VarSci, LLC

DHA’s, safety plans, engineered dust collection systems, and alerting maintenance staff to react to equipment malfunctions that could cause dust to accumulate. Even with the best safety plan, in unmanned areas of facilities, or in the middle of the night, potentially explosive dust concentrations can be accumulating unobserved. Existing hand-held systems today require personnel to operate; therefore, they cannot be used in the situations mentioned above. Only continuous monitoring systems that alert operations of unacceptable dust levels, in conjunction with DHA’s and safety plans, can provide an acceptable path to mitigate risk. On March 24, 2016, the US Department of Labor and OSHA announced a final ruling reducing the permissible level of silica dust exposed to a worker over an 8-hour period to 50 µg/m3. Currently there are approximately 2.3 million U.S. workers at risk and it is estimated that the new ruling will save over 600 lives per year. Companies will need to comply with this new ruling and take necessary steps to protect their employees. Continuous monitoring provides a superior solution then periodic sampling using hand held devices. A well implemented continuous monitoring system can provide a marked improvement towards employee health and property protection.