Page 34 - OHS, May 2021

INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE
The Foundation of a Great Industrial Hygiene Program
How do we evaluate workplace exposures and ensure the health of all workers while making the most efficient use of our time and resources? SEGs are the answer.
BY DAVE RISI
Numerous OSHA Standards and other workplace exposure standards require companies to evaluate the health risks of their workers and ensure they are controlled to a safe level. These evaluations are
commonly performed through qualitative risk assessments (QEAs) or through quantitative measures such as sampling and monitoring of individual worker exposures.
But there’s a problem—how can a company expect to accurately evaluate and manage workers’ health risks when they have hundreds or thousands of employees? Performing risk assessments and monitoring on each individual worker would be far too time consuming and costly, exceeding even the largest EHS budgets. So, how do we evaluate workplace exposures and ensure the health of all workers while making the most efficient use of our time and resources? Similar exposure groups (SEGs) are the answer.
SEGs are the grouping and subsequent assessment of workers based on similar exposure risk factors. Common exposure risk factors and other work characteristics used to define SEGs include: location, job, task and equipment/materials used.
Why are SEGs Important?
Quite simply, SEGs are the foundation of any industrial hygiene (IH) program. Once established, they offer a more convenient, easier-to-understand visualization of workplace job tasks and operations and their associated exposure risks.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of SEGs is that they allow you to optimize your sampling activities by using data from a relatively small number of samples from the exposed population to accurately predict exposures to a wider population of workers. The information can also be used to compare exposure risks with other comparable SEGs at other locations. Once a SEG’s baseline exposure is established, the information allows you to more effectively allocate and prioritize exposure monitoring and control efforts, ultimately saving you significant amounts of time and resources.
SEGs can also be used to better manage risk profiles for workers who perform a variety of job tasks throughout the day and may be exposed to multiple workplace stressors. The average exposures for a shift (8-hour TWA) can vary widely depending on the time spent performing specific tasks. Identifying SEGs for specific tasks provides better visibility of which tasks present exposure risks, which then provides a more accurate determination of what controls, if any, need to be implemented.
Creating SEGs also helps to establish greater visibility and continuity of an IH program. In the past, IH programs relied heavily on the judgement or experience of seasoned IH professionals. Over the course of several years, these IH pros familiarized themselves with the jobs and tasks that had the highest exposure risks and simply knew where to prioritize their
sampling and assessment activities.
Unfortunately, this knowledge was not well documented and
existed as a loose collection of sample data and other records stored in Excel or Access. As the IH professionals retired or transitioned away from the role, incoming IH managers then had to analyze the data to figure out the status of the IH program, including what sampling was being done, why it was being done and where the exposure risks were.
Creating SEGs enables continuity and transparency of the knowledge gained through years of experience—knowledge that can be easily transferred and referenced by incoming IH managers or EHS professionals responsible for IH program management.
When it comes to communicating the exposure risks to workers or management, they will prefer to have the data summarized by the job profile or the tasks being performed. This also enables controls to be specified at the job or task level. For example, all operators conducting liquid sampling should wear half-mask respirators. This control protects all workers performing the job and task, rather than just the individual worker that was sampled.
One of the biggest benefits in developing SEGs is having a consistent characterization of the workplace and ability to identify any groups of workers that have a potential for overexposure. So, when the IH manager with 30+ years of experience and knowledge at that plant retires, he or she can hand over the keys with all of that knowledge documented in a manner that can be easily utilized and managed.
How Do I Create SEGs?
Many EHS professionals are apprehensive to define their SEGs without a lot of supportive sampling data. I believe this is the wrong approach, and actually reduces the power of creating SEGs. Don’t be worried about being 100 percent accurate on identifying your SEGs on your first round. This is an iterative process that takes time to fine-tune. The most important thing is to just get started.
Start developing your SEGs by first observing the workers at your site and asking questions like: What common jobs/roles are workers placed into? What tasks do they perform that create potential health risks? Are there different methods or equipment used for similar tasks that effect the exposure risks?
If you have experience at your site and know the operations well, you can build an initial list of SEGs even before you go out into the work environment. If you don’t have that degree of familiarity, you’ll likely need to spend more time directly observing workers at your site. Again, the goal is to get started, not to be 100 percent accurate on your first attempt.
Here are some common examples of SEGs for various industries:
SEGs in most manufacturing environments can be characterized by a combination of location, job and task, but other
30 Occupational Health & Safety | MAY 2021
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