Hazards

Occupational settings

Measurement

Exposure guidelines

Effects of exposure

Surveillance

Worker-material interfaces

Repetitive ergonomic hazards – extremities

Service and industrial operations

Repetition, force, posture

OSHA (pending)

Musculo-skeletal strain, tunnel syndromes

Survey workers, observe tasks, measure physical parameters of the job

Manual materials handling-backs

Service and industrial operations

Repetition, force, posture

NIOSH lifting guide

Musculo-skeletal strain, disc herniation

Survey workers, observe tasks, measure physical parameters of the job

Vibration

Whole body-vehicle/heavy equipment/industrial equipment operator, hand-arm-powered hand tool users

Frequency, motion

ISO 2631, ANSI S3 NIOSH criteria document, ACGIH

Whole body-low back pain, Hand-arm-hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS)

Survey workers, observe tasks, measure physical parameters of the job

Mechanical energy – direct injuries

Service and industrial operations

Velocity, distance, acceleration, force, weight, pressure, friction

None

Direct Injury

Epidemiology of workplace injuries

The physical work environment

Hot environments

Hot indoor or outdoor environments

Wet globe bulb temperature, core temperature

ISO 7243, HIOSH criteria document

Heat strain, heat stroke

Heart rate, core temperature, worker selection

Cold environments

Cold indoor or outdoor environments

Wind chill, core temperature

ACHIH-TLV

Frostbite, trench/immersion foot, hypothermia

Worker selection

High-pressure environments

Divers, caisson workers

Pressure in atmospheres absolute (ATA), changes in pressure

OSHA, marine occupational health safety standards

Barotrauma, decompression sickness, indirect effects secondary to pressure acting on other gases (O 2 , N 2 )

Worker selection

Low-pressure environments

Aircraft crews, private pilots, astronauts

Pressure in atmospheres absolute (ATA), changes in pressure

None

Barotrauma, decompression sickness, hypoxia

Worker selection

Shift work

Service and industrial operations

Rotation, duration and hour changes of shift schedule

None

Sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal upset

Worker selection

Energy and electromagnetic radiation

Ionizing radiation

Pilots, underground miners, radiographers, medical and dental X-ray personnel, operators of high-voltage equipment, nuclear power and fuel cycle workers, medical and scientific researchers, some commercial products manufacturing

Personal dosimetry of radiation exposures

NCRP, ICRP, NRC, UNSCEAR

Acute radiation injury, carcinogenesis

Personal dosimetry.  Lung and whole body scanning, biological monitoring as appropriate

Ultraviolet radiation

Outdoor workers, welders, printers

Wavelength, intensity

ACHIH-TLV

Corneal photokeratitis, skin erythema, cataracts

None

Visible light and infrared radiation

Outdoor workers, welders, printers, glass blowers

Visible duration, wavelength, intensity.  Infrared wavelength, intensity

ACHIG-TLV

Visible-scotoma, thermal burn, photosensitivity, urticaria.  Infrared-thermal burns, cataracts

None

Laser radiation

Service and industrial operations, researchers, medical personnel, maintenance personnel

Wavelength, power, energy, duration

ACGIH-TLV, (ANSI Z136.1)

Retinal and skin burns

Required for Class 3b and 4 lasers.  Baseline and post-exposure retinal exams

Microwave, radiofrequency (MW/RF) and extremely low-frequency (ELF) radiation

MW/RF – communication workers, industrial heating and RF welding operations.  ELF – electricians and electrical workers, telephone and cable workers, electric arc welders, movie projectionists

Frequency, electric field, magnetic field, power density, operating mode

ACGIH-TLV, OSH

MW/RF-Thermal effects

ELF- No proven effects

None

Noise

Service and industrial operations

Time-weighted dBA

NIOSH, OSHA

Noise induced hearing loss

Hearing conservation program for all exposed workers

Electric power and electrocution injuries

Service and industrial operations

Current, voltage

OSHA

Electrical burns, electrocution

None