Evaluating OSHA's ethylene oxide standard: employer exposure-monitoring activities in Massachusetts hospitals from 1985 through 1993
LaMontagne, Anthony D. and Kelsey, Karl T. 1997, Evaluating OSHA's ethylene oxide standard: employer exposure-monitoring activities in Massachusetts hospitals from 1985 through 1993, American journal of public health, vol. 87, no. 7, pp. 1119-1125.
Attached Files
Name
Description
MIMEType
Size
Downloads
Title
Evaluating OSHA's ethylene oxide standard: employer exposure-monitoring activities in Massachusetts hospitals from 1985 through 1993
This study characterized exposure-monitoring activities and findings under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) 1984 ethylene oxide (EtO) standard. In-depth mail and telephone surveys were followed by on-site interviews at all EtO-using hospitals in Massachusetts (n = 92, 96% participation rate). By 1993, most hospitals had performed personal exposure monitoring for OSHA's 8-hour action level (95%) and the excursion limit (87%), although most did not meet the 1985 implementation deadline. In 1993, 66% of hospitals reported the installation of EtO alarms to fulfill the standard's "alert" requirement. Alarm installation also lagged behind the 1985 deadline and peaked following a series of EtO citations by OSHA. From 1990 through 1992, 23% of hospitals reported having exceeded the action level once or more; 24% reported having exceeded the excursion limit; and 33% reported that workers were accidentally exposed to EtO in the absence of personal monitoring. Almost a decade after passage of the EtO standard, exposure-monitoring requirements were widely, but not completely, implemented. Work-shift exposures had markedly decreased since the mid-1980s, but overexposures continued to occur widely. OSHA enforcement appears to have stimulated implementation.
Language
eng
Field of Research
119999 Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
Socio Economic Objective
970111 Expanding Knowledge in the Medical and Health Sciences
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in DRO. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact drosupport@deakin.edu.au.