ELEMENT B4 - MONITORING AND MEASURING

4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13)

Attach sampler heads to the pumps and set the pump flow rate, using a calibrated flow meter. Prepare and retain enough blank loaded samplers to represent the batch, one in ten and a minimum of three. Treat the blank loaded samplers as the others, but do not draw air through. Select and attach the sampler equipment to the worker, ensure head is in the breathing zone. Remove protective covering from sample head and record the time and volumetric flow rate. Check periodically, if necessary adjust flow rate and look for fault conditions. At the end of sample period record the flow rate and sample time. Place protective covering over sample head and remove carefully from worker. Ensure cyclone sample heads are kept upright. Remove the filter and prepare for transportation and analysis.

Measurement principles - dusts and fibres

DUSTS Gravimetric analysis Gravimetric analysis enables the weight of the dust collected to be determined. This involves weighing the filter before and after sampling in order to determine the net weight gained. This will require the use of weighing equipment that has been validated as accurate at intervals by the use of a calibrated standard weight and independently verified as accurate periodically. For improved accuracy the filters should be conditioned before weighing to allow moisture in the filter to reach equilibrium with that of the weighing environment. This involves them being placed in individual, labelled, clean tins (or other suitable containers) and left with the lids slightly ajar in the weighing environment overnight. Any electrostatic charge should be eliminated by passing the filter over a static eliminator before weighing. When the net weight has been determined the dust concentration can be calculated by comparing it with the amount of air flow that created the weighed dust sample. The volume of air is calculated by multiplying the mean volumetric flow rate of the pump in cubic metres per minute by the sampling time, in minutes. It is useful to note that if the flow rate is given in litres per minute, flow rate litre/min = 1,000 x flow rate in m3/min, so the flow rate in litres/min is divided by 1,000 to obtain the flow rate in m3/min. To obtain the dust concentration in mg/m3 the net weight gain in mg is divided by the volume of air sampled in m3. Physical Samples that have been collected on a filter may be analysed using a variety of physical techniques: X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy. X-Ray Diffraction. Infra-Red Techniques. Atomic Absorption. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Silica exposures can be evaluated by infrared (IR) or X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Chemical analysis Metals analysis of dust samples may be important. Ideally, samples for metals analysis should be collected on preweighed MCE filters. These filters are easily digested in acid, whereas often the PVC filters fail to digest completely. The residues left after chemical digestion can be further examined by a variety of chemical means, for example, gravimetric i.e. direct weighing. FIBRES Microscopy for fibres If a membrane type filter made of cellulose acetate is used, it can be made transparent by adding a clearing fluid, allowing the dust to be examined under a microscope and the particles or fibres may be counted if necessary. This process is particularly important if fibrous matter, such as asbestos, is present. Microscopes can range in power from a simple single lens instrument (i.e. a magnifying glass) through to highpowered scanning electron microscopes and transmission electron microscopes capable of up to approximately five million times magnification. An optical or light microscope can magnify up to about 1,500 times and is used extensively for analytical work.

Figure B4-29: Microscope. Source: Corel Draw.

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BIOLOGICAL AGENTS - ELEMENT B5

B5.1 - Types and properties of biological agents

Meaning of biological agent
The definition of biological agents, as set out in the Biological Agents appendix (appendix 2) to the Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) that accompanies the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) 2002 (as amended), includes the general class of micro-organisms, and also cell cultures and human endoparasites, provided that they have one or more harmful properties that are specified in the definition. The definition of biological agent includes: (a) Micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi. (b) The agents that cause transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). (c) Parasites (e.g. malarial parasites, amoebae and trypanosomes). (d) The microscopic infectious forms of larger parasites (e.g. the ova and infectious larval forms of helminths). (e) Cell cultures and human endoparasites, providing they have one or more of the harmful properties in the definition (cause any infection, allergy, toxicity or otherwise create a hazard to human health).
Figure B5-1: Definition of biological agents. Source: Biological Agents appendix (appendix 2) to the ACOP.

Biological agents are classified into four hazard groups according to their ability to cause infection, the severity of the disease that may result, the risk that infection will spread to the community, and the availability of vaccines and effective treatment. These infection criteria are the only ones used for classification purposes, even though an infectious biological agent may have toxic, allergenic or other harmful properties, and some biological agents are not infectious at all. Although a non-infectious biological agent falls into group 1 (the lowest group of the four groups), substantial control measures may still be needed for it, depending on the harmful properties it has.

Types and sources of biological agent

Most biological agents are micro-organisms, of which there are five basic groups: 1) Bacteria. 2) Rickettsiae and Chlamydiae. 3) Viruses. 4) Fungi. 5) Protozoa. The micro-organisms considered in this Element are fungi, bacteria, viruses and some parasites. Included in the term fungi are yeasts and moulds. Micro-organisms can be: Saprophytic - they live freely on decaying matter. Parasitic - live in or on a living host (e.g. skin flora). Commensals - live in harmony with a host. Symbiotic - live in harmony for mutual benefit. Pathogenic - produce disease in the host. FUNGI Fungus: any of a group of unicellular, multi-cellular or multinucleate non-photosynthetic organisms feeding on organic matter, which include yeast, moulds, mushrooms and toadstools. They are simple, parasitic life forms with more than 100,000 different species. Most are either harmless or positively beneficial to health. There are, however, a number of fungi that can cause sometimes fatal disease and illness in humans. For example, the cellulose fibres of cane-sugar after the sugar has been extracted, called bagasse, and used in the manufacture of fibreboard, was found to contain as much as 240 million fungal spores per gram. Many fungi form minute bodies called spores, which are like seeds. The spores can be carried in air and, if they settle in a suitable location with nutrients available, they will grow. Moulds: of the large group of fungi, they grow rapidly in moist conditions. Micropolyspora faeni is green-grey, dusty mould which grows on straw and hay. When handled, clouds of dusty spores are produced. The size of the spores is about 1 micron so when they are inhaled they penetrate to the alveoli. Yeasts: are types of fungi which can cause infections of the skin or mucous membranes. The most important disease causing yeast is Candida Albicans, which causes candidiasis (thrush). Sources and modes of transmission Fungi can cause disease in a variety of ways. The fruiting bodies of some soil living fungi contain toxins that can produce direct poisoning if eaten. Some fungi that infect food crops produce toxins that cause a type of food poisoning if eaten, for example, a fungus that grows on peanuts produces aflatoxin. Chronic aflatoxin poisoning is suspected of causing liver cancer.

