HETA #2003-0364-3012, Mesaba Airlines, Inc., Minneapolis, MN

Details

• Personal Author:
  Tubbs, Randy L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  On September 8, 2003, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a confidential union request from Mesaba Airlines in Minneapolis, Minnesota about the work conditions inside the aircraft passenger cabin. Specifically, the request identified concerns about noise levels and air contaminants in the aft vestibule of the cabin during aircraft operations. An onsite evaluation was conducted November 8-12, 2004, out of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. Twenty flight attendants volunteered to wear a noise dosimeter for most of their work shift. Additionally, area samples for noise and air contaminants were taken in 10 aircraft flown by Mesaba Airlines. The results of the noise and air sampling revealed that the flight attendants had exposures that were generally below applicable occupational exposure limits. The air contaminants were all below the criteria, and only 1 of 20 noise dosimeter measurements exceeded the NIOSH recommended exposure limit for occupational noise. Exposures found in the passenger cabins during the NIOSH investigation were consistently below the relevant occupational limits. Air contaminants were identified, but in concentrations that are not considered to pose an increased risk for health effects. The noise levels were generally also below evaluation criteria, but a few of the personal samples approached or exceeded the limits. Based on these results, the NIOSH investigator recommended periodic monitoring of the occupational noise exposures and their effects on the flight attendants' hearing.
• Subjects:
  Aircraft Ear Hearing Noise Occupational Health Safety Sense Organs Solvents
• Keywords:
  Aircraft Cabin Air Pollution Aircrews Air Passenger Carriers Carbon Monoxide Commercial Airline Flight-personnel Flight Attendants Hazards-Unconfirmed Noise-exposure Noise-measurement Noise Dosimetry Organic-chemicals Organic-compounds Organic-solvents OSHA Region 5 Scheduled) Volatile Organic Compounds Volatiles

  More +
• 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, HETA 2003-0364-3012, 2006 Aug ; :1-31
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA200303643012
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  37 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Galloway, Ellen ; Grote, Ardith ; Smith, Robin
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20030842
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2006-115446
• CAS Registry Number:
  Carbon monoxide (CAS RN 630-08-0) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; 2-Butoxyethanol (CAS RN 111-76-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  481111 - Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation - (NAICS)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7f042f8db3daf74a9c02ce2e2d016dd8c8d42fae55091100570c6fccc24768ae519337336b551aa65ab19104afd53fbd478ff237b0f86ecf2822c878a6f0636e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/172622/cdc_172622_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.01 MB ]