Livengood to Cover Identifying Industrial Hygiene Issues
iSi Project Manager Ryan Livengood will be presenting How Can I Tell If I Have an Industrial Hygiene Issue and What Do I Need to Look For?
iSi Project Manager Ryan Livengood will be presenting “How Can I Tell If I Have an Industrial Hygiene Issue and What Do I Need to Look For?” at the 69th Annual Kansas Safety and Health Conference.
⚡ TL;DR: Ryan Livengood is speaking at the 2018 Kansas Safety and Health Conference on identifying industrial hygiene hazards. Learn the warning signs of IH issues, which operations trigger sampling, and how to spot exposure problems before they harm workers or trigger OSHA citations.
Recognizing Industrial Hygiene Hazards
The term industrial hygiene (IH) covers a wide variety of issues found in your workplace. Even seasoned safety professionals can overlook areas of concern. Which kinds of typical industrial operations trigger potential issues? How can you tell if you need sampling?
⚠️ Why this matters: Most industrial hygiene hazards don’t announce themselves. Workers don’t show symptoms from dust exposure, chemical fumes, or noise hazards until damage is already done. By the time an OSHA inspector arrives, your facility may have created a liability exposure spanning months or years. A professional IH assessment identifies hazards that seasoned safety professionals miss—and gives you time to fix them before enforcement.
What Ryan Will Cover
In this presentation, Ryan will cover these topics plus give specific examples of operations with their corresponding potential IH issue as well as examples of typical sampling events.
This year’s Kansas Safety and Health Conference will be in Wichita on October 2-3, 2018. If you’d like to see this presentation, or another safety or environmental-related presentation at your next conference, seminar or event, please email us or give us a call at (888) 264-7050.
Is your facility showing signs of an IH issue? Respiratory problems, headaches, fatigue, visible dust or fumes, or operations involving welding, grinding, or chemical handling warrant a professional assessment. Contact iSi for an IH assessment →
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How can I tell if my facility has an industrial hygiene issue?
Warning signs include employee complaints of respiratory problems, skin irritation, headaches, or ear ringing; visible dust, smoke, or fumes in work areas; workers experiencing fatigue or dizziness; or operations involving welding, chemical handling, painting, or grinding. Even seasoned safety professionals can overlook industrial hygiene hazards, so facilities in Wichita and Kansas should conduct professional industrial hygiene assessments.
Q: What types of industrial operations typically create industrial hygiene hazards?
Common operations with industrial hygiene risks include manufacturing processes involving chemical exposure, welding operations, metal grinding and machining, spray painting, solvent use, chlorine handling, and processes generating heat stress or ergonomic strain. Each operation type creates different exposure hazards requiring specific sampling and control strategies.
Q: When do I need industrial hygiene sampling and what does it involve?
Industrial hygiene sampling is required when operations potentially expose workers to hazardous chemicals, noise, ergonomic stressors, or biological hazards above safe exposure limits. Sampling involves collecting air samples, measuring noise levels, or assessing ergonomic conditions, which are then analyzed to determine compliance with OSHA permissible exposure limits.
Q: What should I include in an industrial hygiene exposure assessment?
An industrial hygiene assessment should evaluate all workplace operations, identify hazards, assess worker exposure levels through sampling, review control measures in place, and recommend additional controls. Facilities should evaluate chemical exposures, noise hazards, thermal stress conditions, and ergonomic factors based on their specific industry and operations.
💰 Cost of industrial hygiene neglect: OSHA citations for unidentified or uncontrolled exposures: $10K–$40K per violation. A single occupational illness claim: $50K–$200K+ in liability and damages. Proactive IH assessments cost a fraction of the first citation.
We Plug In. You Level Up. Schedule an IH assessment →