At Certified Environmental Management, Ltd. we have found that fatality statistics point to a need for companies to implement a comprehensive exposure assessment strategy. As many as 10 percent of worker deaths each year in the United States are due to exposure to hazardous chemicals and other substances.

Most employers follow a comprehensive exposure assessment strategy similar to one outlined by A Strategy for Assessing and Managing Occupational Exposures (AIHA Press, 1998).

The strategy that Certified Environmental Management, has created along with our proprietary algorithms includes seven steps:

1. Start. Establish the exposure assessment plan, including the role of the industrial hygienist, exposure assessment goals and a written exposure assessment program.

2. Basic characterization. Gather chemical usage information to characterize the workplace, work force and environmental agents. Use health effects information collected at this stage to establish an Occupational Exposure Limit, OEL.

3. Exposure assessment. In view of the information available from the basic characterization, use exposure profiles and ratings, training and experience, exposure modeling tools, and monitoring data to determine an outcome that includes:

This assessment, during which internal limits are selected and defined, will determine whether an exposure is acceptable, uncertain or unacceptable. In the absence of a formal OEL, determine a "working" OEL to rate exposures and differentiate acceptable from unacceptable exposures. If a formal or working OEL is absent, the exposure assessment cannot be completed.

At Certified Environmental Management, Ltd. we establish a sampling strategy for the top 10% of regulated chemicals, substances, and OELs. Carcinogens and OSHA horizontal standards are automatically placed within the sampling strategy.

4. Further information gathering. Implement exposure monitoring or the collection of more information on health effects so that uncertain exposure judgments can be resolved with higher confidence.

5. Health hazard control. Implement control strategies for unacceptable exposures. Put these exposures on a prioritized list for control through less toxic chemical substitution, engineering controls, personal protective equipment (PPE), administrative controls and work practice changes.

6. Reassessment. Periodically perform a comprehensive re-evaluation of exposures. Determine whether routine monitoring is required to verify that acceptable exposures remain that way.

7. Communications and documentation. The communication of exposure assessment findings and the maintenance of exposure assessment data are essential features of an effective process.

At Certified Environmental Management we know that "a comprehensive approach is the best way for organizations to understand and manage the ever-broadening realm of occupational health-related risks." This approach shifts away from compliance monitoring of traditional methodology and shifts to selective monitoring based on proprietary computerized modeling tools. This focuses on the maximum-risk employee to determine whether exposures are above or below established limits.

"In a new industrial hygiene program, compliance monitoring is probably where you start. Most programs have moved on to the next step, to focus on understanding exposures in a broader sense and moving beyond the narrow list of OSHA PELs to include other chemicals."

At Certified Environmental Management, Ltd., we pride ourselves in our proprietary software, algorithms, and world-wide regulatory database that allows for a company to cost effectively and efficiently address all regulatory substances, along with physical ototoxic affects.

Please view Certified Environmental Management, Ltd. schematic, which is modeled after AIHAs: