Anitech’s Occupational Hygiene Monitoring Services

Occupational Hygiene Monitoring

Workplace Occupational Hygiene monitoring helps identify the hazard exposure, assess risk, and find solutions to overcome or eliminate them. It complements a company’s entire risk management of safety issues and the health effects of hazards on workers. These results serve as inputs to regulate exposure to workplace contaminants.

The monitoring must be conducted while referring to the occupational exposure standards provided by Safe Work Australia’s Hazardous Chemical Information System (HCIS). A document on “Guidance on the Interpretation of exposure standards for Airborne Contaminants’ shall be referred to while interpreting workplace exposure standards.

Types of Occupational Hazards

Occupational Hygienists will check for the various industrial hazards like noise, vibration, respirable dust, welding/soldering fumes, asbestos non-ionising radiation, extreme temperatures, biological hazards, and hazardous substances like solid, gas, vapour, and liquid.

Importance of Occupational Hygiene Monitoring

Managing hazardous chemicals, machinery, and materials in the workplace requires rigid controls for organisations to maintain their corporate, regulatory, and social requirements. To achieve this goal, enterprises need to monitor their workers, employees, and community’s exposure to the work environments.

Certified and experienced Occupational Hygienists conduct occupational hygiene monitoring that complies with the legislative procedures.

An Occupational Hygiene Monitoring plan must address the below essentials:

1) Must define the exposure assessment process.

2) Must develop a procedure to report and manage exceedance investigations.

3) Establishing data retention and storage requirements and processes.

4) Define and implement an information communication and reporting process.

5) Must establish the reassessment criteria like change management and frequency.

Occupational Hygiene Monitoring Program Key Requirements

There are some key requirements an organization needs to provide to an occupational hygienist, which is as mentioned below:

1. Existing exposure monitoring information if any.
2. Current control measures implemented at the enterprise like engineering controls, personal protective equipment etc.
3. Work practices used.
4. Employed workers’ experience.
5. Various indicators of exposure potential, including visual observation.
6. Legislative essentials for physical and chemical hazards.

Exposure Assessment

An exposure assessment involves the use of different methods and sampling techniques and can be performed over different time frames. Sampling methods include:

1) Personal monitoring includes sampling inhalable dust exposure within the workers’ breathing area and noise exposure measurement exposure at the ear.

2) Static, para-occupational, and environmental monitoring involves placing a gas monitor on a tripod or asbestos fibers monitoring.

3) A monitoring survey is like a noise survey conducted with a handheld sound level measuring device.

4) Biological monitoring like blood lead testing.

5) Health surveillance results.

Types of Sampling methods

Performing the different types of occupational hygiene sampling methods will provide exposure data for different time frames, which will help the overall exposure analysis.

Below mentioned are the types of sampling methods used for Occupational Hygiene programs.

Grab sampling:

It is a very short-term form of sampling that involves assessment done within seconds. It is used to confirm or identify a contaminant.

Short-term sampling:

It is a form of sampling that uses 10 – 15 minutes. It can be compared with the short-term exposure limits (STEL). A number of these short-term samples are used to calculate the full shift exposure.

Long-term sampling:

Long-term sampling is conducted for full-shift exposure for either a full shift or more than a half working shift. This type of sampling is apt for comparing the 8-hour OES.

Continued sampling methods provide a real-time measurement of exposure for the sampling period, like for gas monitoring. This procedure can provide a time-weighted average (TWA) for the exposure period, peaks, and STEL measurements in one method.

Anitech’s Occupational Hygiene Monitoring Service

Anitech Consulting has industry experience in monitoring the work environments of our clients. We provide occupational hygiene services like air quality testing, ventilation studies, noise, vibration, and fit testing, heat stress and chemical exposure monitoring, Ergonomic furniture, audiometric testing and dust, metals analysis, etc.

Below steps and monitoring processes will give you an understanding of Anitech’s Occupational Hygiene Monitoring services.

Pre-assessment preparation

The pre-assessment preparation involves the arrangements made by our Occupational Hygiene Consultants to conduct monitoring processes. It involves the following steps:

1. Reaching the client venue 15 minutes prior to the examination and explaining to the management and staff about the processes to be carried out.
2. Assembling and calibration of various monitoring equipment like air pumps, dosimeters, and SLMs.
3. Providing information about the devices used and the processes to be implemented to the staff and management.
4. Solving doubts, if any.

