Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-92-176-2328: Coe Manufacturing, Inc.; Portland, Oregon

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hanley, Kevin W. ; Malkin, Robert ; Martinez, Kenneth F.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from employees of the Coe Manufacturing facility (SIC-3553), Portland, Oregon, an investigation was begun into illness believed to be associated with exposures in the office areas of the facility. Coe manufactured equipment used in sawmills and in the manufacture of plywood products. Employees reported numerous perceived problems with the office environment including cigarette smoke, stale air, insufficient air, excessive glare on computer screens, variable temperatures, and ammonia (7664417) odors from a blueprint copier and dirty air vents. Increasing carbon- dioxide (124389) levels confirmed the insufficient supply of outside air during the day. The fresh air damper on the ventilation system was closed and the system was in a nonoperational mode in the area where the highest carbon-dioxide levels were recorded. The authors conclude that symptoms at the facility may be related to deficiencies in the ventilation system, tobacco smoke in the air, and poor workstation design. The authors recommend that the ventilation system be cleaned and repaired, a nonsmoking policy should be implemented, and ergonomic issues should be addressed.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Computers Environmental Health Fungi Occupational Health Safety Smoke Tobacco Products Ventilation
• Keywords:
  Computer-equipment Hazard-Confirmed HETA-92-176-2328 Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Environmental Quality, Carbon Dioxide, Fungi, Bacteria, Thermoactinomycetes, Ventilation NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 10 Tobacco-smoke Ventilation-systems Woodworking Machinery

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA921762328
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oregon ; OSHA Region 10
• 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:
  31 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Miller, Richard D.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00217013
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB94-129475
• 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 92-176-2328, 1993 Jun ; :1-29
• CAS Registry Number:
  Ammonia (CAS RN 7664-41-7 ; Carbon dioxide (CAS RN 124-38-9)
• Editor(s):
  Pfirman, Donna M.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3553 - Woodworking machinery - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4c5271e2d5e743167f56d0155fc0e94145ec6c22894c1a97e37810d932451882d8b7e89f3da393902277b3ffe8d574e0776beac3078625d4d25daca0d6b783df
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171456/cdc_171456_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 978.97 KB ]