COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course presents the engineering principles of selecting and designing exposure controls to protect people from chemical physical and biological agents. The course is intended for graduate students in exposure assessment, occupational health, engineering, and environmental health. The class is broadly organized around modules on the concepts of source controls, pathway controls and receptor controls. A series of case study exercises by members of the class is designed to illustrate the application of exposure control techniques in real situations, and integrate the various approaches from the lecture material.
An extended content session (1hr/week, 1 credit) provides in-depth material related to the use of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) for source control in occupational settings. This session expands content on hood selection, and includes new material on duct system design, air cleaners and fan selection necessary for workplace ventilation. Extensive use of computer design methods and a final design project are required for the extended content section. Students in the regular section (3 credits) receive instruction in the applications of local exhaust hoods for source control, but not in the design of LEV systems.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:
- Apply hazard ranking and banding strategies to workplace and environmental exposure scenarios.
- Name Federal and State regulation authorities and requirements related to human exposures.
- Describe atmospheric dispersion processes and compute dispersion parameters from sampling data.
- Apply elementary dispersion modeling concepts to estimate community impacts.
- Compute exposure estimates for well-mixed rooms involving dilution ventilation and constant inputs. Describe the function of HVAC components used for building ventilation.
- Describe the role of HVAC in indoor air quality and infection control for health care settings.
- Measure the flow characteristics of a ventilation system and apply this data for system diagnostics.
- Select the appropriate type of local exhaust hood for controlling workplace exposures.
- Describe criteria for selecting chemical or biological protective clothing.
- Describe criteria for selecting protective equipment for physical agents such as noise of laser light.
- Describe the criteria for specifying respiratory protection based on appropriate protection factors.
- List the elements and evaluation of a comprehensive respiratory protection program.
- Describe the inventory control and chemical hygiene requirements for hazardous materials.
- List the key elements of a hazardous material management plan.
Additional Ventilation Section -- Objectives
- Compute exposure estimates for a dilution ventilation situation with variable input conditions.
- Explain principles of fluid mechanics that apply to flow of air or liquids in building ducting and piping systems; describe fluid measurements in terms of pressure drop, flow rate, and velocity.
- Estimate friction losses for flow through ducts or pipes using standard tables.
- Design and specify the components of a single-branch local exhaust ventilation system.
- Design and specify the components of a multiple branch local exhaust ventilation system.
- Understand the application of fan laws and system effects to local exhaust ventilation systems.
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING
Weekly reading assignments will be announced in class. There will be 1 or 2 problem sets or other material (typically one before and one after the midterm), counting for about 30% of the grade. The midterm will count for about 30% of the total and the final exam / class project 40%.
SELECTED TEXTBOOKS AND STUDY RESOURCES
“Woodside”
Environmental, Safety, and Health Engineering by Gayle Woodside, Dianna Kocurek,
Contains principles of environmental engineering, safety engineering and industrial hygiene/occupational health engineering. ISBN: 0471109320, New York, John Wiley 1997 (print on demand book)
“McD”
McDermott, H Ventilation for Contamination Control ACGIH Publications 2001
Industrial Ventilation, A Manual of Recommended Practice, ACGIH Pub. 25th Ed.
Personal Protective Equipment Pocket Guide, Genium Publishing Corporation
ISBN: 0-931690-73-0 Copyright © 1995 64 pages
This employee guidebook explains OSHA's personal protective equipment standard and how to comply. It also includes forms employees can use to document their comprehension of their PPE responsibilities.
Respirator Pocket Guide Genium Publishing Corporation
ISBN: 0-931690-81-1 Copyright © 1995 64 pages
This guide explains and helps workers understand the importance of regulatory issues, how respirators are designed to handle differing airborne hazards, and details basic equipment use and maintenance.
OSHA Publication 3151, Personal Protective Equipment, , 46 pp, (Revised 2004).
OSHA publication #3079, Respiratory Protection, 44pp, (Revised 2002)
OSHA Small Entity Compliance Guide for Respiratory Protection Standard (CFR 1910.134), 149pp
Biological Risk Engineering Handbook (BREH): Infection Control and Decontamination,
by Martha J Boss. Publisher: CRC; 1st edition (November 25, 2002) ISBN: 1566706068
Discusses biological risk engineering, an extension of industrial hygiene that involves the assessment, control, and decontamination of indoor biological risks.
Download the Syllabus Here
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