Evaluation of Health Symptoms and Exposures Among Employees at a Flooring Manufacturing Plant

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chiu, Sophia ; Li, Jennifer F.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The Health Hazard Evaluation Program received a request from employees at a flooring manufacturing plant. Employees were concerned about respiratory exposures when polyvinyl chloride resin overheated ("burnt mix") and skin exposures during the ultraviolet-cured vinyl tile coating operation. We evaluated employee symptoms and work practices
  
  sampled the air for hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and nitric oxide (nitrous fumes)
  
  and evaluated the local exhaust ventilation near the luxury vinyl tile line. Employees in hot mix areas were twice as likely to report work-related irritation symptoms as other production employees, but air levels of various chemicals were low or undetectable during normal production conditions. No "burnt mix" events occurred during our evaluation. Most employees who handled ultraviolet-cured coating, a skin sensitizer, reported skin contact. Although installing additional exhaust hoods had reportedly reduced the employees' symptom frequency, we found areas where ventilation could be improved. We recommended improving tracking and communication of "burnt mix" events, training employees on the proper personal protective equipment to use during a "burnt mix" event, and consistently using skin protection and hand cleaner when handling ultraviolet-cured coating.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Carbon Monoxide Hydrochloric Acid Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Nitric Oxide Nitrogen Dioxide Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory System Safety Skin Ultraviolet Rays Ventilation Volatile Organic Compounds

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• Keywords:
  Burnt Mix Carbon Monoxide Coatings Exhaust Hoods Exhaust Ventilation Flooring Floors Fumes Hydrogen Chloride Irritation Luxury Vinyl Tile Manufacturing Nitric Oxide Nitrogen Dioxide Nitrous Fumes OSHA Region 3 Other Millwork Including Flooring Pennsylvania Personal Protective Equipment PPE Respiratory Respiratory Irritants Sensitizers Skin Exposure Skin Protection Skin Sensitizer Tile Workers Ultraviolet Ultraviolet Light UV VOCs Volatile Organic Compounds Walking Surfaces

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• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 2016-0126-3301, 2018 Jan ; :1-19
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE201601263301
• 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:
  26 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Booher, Donald E. ; Burr, Gregory ; Galloway, Ellen ; Gowda, Shilpa ; Moore, Kevin ; Watts, Shawna
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051015
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2018-100632
• Citation:
  NIOSH [2018]. Evaluation of health symptoms and exposures among employees at ; a flooring manufacturing plant. By Chiu S, Li JF. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department ; of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National ; Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Report 2016- ; 0126-3301,
• CAS Registry Number:
  Nitrogen dioxide (CAS RN 10102-44-0) ; Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Hydrochloric acid, anhydrous (CAS RN 7647-01-0) ; Nitric oxide (CAS RN 10102-43-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  321918 - Other Millwork (including Flooring) - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:99a3871807cc87b9741b7dadfca337de281f6db403b0219d3ec2c63ed71ba77572238004892a26e4719bc036a3e51dec69a20cc0a12acb347e55eef74281918b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172371/cdc_172371_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.85 MB ]