Applying industrial hygiene to chemical and petroleum projects

An effective strategy to prevent health hazards will utilize industrial hygiene principles in all phases of a project, including process development, the design bases, the final design, during construction, and during and after start-up. The involvement of industrial hygiene in engineering design results in cost-effective minimization of health hazards from toxic chemicals and harmful physical agents. Measurements of post start-up emission levels and employee exposures can be utilized to evaluate the performance of the controls which were implemented in the design. This will aid in the development of future designs and identify where research is needed to develop better controls to prevent health hazards.