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PHYSICAL AGENTS 1 - NOISE AND VIBRATION - ELEMENT B6

Displacement, velocity, amplitude, frequency and acceleration for oscillating particles

BASIC CONCEPTS Vibration is oscillating motion about a fixed point. The characteristics of vibration may be described in terms of the amplitude of the vibration compared to its frequency of oscillation. The amplitude may be measured as the amount of displacement, velocity or acceleration relative to the fixed point. The units used for vibration are similar to those of noise. These are: Frequency measured in Hertz (cycles per second). The term is combined with metric prefixes to denote multiple units such as the kilohertz (1,000 Hz), megahertz (1,000,000 Hz), and gigahertz (1,000,000,000 Hz). Displacement measured in metres. Velocity measured in meters per second (ms-1). Acceleration - the rate of change of velocity in metres per second squared (ms-2). The amplitude characteristic of most interest in occupational health and safety is acceleration. The exposure limits set in the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations (CVWR) 2005 are expressed as magnitude of acceleration. Vibration can be represented by a waveform reflecting the motion around the fixed datum point and the frequency of that movement.

Figure B6-41: Characteristics of a vibration wave form.

Source: RMS.

Peak Amplitude (Pk) is the maximum excursion of the wave from the zero or equilibrium point. Root Mean Square Amplitude (RMS) is the square root of the average of the squared values of the waveform. In the case of the sine wave, the RMS value is 0.707 times the peak value, but this is only true in the case of the sine wave. The RMS value is proportional to the area under the curve - if the negative peaks are rectified, i.e., made positive, and the area under the resulting curve averaged to a constant level, that level would be proportional to the RMS value.

Figure B6-42: RMS amplitude of vibration.

Source: Ambiguous.

The RMS value of a vibration is an important measure of its amplitude. As mentioned before, it is numerically equal to the square root of the average of the squared value of amplitude. To calculate this value, the instantaneous amplitude values of the waveform must be squared and these squared values averaged over a certain length of time. This time interval must be at least one period of the wave in order to arrive at the correct value. The squared values are all positive, and thus so is their average. Then the square root of this average value is extracted to get the RMS value.

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MUSCULOSKELETAL RISKS AND CONTROLS - ELEMENT B9

Figure B9-9: Twisting.

Source: HSE, Guidance L23.

ASSESSING THE TASK Headroom Stooping to move an item is a bad movement, but stooping to lift a load is even more likely to cause injury. The highest risk move is to stoop, lift and twist. This is a common combination, such as in removing items from under racking, boxes of paper from low shelves and in maintenance of vehicles, conveyors, machinery etc. Where stooping and twisting cannot be designed out of the task, then help may be required with the lifting element of the task. Working on different levels Carrying loads up steps, stairs, and ladders can be problematic: Climbing ladders requires at least one hand to grip the ladder. Stairs, even in good condition, can cause trips, often dependent on other factors such as type of shoes, height or weight of package, wearing bifocal spectacles or passing others going in the opposite direction. Carrying a load up or down stairs makes it difficult for the person to see their feet, making a stumble and sudden movement more likely. Doors at the top and bottom of stairs may well open in the opposite direction to travel and may be springloaded. Height of storage The height of storage of loads is important in that the objective will be to eliminate unnecessary lifting where possible. The best height for storage or benches is around waist-height, particularly for heavy items. Where pallets of heavy items, say up to 50 kg each, are used it may be sensible to put the pallet on top of two other empty pallets, with the objective of ensuring that the operator does not have to stoop too low to lift or place items. Holding loads away from the body Holding loads away from the body causes additional and mostly unnecessary stress on the back. At arms length the load that can be handled may be reduced by as much as 80%. Loads should be held close to the body where possible, as this also allows the body and its clothing to give frictional help in stabilising the load. In addition, it allows the arms to be brought into the sides and thus reduce stress on the neck, shoulders and arms. The provision of protective clothing may encourage people to hold loads close to their bodies. This can be a problem in an office environment where people handle heavy, often dusty, materials infrequently (without the benefit of protective clothing) increasing their risk of injury by holding the load away from their body in order to keep their clothing clean. Posture Injuries that are received as a result of carrying out activities that include manual handling operations need not necessarily arise solely from lifting large, awkward or heavy items. Poor posture can greatly increase the likelihood of suffering manual handling injuries. Examples of poor posture can include over-stretching, twisting, lifting with the spine (in bending position) or lifting whilst seated. Many construction and maintenance tasks can encourage the worker to take up a poor posture so they are bent over for a period of time, for example, laying a floor. Due consideration should also be given to mode of dress, as tight clothing should be avoided and trousers rather than a skirt or dress should be worn to prevent awkward posture (for propriety) when lifting.

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