OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY ENVIRONMENT MEASUREMENTS
By fulfilling all the requirements of the TS EN / ISO 17025 standard, SZUTEST operates in evaluating and performing measurements made within the scope of accreditation following legislations, regulations, communiqués, and the needs of our customers and reporting accordingly.
Occupational Hygiene Measurements and Analysis
SCOPE / PARAMETER | METHOD | ACCREDITED BY |
IDENTIFICATION OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS WITH A GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY DEVICE | TS ISO 16200-1 | TURKAK MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY |
IDENTIFICATION OF TOTAL AND RESPIRABLE DUST SAMPLING: DRAWING SAMPLE INTO THE FILTER (GRAVIMETRIC) | HSE MDHS 14/3 | TURKAK MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY |
DETERMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE LEVELS (INDOOR MEASUREMENTS) | TS ISO 1996-2 | TURKAK MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY |
MEASUREMENT OF NOISE IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT | TS EN ISO 9612 | TURKAK MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY |
MEASUREMENT OF LIGHTING / LIGHTING LEVEL IN WORKPLACES | COHSR-928-1-IPG-039 | TURKAK MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY |
OCCUPATIONAL HYGIENE THERMAL COMFORT- HEAT STRAIN ON WORKERS IN HOT CONDITIONS BASED ON WBGT (WET BULB GLOBE TEMPERATURE) INDEX DETERMINATION OF THERMAL COMFORT CONDITIONS BASED ON PMV-PPD INDICES | TS EN 27243 TS EN ISO 7730 | TURKAK MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY |
For our authorization certificate granted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security: link
For our authorization certificate and scope certificate granted by the Turkish Accreditation Agency (TURKAK): link
Occupational hygiene is the discipline of bringing the level of physical, mental and social well-being of all employees to the highest, maintaining this level, revealing the health problems that may arise from the working environment and working conditions, protecting the employees against any kind of effects that may harm their health, and taking technical preventive measures against health risks in the working environment.
With occupational hygiene measurements, all physical and chemical factors in the working environment that can negatively affect the health of the employees are specified quantitatively and qualitatively. In order to minimize the frequency occupational diseases and accidents, it is extremely important to identify the hazardous effects in the workplace.
Occupational hygiene measurements are divided into two parameter scopes; chemical and physical factors. Some measurement parameters covered by the chemical factors are volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, inorganic acids and heavy metals. If we talk about measurement parameters of physical factors, we can group them under noise, thermal comfort, lighting, vibration, dust and aerosol measurements.
Measurements of the above mentioned factors can be performed in two ways and are called “personal exposure measurements” and “environmental measurements”. Personal exposure measurements are taken based on the type of the work performed, the exposure factor, and the exposure duration. Whereas environmental measurements are taken when the work is not carried out and at a fixed point where the exposure is most likely to be the highest, to assess the workers’ workplace exposure.
Based on Article 10 of the Law of Occupational Health and Safety no. 6331, dated 20.06.2012, the employer is obliged to perform a risk assessment in relation to occupational health and safety. In this context, the employer should provide the necessary controls, measurements, examinations and research to determine the risks related the work environment and the workers’ exposure in terms of occupational health and safety.
The employer conducts occupational hygiene measurements, tests and analysis based on the risk assessment. When there is a difference in the workplace environment or the personal exposures, the occupational physician or the occupational health and safety expert may ask for the repetition of the occupational hygiene measurements, tests and analysis.
The employer must select the laboratory that will carry out the hygiene measurements, tests and analysis from the laboratories authorized based on the regulation on laboratories performing hygiene measurements, tests and analysis, issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and published in the Official Gazette no. 28741, dated 20.08.2013. The results of each hygiene measurement, test and analysis carried out by an authorized laboratory will be reported in a correct, clear, precise and objective manner and in accordance with all the instructions specified in the hygienic measurement, testing and analysis methods.
In the reports, the results of personal exposure measurements are compared with the occupational exposure limits. However, the results of environmental measurements performed at workplaces cannot be compared with these limits. As a result of these measurements, the employer must apply processes and methods that will eliminate these factors or reduce them to an acceptable level by taking control measures for the source, for the work environment or for employees.
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are a group of liquid gases, most of which are colorless and odorless. VOCs react with other pollutants to form the ozone layer in low atmospheres and create dangerous consequences. High concentrations of VOCs can cause carcinogenesis by directly damaging the human health as well as polluting the environment.
For the determination of the volatile organic compounds in the work environment, sample(s) are collected by the authorized personnel with the aid of a sampling pump according to the type of the measurement. The samples reaching our laboratory are analyzed by the Gas Chromatograph device in accordance with the method specified in TS IS 16200-1 standard, evaluated according to Annex-1 of the Regulation on Health and Safety Measures in Works Related to Chemicals and reported in mg/m³ format.
Dusts are particles whose particle size is 300 microns or less and whose chemical and physical properties resemble the structure of the material forming them and can be suspended in the air for a long time. The airborne dust comes from chemical fumes, biologically contaminant microorganisms, harmful gases, solvent vapors, particles suspended in the air, and many other similar phenomena. Because of such reasons, the quantity of dust changes continuously, and we cannot know visually how much dust there is in the workplace. Dust measurements should be made in order to determine the exact amount of dust.
The samples required for the analysis of dust in the workplace are collected by the authorized personnel with sampling pumps on filters with different pore diameters. The samples reaching our laboratory are analyzed with the gravimetric analysis method in accordance with the MDHS 14/3 standard, evaluated based on the Regulation on Dust Control and reported in mg/m³ format.
Lighting is the application of light on the environment and the objects to make them visible. One of the most important priorities in creating a healthy workplace and a safe working environment for visual work is appropriate lighting. As the intensity of illumination increases, the details of the work done are seen more accurately, and with a resulting decrease in the error rate, there is a high increase in the worker’s performance.
The following parameters should be taken into account to ensure appropriate lighting conditions for employee health:
- Level of illumination in the work area
- Distribution of bright surfaces in the work area
- Size of work equipment and working objects
- How much light reflects from objects in the workplace
- Contrast ratio between the objects in the workplace and the area/background around it
- How long it takes to notice the objects to be seen in the work environment
- Employee information
Thermal Comfort refers to the fact that the vast majority of workers in a workplace should enjoy a certain level of comfort in terms of climate, i.e. appropriate temperature, humidity and airflow conditions, while continuing their physical and mental activities. In an enclosed environment, the thermal comfort is felt after a certain period of time. There are four factors that influence the heat exchange with the environment.
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Air flow
- Radiant heat
One of the important factors affecting the quality of environmet and the human health is noise. Along with the developing industry, noise is the leading cause of serious hearing loss among industrial workers. The voice intensity, frequency and duration of exposure are factors that cause hearing loss in humans. Taking protective precautions at work places to minimize the level of exposure is also important to increase work efficiency and to reduce costs.
Basic definitions in the evaluation of Environment and Exposure:
Decibel: Noise evaluation measure based on sound pressure level, Db
Noise level measurement based on weighting curve used, dBA or dBC
Sensitivity of human ear to sound depending on frequency, dBA
Measurement and evaluation of pulse noise, dBC.
SZUTEST will provide these services through its subsidiary ÇEV-TEST.