Applied industrial hygiene risk assessment globally AIHce Montreal 2013

1. Application of Industrial Hygiene Risk
Assessment Model at Nine sites in Six
countries in Asia
Maharshi Mehta, CSP, CIH, Ankit Sharma
T. Mehta,
International Safety Systems, Inc. , Washingtonville, NY,
New Delhi, India

2. Agenda
•Background
•Industrial Hygiene Risk assessment Model – Introduction
•Risk assessment methods
•Results
•Challenges
• Lessons Learned
•Future Action Plan

3. Background
• Industrial Hygiene Risk Assessment (IHRA, Qualitative)
conducted at 9 sites in Asia.
• Included wastewater treatment unit, parts repair shops,
healthcare equipment assembly, wind turbine assembly
and power control assembly shops.
• Purpose of the assessment was to qualitatively identify
high, medium and low risk activities

4. Industrial Hygiene Risk Assessment
Model - Introduction
• Qualitative assessments were performed.
• Risk was evaluated with respect to the following hazards
and probability of occurrence:
– Duration and Frequency of activity
– Inhalation hazard
– Airborne potential
– Engineering Controls
– Past Monitoring Records
– Skin contact potential
– Skin Hazard
– Ingestion Risk

5. Risk Ranking
• Risk ranking for each criterion
• Separate calculation for inhalation risk, skin absorption
• Final risk as sum of inhalation, skin absorption and
multiplication of ingestion risk.

6. Before Beginning the Assessment..
• Obtained chemical list, composition, % of ingredient,
properties (Vapor Pressure), exposure limits, skin
hazards, ingestion risk
• Opening meeting was held with site head, production
leaders, environment health and safety team, utilities
team and relevant departments to discuss purpose of
assessment.

7. Data Collection Process
• Walkthrough to identify Homogeneous Exposure Groups
(HEGs).
• Detailed review of each HEG
• Interviews
– Process details
– Frequency duration, volume used
• Observations of exposure controls, work practices
• Data review
– Previous reliable, reproducible and representative exposure
monitoring
– Preventive maintenance
• Closing meeting to discuss observations and
recommendations

8. Risk Ranking and Exposure
Monitoring Plan
• Manually in batch upload template taken for
company intranet work
• Or directly entered in to company intranet
work
• Determined high, medium low risk ranking
• Development of exposure monitoring plan for
HEGs

9. Company IHRA Software
• Access to portal through secure login.
• Initially, activity description sheet is uploaded on the
software and the risk assessment sheet is completed and
uploaded.
• The results are considered incomplete till reviewed and
approved by the concerned IH Leader for the business
instance of the company.
• Assessments can be edited and updated online based on
modifications in the process at the site.

10. Results

11. High and Medium Risk Activities
Identified – Partial List
No. Type of industry Activity Agent (s) of Concern
1 Parts Repair Shop Acid Gas stripping Hydrogen Chloride
2 Parts Repair Shop Repair of parts
(Welding, Grinding
and Polishing)
Hexavalent Chromium, Nickel,
Cobalt, Ozone, Noise
3 Parts Repair Shop Ultrasonic Cleaning Potassium Hydroxide / Sodium
Hydroxide
4 Parts Repair Shop Aluminum Oxide
blasting in walk-in
booths
Respirable Particulates, Noise
5 Healthcare Glass Sealing Nitrogen Dioxide

12. No. Type of industry Activity Agent (s) of Concern
6 Healthcare Soldering Lead
7 Healthcare Mold Preparation n-butyl glycidyl ether
8 Healthcare Cleaning of parts -
Finishing
Toluene
9 Wastewater
Treatment
Chlorine Tonner
Replacement
Chlorine
10 Turbine Assembly Application of
Polyurethane Paint
on Hub
Methyl Isocyanate

13. Challenges in Data Collection Process
• Frequency Duration
– Variability at repair shop based on when parts
come for repair and customer requirements
– Potential short term exposure will have lower
ranking, however high potential risk for STEL/
ceiling limit substance
• More than 50 chemicals, chemical
ingredients/HEG – may sound like time
consuming process

14. Approaches adopted
• Obtain history on frequency duration in last
week/month/year
• Interview multiple operators in different shifts to
understand variation.
• Checking inventory and stock records of chemicals.
• Review of production / repair data records for previous
weeks / months / years duration frequency.
• Increase/decrease risk based on professional judgment
• Selecting sentinel agent in liquid, gaseous and solid
phase from all 50+ chemicals/HEG and conduct detailed
IHRA for sentinel agent

15. Additional challenge and approach
adopted
• Non-availability of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs),
as inhalation ranking primarily based on Occupational
Exposure Limits.
• Professional judgment for hazard ranking based on
hazard properties when OEL is not available
• Approach adopted
– Risk Phrases
– HSDB and other references

16. Benefits
• Systematic approach to identify all potential risk of routine
and non-routine activities
• Cost-effective
– Exposure monitoring for only 20 high/medium risk
activities identified from 200 risk assessments.
– Exposure monitoring for about 20 chemicals from list of
300+ chemicals
– Corporate EHS professionals are not involved in IHRA
Critical when corporation has 1500+ site
• Opportunity to implement controls before monitoring.

17. Conclusions
• IHRA was a powerful tool in identifying potentially high,
medium and low risk HEGs.
• Subsequent limited exposure monitoring confirmed the
potential risk
• Improved process and engineering controls reduced
health risk
• Professional judgment is critical in determining degree of
risk

18. Future Action Plan
• Frequency-duration criteria to include acutely toxic
compound less frequently used for shorter duration
• Modify ranking criteria to reduce professional judgment
– Airborne ranking based on vapor pressure or particle size
• Comprehensive filed and class room training for site EHS
professionals
– Conducting IHRA
– Working with software and uploading process
• Analysis of high, medium and low potential risk identified
at sites globally and ensure steps are taken to reduce risk

19. Questions? Thank You!