Collection and Organization of Essential Occupational Exposure Data

Abstract

Abstract Since 1986 the Exposure Assessment Strategies Committee of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has worked at documenting the exposure assessment process practiced by industrial hygienists. Representing the committee's consensus effort between 1986 and 1989, A Strategy for Occupational Exposure Assessment was published in 1991 by the AIHA. This approach, based on the principles of good industrial hygiene practice, provides the industrial hygiene community with a framework to design a process to collect and organize the data needed to answer questions raised by occupational health program goals. The initial step in designing an occupational exposure assessment strategy is the basic characterization of the workplaces, work force, and agents. The basic characterization of the workplace includes the identification of potential exposure sources, routes of exposure, and modifying factors such as ventilation systems and operating conditions. The basic characterization of the work force inc...