Industrial Hygiene Monitoring

Protect your workers from exposure to hazards. Measure permissible exposure limits with an industrial hygiene assessment.

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Our OSHA Industrial Hygiene services help you meet the requirements for hazard identification and assessment, including:

Person wearing an orange high-visibility safety vest holds a yellow hard hat at a construction site, representing workplace safety and industrial work.

Physical Hazards

Noise, heat, radiation, etc.

A warehouse worker, dressed in a full white protective hazmat suit, goggles, and a respirator mask, is kneeling on the floor. He is wearing a red safety harness and bright blue gloves. He is handling three different containers of chemicals or cleaning products, two of which are large and white, and one of which is a smaller clear container of green liquid. Racks of boxes and other supplies are visible behind him, along with a red and black forklift.

Chemical Hazards

Dusts, fumes/gases, solvents, paints, etc.

A white female dental hygienist, wearing a light blue scrub top, a medical mask, and clear safety glasses, stands over a young patient in a dental chair. She is focused on her work, holding a dental tool with blue-gloved hands. The patient, a child, is lying back with their mouth open. A female dentist, also wearing a medical mask and glasses, is in the background, assisting with the procedure. The scene takes place in a clean, brightly lit dental office.

Biological Hazards

Bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc.

A therapist assists a patient holding a blue dumbbell, focusing on guided arm strength training during a rehabilitation session.

Ergonomic Risk Factors

Heavy lifting, repetitive motion, vibration, etc.

Monitoring your work site for hazards and contaminants is a vital part of workplace safety. Industrial hygiene sampling helps you to know the data, understand what you need to mitigate, and decide what programs & controls you need.

We work with you to create a complete industrial hygiene program that predicts & identifies hazardous exposures in your operations, deploys testing measures to accurately determine exposures, and creates the proper controls essential to reduce or eliminate harmful exposures.

An Examinetics industrial hygiene consultant works with you to identify hazardous exposures in your workplace, including noise levels and airborne contaminants such as gases, vapors, dusts, and fumes. Our experts will then help you to assess and control dangerous occupational exposures.

Industrial Noise Survey

Noise monitoring is foundational to any hearing conservation program to identify hazardous noise sources and measure employee exposure. A thorough noise study provides the necessary data to ensure your employees’ hearing is adequately protected, and your safety program is compliant with mandatory hearing conservation regulations.

Our workplace noise surveys are conducted by certified occupational audiologists and industrial hygienists. Our experts exceed federal noise monitoring regulations, guaranteeing an accurate and comprehensive depiction of noise throughout your facility.

Close-up of a handheld sound level meter with a foam microphone measuring noise levels near industrial equipment.

Reporting:

Written summary of our findings
Targeted sound level meter and personal noise dosimetry results
Outline federal regulation requirements
Best practice hearing conservation recommendations
Hearing protector assessment to ensure adequate employee protection (if applicable)

We can meet all your noise monitoring needs using the following instruments:

A sound level meter is used to take targeted area and process measurements. The readings will reveal how intense noise is in a particular area and is a useful tool for identifying operational noise levels from specific machines, tools, processes, and equipment.
A noise dosimeter is a small, wireless microphone worn by an employee to measure cumulative noise exposure over the course of a workday. A dosimeter records noise levels throughout the day and will calculate a time-weighted average (TWA) exposure. Personal noise dosimetry is the most accurate and appropriate tool for measuring noise exposure of non-stationary employees with various tasks and work areas.

A safety professional in a high-visibility vest conducts a noise assessment inside a large manufacturing floor, documenting equipment and sound levels near workstations. — Examinetics Consultant Performing A Noise Survey

A worker in a high-visibility vest uses a sound level meter and checklist while another operates machinery in a workshop, demonstrating workplace noise monitoring. — Examinetics Consultant Performing Noise Dosimetry Testing

Why perform noise monitoring?

Initial monitoring is required for new buildings, equipment, and processes to establish the needs of a hearing conservation program prior to employees being exposed to noise.
Change in production, process, or area controls (e.g., removed a wall that block noise from a group of employees)
Moving or replacement of equipment
Periodic or repeated monitoring will identify if employees should be in a hearing conservation program
Provides crucial information in the determination of work-relatedness if an employee has shown a shift in hearing on annual audiometric testing
Identify employees that do not meet the OSHA criteria for inclusion and can be removed from the hearing conservation program.

OSHA 1910.95(d)(1)(i) states, “The sampling strategy shall be designed to identify employees for inclusion in the hearing conservation program and to enable the proper selection of hearing protectors.”

Air Sample Testing

OSHA and other regulatory agencies have air monitoring requirements to protect workers from health risks due to air contaminants at work. OSHA has defined hundreds of air contaminants, including hazardous chemicals, toxic fumes, “nuisance dusts”, and other particulates such a silica.

Effective indoor air quality sampling strategies need proper planning to ensure the most comprehensive evaluation. Examinetics has highly qualified industrial hygiene and lab partners to help you get the air quality data you need to make informed decisions on workers’ exposure and what programs and abatement strategies you need.

Two professionals wearing hard hats and face masks review information on a tablet while standing among metal equipment in a factory setting.

