Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-88-274-1924: Office of Employment Security; Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Roper, C. Paul ; Savery, Henry W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the Pennsylvania Social Services Union, an evaluation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at the Office of Employment Security (SIC-7361), located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Employees had complained of dizziness
  
  coughing
  
  burning of the eyes, nose and throat
  
  recurring respiratory infections
  
  and other symptoms. The 30 employees handled unemployment benefits claims and operated a job placement service. Potential sources of air contaminants in the building included a dry toner type photocopier, fiberglass insulation inside the air supply ductwork, tobacco smoking, cleaning compounds, office furnishings and supplies, and building construction materials. No carbon-monoxide or nitrogen-dioxide levels were detected. No evidence was found to support any causal relationship between work related experiences and the symptoms expressed by the workers. The authors recommend that specific actions be taken to ensure that the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is operating optimally, that parking of vehicles in the alley where the air intakes are located is prevented, and that certain ergonomic recommendations for operators of video display units are adopted to lessen their muscle fatigue and general discomfort.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Computers Occupational Health Safety Ventilation Volatile Organic Compounds
• Keywords:
  Building-related Illnesses Closed-building-syndrome Computer-equipment Employment Agencies Fiberglass Government Unemployment Offices Hazard-Unconfirmed HETA-88-274-1924 Indoor Air Quality NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Office-workers OSHA Region 3 Tight Building Syndrome Ventilation-systems Video-display-terminals VOCs Volatile Organic Compounds

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA882741924
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; 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:
  14 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00184443
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-152573
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 88-274-1924, 1988 Sep ; :1-16
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  7361 - Employment agencies - (SIC) ; 9441 - Administration of social & manpower programs - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b00dce069fd3f453893dfbf33c5e5cb79f62ebcaabe9f6a64b98e3d6c3633da1a1c16a7e95863db40bf5742d6af5cb3b99c8fc1356108f4a09eb9422a3ee13a2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171871/cdc_171871_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 156.42 KB ]