WORKPLACE EXPOSURE ZONES FOR CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYEE EXPOSURES TO PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL AGENTS

A method is proposed to zone plants on the basis of similarities of personnel exposure to airborne agents. Similarity of exposure can be judged by first performing an inventory of chemicals used, a technical audit of ventilation in the plant, observation of job tasks, and modes of contaminant dispersal from processing. Assignment of job tasks to zones is a judgmental and not a scientific exercise at this stage of method development. Zoning permits the industrial hygienist to maximize the effectiveness of sampling to assess risk. In this article, we compared the efficiency of zoning to random sampling schemes in two facilities. In each case, using the same total number of samples, zoning provides more information on hazardous plant areas and also assists in planning control efforts, as well as future sampling programs. Copyright 1979, American Industrial Hygiene Association