Monitoring and Sampling methods

Our consultants will measure your workplace for various hazards with the help of the monitoring equipment mounted as per the standard AIOH Occupational Hygiene Monitoring and Compliance Strategies.

Below provided are the monitoring methods and sampling techniques used by Anitech’s Occupational Hygiene Consultants for air quality monitoring and noise testing.

1) Air Quality Monitoring

Our occupational hygiene consultants will collect samples from an organisation’s location with the help of measuring equipment mounted at the venue. These samples are tested in a laboratory against the standard exposure level set by the legislation.

2) Noise testing

Our professionals will test the indoor and outdoor noise levels and note down the readings. They will then check if these retrieved readings comply with the standards provided by the legislation.

Occupational Hygiene Reports on findings

Occupational Hygiene Reports are important as they help in documenting the findings of the monitoring as well as all the steps followed. These also include a strategic plan for implementing strategies to overcome or eliminate workplace hazards.

At Anitech, the following documenting procedure has been followed:

1. Our Occupation Hygiene consults prepare reports based on the monitoring process findings while ensuring these documents comply with AIOH Guidelines for Writing Occupational Hygiene Reports.
2. Each report consists of the process description, health effects found, relevant legislation, and recommendations to overcome hazards.
3. The report is peer-reviewed, i.e., re-examined by our Occupation Hygiene expert before sending it to the client.
4. We ensure to send the report to the authorised point of contact.
5. The clients can approach our consultants for any clarification required on the information provided in the report.
6. Our experts will guide you in complying with the recommendations and plan suggested.

Benefits of Occupational Hygiene Monitoring

Occupational Hygiene monitoring has many benefits for businesses that opt for it. They are as mentioned below:

 1) Workplace Safety

Owing to the workplace accidents and injuries that cost workers’ health, add to the infrastructure, and question a company’s arrangement on safeguarding employees, an Occupational Hygiene monitoring promotes workplace safety. It aims to identify and anticipate workplace hazards that might cause hindrance to the employee health. They provide solutions to overcome any loopholes in the machinery, environments, and substances used. This, in turn, ensures that there is top-level safety practised in industries to prevent any mishaps or health disorders among the workers.

2) Increases Productivity

Healthy environments amp up the morale and confidence of the employees working on its premises. This, in turn, enhances workplace productivity. Workers have faith in the company’s safety measures, and the controlled environments enhance their workflow. The workers’ potential will increase considerably.

3) Reduced cost of health and injuries

Workplace injuries and health hazards add to an organisation’s budget. Depending on the type of injuries and severity of workplace diseases, the company must compensate huge amounts. But with occupational hygiene overcoming all the workplace hurdles that can cause injuries and preventing health-affecting hazards, the cost incurred on these is reduced. A business can use the money saved to enhance workplace safety.

4) Achieve necessary Compliance

An Occupational Hygiene Monitoring plan will help in achieving as well as preserving the necessary Compliance with the government’s legislation and workplace safety laws. Occupational Hygienists will help your organisation in achieving them as well as guide you on the areas lacking.

5) No lawsuits

Workplace accidents and health hazards might amount to lawsuits if an employee seeks a court of law. But with the overcoming of health affecting factors and securing workers’ from any injury, such incidents can be prevented.

6) No loss of labour

Workplace injuries and long-term diseases can amount to many workers leaving the job. This will, in turn, reduce the company’s manpower. But with successful occupational hygiene monitoring, workers won’t leave as their health has been safeguarded.

 7) Improved Occupational Healthy

Occupational Hygiene monitoring will improve the occupational health of an organisation and thus increase life expectancy. With this, you can improve occupational health. This, in turn, will increase life expectancy.

Why Choose Anitec’s Occupational Hygiene Consulting?

1. Our consultants are known for their punctuality and professionalism.
2. They are certified in the Occupational Hygiene disciple and have industry experience in catering to so many clients in Australia.
3. We use monitoring instruments complying with the latest technology and having calibration certifications in place.
4. We will explain to the staff and management the various processes involved in monitoring to make it easy to understand.
5. Our findings are accurate reports that provide detail on the monitoring done.
6. We will provide guidance on workplace safety measures to be taken by the workers.
7. We will help your organisation in overcoming workplace hazards and securing workers’ and employee health.
8. We will be available for any further assistance to guide you.

To book an occupational hygiene consultation, call us on 1300 802 163 or e-mail at – info@anitechgroup.com or enquire here