Abstract
Evaluation of ever changing, complex workplaces can be accomplished with a sound, logical exposure assessment survey (EAS). An EAS was conducted at a polyethylene plant located in southeast Texas to determine the risk of adverse health effects to selected employees. The objectives included determining the amount of occupational chemical, dust, noise, and heat-stress exposure experienced by those selected workers. Data collected from job descriptions, questionnaires, walk-through surveys and personal interviews were used to create an inventory of worker groups, tasks, and stressors. Quantitative and qualitative measurements of exposures to the various stressors listed above were conducted. These data were analyzed with the use of statistical tools. These data, along with historical monitoring data, were then used to assign an exposure rating for the overall worker group and for job tasks performed in each worker group. Toxicology data of each stressor were used to rate the health effects associated with exposure to each stressor. Exposure ratings and health effect ratings were combined on a matrix to give health-risk rankings. Stressors associated with each overall worker group and with individual tasks were ranked. These health-risk rankings were then used to prioritize corrective actions for higher health-risk exposures, and to set future monitoring schedules. This EAS showed that the main exposure-related health risks at this plant were due to heat stress and noise. The uncertainty associated with exposure to certain stressors, due to a lack of quantitative data, also resulted in some high health-risk ratings.
Tucker, Thomas Franklin (1997). An exposure assessment survey of the Mont Belvieu polyethylene plant. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1997 -THESIS -T83.