Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-91-0174-2468: U.S. Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Brookhaven Service Center; Holtsville, New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Blade, Leo M. ; Wilcox, Thomas G.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from Chapter 99 of the National Treasury Employees Union, an investigation was begun into reportedly poor air quality at the Brookhaven Service Center of the Internal Revenue Service (SIC-9311), Holtsville, New York. The employees at the center receive and process Federal income tax returns. Employment ranged from 2,500 to 4,700 persons due to seasonal variations in the workload. Reports concerned eye irritation, headache, fatigue, nasal congestion, dry or sore throat and thermal discomfort while in the building. Medical and environmental surveys were conducted. Responses to a questionnaire indicated that frequently reported symptoms included eye irritation, headache, fatigue, nasal congestion, and dry or sore throat. Most of the environmental parameters measured were within applicable guidelines, except for the temperatures in the RPS/Data Conversion area of one particular building, most of which were below the desired range. The authors conclude that the excessively cold measured temperatures, the excessively low measured relative humidities, the observed deficiencies regarding some air handling systems, and potentially marginal ventilation rates and/or air mixing, have impacted on the air quality of the building. The authors recommend that the average temperature in some areas be increased, observed deficiencies in the air handling systems be corrected, and certain design features of the air delivery systems be reviewed.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Health Occupational Health Safety Temperature Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Air-quality Air-temperature Air Temperature Ambient Velocity Carbon Dioxide Hazard-Confirmed HETA-91-0174-2468 Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Environmental Quality NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 2 Public Finance, Taxation, And Monetary Policy Relative Humidity Temperature-control Thermal Comfort Thermal Gradients Ventilation-systems Ventilation Rates

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9101742468
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  44 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Anastas, Mazen Y. ; Cook, Calvin K. ; Hadwen, Glen
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00224641
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-189726
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 91-0174-2468, 1994 Oct ; :1-43
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9311 - Finance, taxation, & monetary policy - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:69664a3c3f046ae2f1f67d376cbcd83e0ffbdb203f960d201cb4c6dccc6b5bdeee45e8f5f9fdc4c036f0f05c03c87bd02091754e605f81d1e60b231c9d9d1ec5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171312/cdc_171312_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 290.55 KB ]