Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-92-228-2280: Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation; Juneau, Alaska

Details

• Personal Author:
  McCammon, Charles S.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Safety Offices at the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (SIC-9511), Juneau, Alaska, an investigation was begun into indoor air quality. Complaints about air quality had begun shortly after the building was first occupied in 1991. Major complaints from the workers were centered on comfort related issues such as too hot, too stuffy, and noticeable odors being present. Health problems included headache, stuffy or runny nose, burning or itchy eyes, and several miscellaneous symptoms. The three-story office building had about 50,000 square feet of office space and 200 occupants. The ventilation consists of a central system providing heated and cooled air to 78 zones. The system was shut down overnight. After occupant complaints, the system was set to operate with 100% outside air. At the time of the study, humidity and carbon-dioxide levels were all within the recommended limits. However, there have been occasions where the humidity levels were as low as 10%. The only deficiencies noted were the finding of standing water in the condensation drip pans and the fact that the ventilation system might be turned off while workers are inside the building outside normal working hours. The author concludes that no airborne contaminants were identified which would constitute a health hazard. The author recommends measures to help alleviate worker complaints.
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution, Indoor Environmental Health Environmental Monitoring Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-monitoring Air And Water Resource And Solid Waste Management Closed-building-syndrome Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-92-228-2280 IAQ IEQ Indoor-air-pollution Indoor-environmental-quality Indoor Air Pollution Indoor Air Quality NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 10

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA922282280
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; 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:
  15 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00213725
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB93-214252
• 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 92-228-2280, 1993 Jan ; :1-28
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9511 - Air, water, & solid waste management - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:383876699ddf205de53aa658c8ba28be73022c56d93831a32882fa22f6d4ae519f70823d0a12a11cd6827c434b9f5ee71791efe7927301431c03706c2e912fb9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171508/cdc_171508_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 183.78 KB ]