Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-92-0374-2402: Social Security Administration; Petersburg, Virginia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Almaguer, Daniel
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the American Federation of Governmental Employees, an investigation was undertaken of possible hazardous working conditions at the Social Security Administration office (SIC-9441) located in Petersburg, Virginia. Concern was expressed regarding high humidity levels, breathing problems, burning eyes, and a lack of air conditioning. Based on a visual inspection of the air conditioning and heating system, increased maintenance was needed. An abundance of visible microbiological growth was noted on the interior of the air handling unit (AHU) mixed air plenum, and the pneumatic linkage for the return air damper was disconnected. An abundance of fungi and bacteria were noted in the analysis of bulk material samples collected from the AHU mixed air plenum. In some cases, the measured airflow volume was less than 50% of the adjacent slot diffusers, indicating the air distribution was not balanced, perhaps resulting in the comfort complaints. Temperature measurements exceeded suggested comfort ranges for winter months. Some carbon-dioxide (124389) measurements exceeded the 1,000 parts per million ceiling recommendation. The author concludes that there were significant deficiencies in the indoor environment that may be related to reported symptoms and comfort complaints. The author recommends that improvements be made in the ventilation system, and that a system maintenance program be implemented.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Bacteria Environmental Health Fungi Occupational Health Safety Ventilation Workplace
• Keywords:
  Bacteria Carbon Dioxide Fungi Government Offices Hazard-Confirmed HETA-92-0374-2402 IEQ Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Environmental Quality NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 3 Ventilation Ventilation-systems Workplace-studies

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9203742402
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Virginia ; OSHA Region 3
• 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:
  22 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Esswein, Eric J. ; Mattorano, Dino A. ; Miller, Richard D.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00219659
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB94-184280
• 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 92-0374-2402, 1994 Mar ; :1-21
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Editor(s):
  Pfirman, Donna M.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9441 - Administration of social & manpower programs - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d0939cda301ba7670e4518eec133230916356dc571084bec812467b5504f3231684e766db2a934ab3ebba425ffa4affbb8e98b50fe4e4531c62cfa2f72936e57
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171395/cdc_171395_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 716.45 KB ]