Tips to Prevent Worker Exposure to Flavorings

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has officially made a recommendation to limit the exposure of workers to flavoring compounds. Yesterday we reviewed the recommended exposure limit (REL) and who’s affected. Today we offer tips for controlling worker exposure to these compounds at your facility.

NIOSH has established a REL of 5 parts per billion (ppb) for diacetyl and 9.3 ppb for 2,3-pentanedione (as a time-weighted average (TWA) for up to 8 hours/day during a 40-hour workweek). NIOSH also recommended 15-minute short-term exposure limits (STELs) at 25 ppb for diacetyl and 31 ppb for 2,3-pentanedione.

In addition, to ensure that employee exposures are routinely below the REL for diacetyl, NIOSH also recommends using an action level (AL) of 2.6 ppb with the exposure monitoring program to ensure that all control efforts (engineering controls, medical surveillance, and work practices) are in place and working properly.

What to Do at Your Facility

There are engineering and work practices are available to control diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione exposures below the recommended exposure limits. NIOSH recommends a hierarchy of controls including elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and the use of personal protective equipment should be followed to control workplace exposures.

Let’s look at some of the standard engineering controls NIOSH recommends to prevent worker exposure

Seven Standard Precautions

NIOSH recommends these seven standard engineering controls to keep diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione exposures below the RELs.

1. Isolate rooms where flavorings or flavoring compounds are handled from the rest of the plant with walls, doors, or other barriers.
2. Maintain flavoring mixing rooms and other areas where flavorings are handled under negative air pressure relative to the rest of the plant. Check status with airflow indication equipment. Install hood static pressure gauges (manometers) near hoods to provide a way to verify proper hood performance. Check pressure frequently to ensure that the system is operating properly compared to baseline. Check hood face velocities, and capture velocities frequently to ensure that system is performing as designed.
3. Ensure that employees are properly trained on the use of the controls if using proximity switches for fan activation. Consider installing a control “on/off” light to indicate the status of the exhaust fan.
4. Place hoods away from doors, windows, air supply registers, and aisles when possible to reduce the impact of cross drafts.
5. Provide supply air to production rooms to replace most of the exhausted air.
6. Direct exhaust air discharge stacks away from air intakes, doors, and windows.
7. Inspect hoods and enclosures for signs of damage or leaks (rust/corrosion, open access doors, etc.) and obstructions (paper, gloves, rags, etc.). Where possible, use screens to prevent foreign objects from being pulled into the system through openings (slots, hood faces, etc.).

 

Training is key for protecting workers from chemical exposures. Be sure to check Safety.BLR.com for hundreds of training tools and tips to round out a comprehensive employee training program.