(i) From figure 4 (Grzebyk et al., 2005), the French method (Method 1) of appraisal of the quality of the results of analysts involved in fibre counting by PCOM is, at least theoretically, quite a lot more stringent than the other two methods discussed. However, in practice in the field (table 2, Grzebyk et al., 2005), the French method is a little bit less demanding (‘selective’) than the RICE...

Indoor firing ranges are a source of lead exposure and elevated blood lead levels (BLLs) among employees, their families, and customers, despite public health outreach efforts and comprehensive guidelines for controlling occupational lead exposure. There are approximately 16,000-18,000 indoor firing ranges in the United States, with tens of thousands of employees. Approximately 1 million law en...

This study compared the simulated workplace protection factors (SWPFs) between NIOSH-approved N95 respirators and P100 respirators, including two models of filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) and two models of elastomeric halfmask respirator (EHR),against sodium chloride particles (NaCl) in a range of 10 to 400 nm. Twenty-five human test subjects performed modified OSHA fit test exercises in a...

To: My Family, Friends, and Dr. O', who have picked me up when I needed it the most during these past two tumultuous years. I will never forget what you have done for me. This is dedicated to you. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my advisor of four and a half years, Dr. Patrick O'Shaughnessy for ensuring that this study could occur, and for supporting me for the entirety of my gr...

Evaluation of Musculoskeletal Disorders and Traumatic Injuries Among Employees at a Poultry Processing Plant Kristin Musolin Jessica G. Ramsey James T. Wassell David L. Hard Charles Mueller The Health Hazard Evaluation Program received a request from a poultry processing plant. In response to this request, NIOSH investigators evaluated ergonomic hazards, nerve damage in employees’ hands and wri...

2009 The Author Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Occupational Hygiene Society This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work...

Fire fighters face many hazards in the line of duty. The risks of severe and potentially fatal injuries from the dangerous environment of a fire scene are well known. Additionally, fires generate toxic contaminants, some that are known or suspected to cause cancer. Less is known about long term health effects fire fighters may experience as a result of such work-related exposures. One question ...

America’s workforce is becoming more diverse. Generally, this diversity includes workers with different anthropometry (size, shape), capabilities, work experiences, and ethnicities. More importantly, the workforce is also aging and becoming heavier. However, the impact of aging and obesity is typically not considered in traditional ergonomic modeling. This paper explores the potential impact of...