Industrial Hygiene

Supporting Ongoing Worker Protection

Health and hygiene programs are not a “one and done” process. Regular evaluation is a key component of robust programs to support other health and safety procedures being driven by the core industrial hygiene program. OSHA regulations require periodic evaluations to incorporate regulatory changes, work environment changes, and to assess the performance of health and safety systems.

The periodic reassessment of chemical, biological, and physical hazards, as well as ventilation and other critical systems, forms the core of any program. It is equally important to evaluate all of the inputs (exposure data, safety data sheets, equipment) and outputs (illness and injury statistics, personal protective equipment requirements, medical surveillance). Program assessments reduce costs by focusing limited resources on the areas that can have the greatest impact on protecting worker health.

EC industrial hygiene professionals can support the continual effort to protect worker health through a variety of services including:

• Health & Safety Program Gap Assessment & Audits
• Data Statistical Analysis
• Comprehensive Exposure Assessments
• Site Hazard Identification
• Personal Protective Equipment Evaluation & Selection

Making Industrial Hygiene Data Engaging, Accessible, & Actionable

Modern industrial hygiene data sets are stored in various systems, from MS Excel spreadsheets to large enterprise databases of varying complexity. Industrial hygiene programs generate large amounts of data from years of historical record collection or as a result of a large multi-facility industrial hygiene programs. Data systems are critical to maintaining a historical record and as they grow in size and complexity, it becomes more challenging and time consuming to analyze and communicate monitoring results effectively.

EC data scientists create simple dashboard systems tailored to client needs using customized visualizations. Industrial hygienists, senior management, and front line supervision can all interact in real-time with the industrial hygiene data in different ways without changing the underlying information. This distinction allows for collaborative planning and budgeting, querying of a location or hazard, or evaluating the performance of the industrial hygiene program. EC can design simple to use and compelling interactive visualizations around the needs of a program, audience, or even a particular mission or initiative.

EC data visualizations:

• Interface with spreadsheets, text files, enterprise databases, and more
• Visualize data around specific needs and goals
• Provide an intuitive interactive user interface
• Track compliance across facilities, business units, and geographic regions
• Communicate visually and in real-time to senior management
• Allow the user to quickly sort, filter, and view years of data
• Are accessible on multiple devices using a web browser

Support to Counsel from Certified Industrial Hygiene Experts

The Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs) and Certified Safety Professionals (CSPs) of EC are credible and experienced in diverse areas of safety and worker health. Litigation support provided by our staff includes data collection and field support, expert report review & preparation, as well as expert testimony.

Our CIH and CSP staff includes public health scientists and Ph.D. toxicologists with several decades of combined litigation experience in the areas of regulatory interpretation, accident and fatality investigation, worker exposure to asbestos, benzene, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, hydrogen sulfide, silica, and biological contaminants among others. Our experience spans a multitude of industries, including transportation, maritime, manufacturing, construction, petrochemical, energy, mining, and hospitality.

Protecting Worker Health Through Expert Hygiene Assessments

The industrial hygiene experts at EC provide chemical, physical, and biological exposure assessment services to inform health decisions related to environmental contaminants. Our industrial hygienists and safety professionals use proven methodologies to conduct thorough evaluations that result in clients receiving valuable information that protects workers.

Industrial hygiene surveys are performed under the direction of a certified industrial hygienist, and are performed by field hygienists and toxicologists who are experts at performing exposure assessments. Additionally, exposure modeling is a unique strength of EC and provides our clients with clear insight into potential exposures.

Our industrial hygiene exposure assessment services include:

• Air monitoring for constituents including, but not limited to, hexavalent chromium, lead, asbestos, hydrogen sulfide, silica, and benzene
• Noise exposure surveys and contour maps
• Heat stress surveys
• Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation surveys
• Naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) evaluations
• Ventilation/laboratory hood assessments
• Illumination assessments

Protecting Worker Health in Facilities Across All Industries

Indoor air quality (IAQ) is key to ongoing worker health and well-being. Our indoor air quality (IAQ) team consists of members from numerous scientific disciplines including industrial hygiene & safety, toxicology, occupational health, environmental, and chemistry. Our IAQ team holds several certifications and hundreds of hours of training related to indoor air quality, building investigations, and microbial assessments.

Our team has years of experience investigating public and commercial buildings, industrial facilities, and residences for issues related to water intrusion, sewage releases, compromised building envelopes, and odor. We also investigate flooding claims for utility companies, major insurance companies, institutional real estate, hospitality, and gaming industry, governmental agencies, and public & private schools.