Factory worker in safety vest and hard hat operating machinery with laptop

We can meet all your facility needs:

Area air sampling measures air quality in certain areas of your workplace to give insight into general exposure. This is commonly used for locating contaminant sources. The process takes samples of air from the ambient environment. Ambient air sampling devices are generally larger and have high flow rates, so they can sample a large volume of air in a short time.
Personal air sampling measures personal exposure to airborne hazards and shows how vulnerable specific job tasks may be. In personal air sampling, a worker often puts on wearable sampling equipment, usually over the area several inches from the face, and goes about a typical workday. The equipment captures a representative sample of particles the person comes into contact with.

Why perform air sampling?

Initial or baseline sampling to ensure compliance with regulatory exposure standards
Substance-specific standards require that periodic sampling be performed on a regular basis, such as monthly or quarterly.
Whenever there has been a production process, control, or personnel change, or when there is reason to suspect another change which may result in a new or additional exposure. (e.g. change in ventilation systems, isolation barriers)
Decide proper personal protective equipment (PPE)
Assess the effectiveness of hazard controls
Find the source of leaks
Protect against future liability

Worker in mask operating bottling line filling glass containers in factory

Large rockets assembled inside aerospace manufacturing facility

Air sampling can identify:

A substance’s concentration over different time frames
The level of multiple substances in the air as a result of emissions from a single source or multiple sources
A substance’s concentration at a wide range of locations
Contaminants deposit in greatest quantities

Reporting

Summarized lab report findings
Sample data and exposure summary
Suggested air quality improvements

Additional Industrial Hygiene Testing

There are many metals of concern according to OSHA. Typical metals include lead, cadmium, arsenic, welding fume, manganese, and hexavalent chromium. Metal exposures are generated from welding, grinding, brazing, or other hot work done in foundries, machine shops (i.e. CNC machines), steel mills, and metal recycling. Exposure limits are found in the OSHA Z-Tables (29 CFR 1910.1000) and specific OSHA standards.

Airborne particulates are defined by their size which dictates how deeply they travel into the lungs and potentially how hazardous they are to human health. Based on the size of the particulate, respirable is smaller matter that can get deeper into the lungs, as opposed to larger total particulate. Both are hazardous and we can guide you through an exposure assessment that with a clear plan of action.

Examinetics can sample suspect materials such as pipe insulation, drywall, and floor tiles to evaluate the presence of asbestos. We can also sample the air for asbestos fibers. OSHA has exposure limits for airborne asbestos fibers. The testing of suspect materials is dependent on the state the inspection is performed, so you can rely on us to guide you through the proper national and state guidelines.

RCS is found in any material or ingredient that contains crystalline silica such as concrete, granite, and sand. RCS is a carcinogen that affects the lungs. There are OSHA exposure limits, and we evaluate airborne exposures through both personal and area air monitoring. If not readily known, we can evaluate a SDS to determine if a product contains RCS.

We can perform IAQ’s when there are employee complaints of irritation, weird odors, headaches, or other symptoms. Common IAQ parameters we investigate include temperature, relative humidity levels, particulate matter 2.5 and 10, total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. Mold evaluations can also be included in an IAQ. There may be visible mold, signs of water damage/staining from water infiltration, or a “musty” odor. We will perform a visual evaluation and may collect air samples, or samples of affected surfaces.

We can measure or test for hundreds of VOCs. VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids and are commonly found in products such as paints, pharmaceuticals, refrigerants and are associated with the “new car smell.” VOCs can be irritating to the respiratory system, and most affect the central nervous system causing headaches, dizziness, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. Some are even categorized as carcinogens.

These tests are just one part of our full Industrial Hygiene services.

Our certified industrial hygienists can also perform services related to:

Heat stress and heat strain evaluations
Radiation surveys and consulting
Illumination surveys
Ventilation system evaluation and testing
Chemical exposure
Lead exposure
Water testing for Legionella, PFAS, metals, bacteria, and other contaminants
Soil testing for contaminants
Occupational diseases
Ergonomics

Industrial hygiene consulting is part of our broader safety and compliance consulting services. We also provide workplace audits, program assessments, training, and customized risk management solutions to support your full compliance and employee safety needs.

OSHA exposure limits

OSHA regulates three types of exposure limits. All are regulatory standards but they differ in their enforcement and application.

Let Examinetics guide you through the regulations – exceedance is a potentially citable offense.

Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL):

Typically, an employee’s exposure over an 8-hour work shift. When a PEL is exceeded, an employer is required to implement engineering controls (i.e. substitute with a less hazardous chemical/product, ventilation, dust collection, etc.), personal protective equipment (PPE) can be implemented as well if the engineering control isn’t effective. Written programs, employee training, and medical surveillance are also required to be implemented.

Action Level (AL):

Certain contaminants and hazards have an AL, which is typically half of the PEL. You will find Als for lead, cadmium, arsenic, hexavalent chromium and noise.

Ceiling Limit (C):

OSHA has ceiling limits for contaminants, which means an employer is not allowed to exceed this limit at any time during a working shift. Most common contaminant with a ceiling limit is manganese.