In-depth survey report: control technology for mine assay laboratories at Skyline Laboratories, Inc., Wheat Ridge, Colorado.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hall, Ronald M. ; Zimmer AT
• Description:
  A survey was conducted to document and evaluate effective technologies for controlling exposures to arsenic (7440382), cobalt (7440484), lead (7439921), and respirable crystalline silica (14808607) to below the required limits at Skyline Laboratories (SIC- 8734), Wheat Ridge, Colorado. This commercial mine assay laboratory analyzed samples from various mines throughout the world. There was one shift per day, consisting of about 15 employees. Approximately 130 assay samples were processed during the 3 days of the survey. The local ventilation systems in the sample preparation area appeared to control exposures. A conscientious effort to minimize the use of compressed air helped lower exposures in this area of the laboratory. The face velocities of all hoods ranged from 20 to 54 feet per minute (fpm), significantly below the recommended 200 to 500fpm levels. Decreasing the hood areas would economically increase the face velocities. Dust collection systems in the crusher room and north side of the pulverizer room recirculated filtered air back into the sample preparation room. The authors recommend that increasing the velocity of the exhaust hoods be increased, the structure of the hoods be modified, a respiratory protection program be established, and the pouring table be repositioned closer to the ventilation hoods.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Inorganic Chemicals Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Organophosphates Radiation Safety Safety Management Toxicology Vibration

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• Keywords:
  Airborne-dusts Control-technology Dust-control Dust-exposure Field-Study Fire-assays Heavy-metals Laboratory-workers Mineral-dusts NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Region-8

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• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHECTB19814b
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Studies ; Control Technology
• Place as Subject:
  Colorado ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 8
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DPSE - Division of Physical Sciences and Engineering
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-34
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00220824
• Citation:
  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, ECTB 198-14b, 1994 May; :1-34
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Cobalt (CAS RN 7440-48-4) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  8734 - Testing laboratories - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bc02b35fc969a95e58d18525d5c638c7f40671de4c0fde202f1915121bb9861c783f513a09979601996cb88faa793626528af42771ffa423f27fe695c608e440
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180880/cdc_180880_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 761.14 KB ]