592 Occupational Hygiene program for Wood Dust Exposure at the Timber Processing Factories Copy Right@ M Rathipe This work is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License AJBSR.MS.ID.002404. American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research www.biomedgrid.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSN: 2642-1747 Review Article M Rathipe 1 * and FS Raphela 2 1 Department of Life Sciences, Central University of Technology, South Africa 2 Department of Clinical Sciences, Central University of Technology, South Africa *Corresponding author: M Rathipe, Department of Life Sciences, Central University of Technology, South Africa. To Cite This Article: M Rathipe, FS Raphela. Occupational Hygiene program for Wood Dust Exposure at the Timber Processing Factories. Am J Biomed Sci & Res. 2022 7(6) AJBSR.MS.ID.002404, DOI: 10.34297/AJBSR.2023.17.002404 Received: January 05, 2023; Published: January 17, 2023 Background Occupational diseases have been documented long time ago, mainly on workers exposed to mercury sulphide [1]. The WHO estimated 386 000 deaths globally due to exposure to airborne particulates. This figure includes 152 000 deaths per annum due to exposure to carcinogens and 12 000 deaths per annum due to cancer and respiratory diseases [1]. The human body is a complex organism and is mostly affected by chemical agents such as wood dust [1-4]. Exposure to wood dust increases the risk of nasal and sinus cancers [5]. Likewise, exposure to Iroko wood and Fraxinus Americanas or Thuja Plicanta(a great western red cedar) increases the risk of occupational asthma [6]. The toxicity of wood dust is influenced by physical and chemical properties, concentration (dosage), duration of exposure, route of entry, diet, general state of the person’s health, its absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion in the human body [3,4]. A person with normal eyesight can recognize dust particles with diameter greater than 50µm while small dust particles bellow 10µm can only be seen with the use of microscope [7,8]. Timber processing factories or lumber mill generate fine dust particles that remain airborne for a longer duration and are considered hazardous to employees’ health [8,9]. Since 1970, personal monitoring for wood dust in the employees’ breathing zone has been conducted. This is despite high exposure levels being experienced in the past due to the lack of LEV systems and other methods to control dust [5,10,11]. Subsequently the 4IR and urbanisation has increased and introduced new hazards into the workplace [1]. The demand for sawn softwood and hardwood saw logs has prompted factories to buy faster sawing machines to increase production speed. This leads to fine dust particles being emitted during the process [11]. The introduction of engineering controls since 1950 has reduced exposure of workers considerably. However, engineering controls alone may not be 100% effective in lowering exposure [6,10,11]. Air monitoring programs for sawmill workers have not been studied extensively. It is known worldwide that sawmill Abstract Exposure to wood dust can cause nasal and sinonasal cancer. Occupational hygiene program (OHP) for sawmill workers have not been studied extensively. It is known worldwide that sawmill workers are exposed to a variety of health hazards. Currently there is no comprehensive OHP exiting for the timber processing factories. The objective of this study was to develop an applicable OHP aimed at reducing worker’s exposure to wood dust at the timber processing factories. Implementing an OHP is based on the HIRA for identifying potential hazards. The recommended controls are based on the exposure assessment conducted at the timber processing factories. In the timber processing factory, elimination of wood dust is an impractical measure to implement, hence, implementation of engineering and administrative control supplemented by appropriate use of fit-tested RPDs with higher APF is recommended to mitigate the exposure. Engineering controls include LEV hood fitted close to the source while administration controls include increasing distance from source far away from workers while PPE includes use of approved FFP2 respirators. This program will assist in reducing worker’s exposure thus reducing occupational diseases amongst sawmill workers. Keywords: Hygiene program, Air sampling, Risk assessment, Wood dust, Sawmill workers
Occupational Hygiene program for Wood Dust Exposure at the Timber Processing Factories
Apr 28, 2023
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