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Do you think a health hazard exists in your
workplace? Do any of the following stories resemble situations at your
workplace?
- A factory worker was feeling numbness and tingling in her fingers.
She learned that three coworkers had the same problem, and two had headaches
while at work but not over the weekend. Some workers said the air at
work smelled bad. Their supervisor noticed the smell but didn’t
think it was anything to worry about.
 A
manager noticed that employees in one work area had more skin rashes
in the past year than the year before. He wanted to know why, but didn’t
know what to do.
- A work crew was putting cement tiles on a roof. They were working
outside, but the air seemed dusty. The saws used to cut the tiles were
noisy. Someone told them that this work was dangerous and they should
have it checked out.
At no cost to employers or employees, or their representatives, the NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation (HHE) program may be able to help with problems like these. This site lets you know about the program and how to ask for NIOSH help. It also has links to reports from thousands of HHEs done by NIOSH.
Two New Health Hazard Evaluation Reports Now Available
The HHE Program received a grant to evaluate risks for acquiring zoonotic disease among individuals who work with non-human primates (NHPs). Investigators found that some work tasks were associated with exposure incidents and that having more than 20 hours per week of contact with a NHP is linked with an increased risk of bites; scratches; needle sticks; and splashes in eyes, mouth, or nose with NHP secretions. Investigators also found that despite knowing the potential health risks, often times employees did not report exposure incidents. HHE Program investigators recommended that facility managers create a procedure for employees to report exposure incidents and focus training on employees who have the most direct contact with NHPs.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/2001-0273-0274-0275-0407-3091.pdf
The HHE Program received a request regarding employees’ exposure to organic solvent vapors from a management representative at a sign manufacturing facility. Investigators found employees’ full shift exposures to toluene, n-hexane, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and cyclohexanone did not exceed occupational exposure limits. Employees’ exposure to the mixture of solvents did however slightly exceed the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists recommendations. Investigators also determined that short term exposure to isopropyl alcohol may exceed short term exposure limits during screen printing and screen washing activities. HHE Program investigators recommended that management investigate replacing solvent-based screen printing products with alternatives that have low or no solvents. It was also recommended that ventilation be improved in the screen printing area. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hhe/reports/pdfs/2007-0053-3092.pdf
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