FAQs People
Ask Me
WHAT IS AN INDUSTRIAL HYGIENIST?
Industrial hygienists are scientists and engineers committed to protecting the health and safety of people in the workplace and the community. Learn more.
WHY DO PEOPLE HIRE INDUSTRIAL HYGIENISTS?
Industrial Hygiene (IH) is a science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, control, and protection from those environmental factors or stresses created in or by the workplace which may cause sickness, impaired health and well being, or significant discomfort among workers or among citizens of the community. People hire an IH when they want to create a workplace that is healthy for all stakeholders - internal and external to the organization.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SURGICAL MASKS AND RESPIRATORS? CAN THEY BE WORN INTERCHANGEABLY?
No, surgical masks and respirators are not interchangeable. Here's a blog article that I recently wrote on this topic:
https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2009/10/14/n95/
HOW DO YOU PROTECT WORKERS FROM SARS-CoV-2?
SARS-CoV-2 is very likely transmitted by small inhalable particles generated by people during breathing, talking, singing, coughing and sneezing. Because many people are infectious before they develop symptoms, or develop only mild symptoms, it is impossible to know who is infectious in a workplace. The best methods for protecting workers start with source controls - limiting the number of people in a space and the amount of time they spend in that space, as well as how close they interact with each other. The next best controls are those that interrupt the pathway between infectious sources and receptors, such as the use of general ventilation (increasing the number of air changes per hour) and local exhaust ventilation (such as the use of portable air cleaners). The least acceptable method for protecting workers involves personal protective equipment, such as respirators. Face coverings and surgical masks have very low effectiveness as source control and are completely ineffective in preventing aerosol inhalation.
WHAT IS A BIOAEROSOL?
Biological aerosols (bioaerosols) are biological organisms suspended in air. Such aerosols can be created by human processes, such as breathing or talking; medical procedures, such as bronchoscopy or delivery of nebulized medicines; or laboratory activities, such as centrifugation. Biological organisms could include bacteria, fungi, pollen and viruses.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AIRBORNE AND AEROSOL TRANSMISSION
Airborne transmission is defined by CDC as inhalation of infectious organisms at a long distance from the source. Because the traditional infection control paradigm does not recognize small particle inhalation near the source, I proposed the term “aerosol transmission.”