Occupational Exposure Banding: The Solution for the Glacial Pace of OELs

Arranger: L. McKernan, NIOSH, Cincinnati, OH. Moderator: S. Derman, Medishare Environmental Health & Safety Services, Cupertino, CA; Monitor: M. Phibbs, Chemscape, Calgary, AB, Canada.

Occupational exposure limits (OELs) have been established for airborne workplace chemicals by various authoritative global organizations for over 60 years. Chemicals are being introduced into commerce at a rate which significantly outpaces the development of authoritative OELs. With the changing global regulatory arena, shifting centers of manufacturing growth, a move towards a global perspective on solving health issues, tendencies towards banding and the formulation of control assumptions without the use of exposure data, an alternate path along the hierarchy of OELs to allow occupational hygienist to assess the exposure risk of workers is needed. In small and medium sized enterprises, many unique chemicals used in the manufacture products do not have OELs, and thus the workers may not have their exposure assessed either qualitatively or quantitatively. Occupational exposure banding uses available toxicological data to create a range of concentrations or an Occupational Exposure Band (OEB), to control chemical exposures. Occupational exposure banding can be performed by in-house industrial hygienists and toxicologists to provide rapid, useful processes that will be useful for dealing with the myriad of unregulated chemicals in commerce. This session will provide an overview of various approaches including the NIOSH OEB decision process, the approach recently published in the new AIHA® publication, A Strategy for Assessing and Managing Occupational Exposures, 4^th edition, and new approaches for both small and big businesses.

Hierarchy of OELs: Where Have We Been, Where Do We Go?
C. Laszcz-Davis, The Environmental Quality Organization, LLC, Lafayette, CA.

NIOSH Occupational Exposure Banding Process: Validation is the Difference
L. McKernan, CDC/NIOSH, Cincinnati, OH.

Health Hazard Banding: The Newest Chapter in the Exposure Assessment Manual
D. Heidel, Bureau Veritas North America, Edison, NJ.

Why are OEBs so Important for Big and Small Companies?
S. Ripple, Susan Ripple Consulting, LLC, Midland, MI.

Risk@OEL: An Approach to Conduct Tier 3 OEBs
M. Jayjock, Jayjock Associates LLC, Langhorne, PA.