA representing nearly as many countries. IOHA operates a National Accreditation Recognition (NAR) Scheme and there are some 15 certification schemes currently recognized.

      As of 2017, 11,475 people have been certified in industrial hygiene practice by the ABIH, with over 6800 in active practice. The BOHS is the only professional society representing qualified occupational hygienists in the United Kingdom, and, in 2018, has over 1800 members in 57 countries. BOHS is the only occupational hygiene organization to be awarded a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth the Second: this was granted in April 2013 in recognition of BOHS' unique and pre‐eminent role as the leading authority in occupational disease prevention.

The number of AIHA members has declined in the first decade of the twenty‐first century, as seen in Figure 2. The presentations and activities at the AIHCE, in which professional industrial hygienists participate, have changed from scientific and technical research presentations to be dominated by roundtables and other discussion‐based activities.

FIGURE 2 AIHA membership since 1940.

      3.1 Laboratory Accreditation Programs

      The AIHA administers a laboratory accreditation program with the objective of assisting those laboratories engaged in analyses of industrial hygiene samples in achieving and maintaining performance levels within acceptable ranges. Internationally, laboratories performing occupational hygiene sample analyses come under a national accreditation scheme covering a wide range of products and industries, such as compliance with International Standard Organization ISO 17025. This includes the European Union, South Africa, and Japan. In Australia, this is the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA) which is Australia's national accreditation body for the accreditation of laboratories, inspection bodies, calibration services, producers of certified reference materials, and proficiency testing (PT) scheme providers throughout Australia. In the United Kingdom, the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) operates PT schemes in support of workplace and environmental asbestos assessments, again particularly in the area of asbestos identification and counting.

4 IMPORTANT CURRENT AND EMERGING TOPICS IN THE PRACTICE OF INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE

      There are a number of current and emerging topics of importance in the practice of industrial hygiene. This section lists some of the more significant topics to include product stewardship, exposure assessment methodologies, training, TWH and exposure concepts, management systems, indoor air quality, emergency preparedness, and ethics. The product stewardship section follows.

4.1 Product Stewardship

      Product Stewardship generally means responsibly managing the health, safety, and environmental aspects of products throughout their life cycle and across СКАЧАТЬ