Workplace characteristics

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 established mandatory workplace characteristics backed by inspections and fines for non-compliance with OSHA s regulations. Under OSHA workers also cannot be expected to use information on job related health hazards to take injury avoidance measures on their own or to use personal safety devices if provided by the firm. Standards in turn require plantwide capital investments. The logic of mandatory health and safety standards for employers is that a government agency specializing in workplace safety will know more than employers and workers concerning how to make work sites safer. 

Multiple factors theories attempt to identify specific workplace characteristics that reveal underlying, and often hidden, causes of an accident by pointing to existing hazardous conditions. When viewed as a whole, the characteristics can direct the investigator s attention to the specific causes of an accident. 

Appendix B of this notice contains the PEP Tables, which provide verbal descriptors of workplace characteristics for each factor for each of the five levels. Auditors shall refer to these tables as appropriate to ensure that the score they assign to a factor corresponds to the descriptor that best fits the worksite. 

Ergonomics The science dealing with the application of information on physical and psychological characteristics to workplace design. 

Workplace and job design to accommodate the job requirements of workers with differing physical and mental characteristics... 

This checklist presents detailed information for assessing VDU terminals and their workplaces. The items concern technical information about VDU characteristics but they do not directly consider the nature of the task performed using the VDU system. 

Acute-Duration Exposure. Information is available regarding the effects of acute-duration inhalation exposure of humans to acrylonitrile and the effects are characteristic of cyanide-type toxicity. Quantitative data are limited but are sufficient to derive an acute inhalation MRL. Further studies of humans exposed to low levels of acrylonitrile in the workplace would increase the confidence of the acute MRL. Studies in animals support and confirm these findings. No studies are available on the effects of acute-duration oral exposure in humans however, exposure to acrylonitrile reveals neurological disturbances characteristic of cyanide-type toxicity and lethal effects in rats and mice. Rats also develop birth defects. Animal data are sufficient to derive an acute oral MRL. Additional studies employing other species and various dose levels would be useful in confirming target tissues and determining thresholds for these effects. In humans, acrylonitrile causes irritation of the skin and eyes. No data are available on acute dermal exposures in animals. 

The humidifier solids residue contribution x 4. can be a major component in the textile processing workplace. It is characteristically largest in those processes requiring high humidity. 

The workplace practices source release assessment module identifies 1) the workplace practices that contribute to environmental releases and worker exposure and 2) the sources, amounts, and characteristics of environmental releases Exposure assessment is the quantitative or qualitative evaluation of the contact an organism (human or environmental) may have with a chemical or physical agent, which describes the magnitude, frequency, duration, and route of contact. 

Chemically, diphenyl is a comparatively nonreactive compound, not subject to hydrolysis, and relatively nonvolatile. These characteristics do not exclude any particular sorbents. The interferences in a workplace cannot be generalized because of the compound s widespread and varied usage. However, because the OSHA standard for diphenyl is only 0.2 ppm, it is likely that interfering materials may coexist at concentrations of greater magnitude. Their presence may affect the capacity of a sorbent and should be considered. 

Morawska L, Congrong H (2003) Particle concentration levels and size distribution characteristics in residential and non-industrial workplace environment. In Morawska L, Salthammer T (eds) Indoor environment airborne particles and settled dust. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim... 

ENPs are emerging class of airborne nanoparticles having a main impact on the air quality of indoor environments these are unintentionally released into the ambient environment during the manufacture (commercial or research), handling, use or disposal of nanomaterials integrated products. Their physical and chemical characteristics differ from other nanoparticles produced through traffic [4], The health consequences of their inhalation are not yet well known. A number of studies have reported their number concentrations and size distributions in workplaces but their concentrations in ambient urban environments are largely unknown and warrant further research. Adequate methods have yet to be developed to quantify them in the presence of nanoparticles from other sources. 

After the collection of particles, it is useful to determine the chemical characteristics of the material. This can be accomplished in terms of analysis of a whole sample corresponding to the total mass concentration, or it can be done on a size-fractionated basis. In some cases, individual particles can also be examined. Chemical characterization is very important when one is considering a heterogeneous collection of aerosol particles such as those found in the ambient air or in the workplace. These include whole sample microscopic analysis by collected batch, as well as continuous measurement. 

Measurement of differences in skin reactivity or sensitivity among individuals plays an important role in the workplace, as well as in the manufacture of safe topical therapeutics and cosmetics. Outlined in the following sections are objective and subjective methods of quantifying the reactivity of human skin to chemicals, which are potential irritants.6 The experimental basis of such testing is to quantify the differences among individuals to chemicals that produce characteristic responses using a standard reproducible procedure. Individuals classified as hyper-reactors (sensitive skin) and hyporeactors can then be identified. 

Data on fatal work injuries are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI), 1995. This program, which has collected occupational fatality data nationwide since 1992, uses diverse data sources to identify, verify, and profile fatal work injuries. Information about each workplace fatality (occupation and other worker characteristics, equipment being used, and circumstances of the event) is obtained by cross-referencing source documents, such as death certificates, workers compensation records, and reports to Federal and State agencies. This method assures counts are as complete and accurate as possible. 

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