A structured exposure assessment — what your employees are actually exposed to, at what levels, in which jobs — built to recognized methodology rather than assembled from a few grab samples taken years ago.
A few samples taken on a convenient day, on whoever was available, compared against a limit and filed. That data cannot support a conclusion about anyone else, any other day or any other task.
Without grouping employees by actual exposure profile, results cannot be extended. Defining similar exposure groups is what turns a handful of samples into a statement about a workforce.
Sampling on a normal production day misses the exposure that matters — changeover, cleaning, maintenance, upset conditions. The highest exposures usually occur during non-routine work.
Permissible limits are legal ceilings, many set decades ago and not updated. Recognized occupational exposure limits from other bodies are frequently far lower, and general duty obligations do not stop at the permissible limit.
Airborne concentration is one route. Skin absorption, noise dose over a full shift and dermal contact are routinely omitted from assessments that look thorough on paper.
Data collected, report filed, nothing changes. An assessment that does not end in a ranked control recommendation was a measurement exercise.
We start with a qualitative assessment — a walkthrough, process review, chemical inventory, task analysis and existing data review — to identify which exposures plausibly approach a limit and which do not. That basic exposure characterization is what makes subsequent sampling meaningful and keeps the cost proportionate.
From there we define similar exposure groups, build a sampling strategy that includes non-routine and worst-case tasks, and coordinate accredited laboratory analysis. Results come back as a ranked set of control recommendations following the hierarchy of controls, not as a table of numbers.
It depends on the variability of the exposure and the confidence you need. A single sample supports almost no conclusion. Recognized methodology generally calls for a meaningful number within each similar exposure group before drawing a statistical conclusion.
Being below the legal limit does not end the analysis. Many permissible limits are decades old, other recognized limits are lower, and general duty obligations apply to recognized hazards regardless. We report against both the legal limit and current recognized limits.
Substances with their own specific standards — hex chrome, cadmium, lead, silica, benzene and similar — because those carry mandatory assessment, surveillance and recordkeeping requirements. After that, whatever your process generates in the largest quantity near workers.
Results above certain action levels do, under several substance standards. That is a reason to plan the assessment deliberately rather than to avoid it — the obligation exists whether or not you have data.
On process change, chemical change, control change, or on the schedule a specific substance standard requires. Assessments with no reassessment trigger become historical documents.
Twenty minutes to identify which exposures need data and which can be closed out qualitatively.
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