INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE AND RISK ASSESSMENT

WET staff have performed numerous exposure evaluations related to heavy metals, carbon monoxide, various organic solvents, petroleum products, polychlorinated biphenyls, asbestos, dust, respirable crystalline silica, and noise

Industrial Hygiene 

WET’s staff has extensive expertise in developing and reviewing written safety and health programs and HAZWOPER-compliant health and safety plans (HASPs) to support a wide range of environmental and construction field activities. These documents help provide a roadmap to ensure our clients are performing work in a safe manner and in accordance with current OSHA or MSHA requirements.

Chemical and noise exposure evaluations can be useful in the event of employee health concerns by providing quantitative data to help clients either identify and eliminate the source of concern, or to rule out workplace exposures as the source. Our certified industrial hygienist (CIH) can perform employee exposure evaluations related to chemical or physical hazards to evaluate whether employees are being exposed to hazards above occupational exposure limits, make recommendations on whether respiratory protection or other controls are necessary to lower these exposures, as well as if employees should be enrolled in a hearing conservation program or other medical monitoring programs as required by OSHA.

Risk Assessment

WET performs baseline human health risk assessments as part of the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS).

The risk assessment evaluates all potential exposure pathways for a current or future site user to determine if additional action at a site is required to protect human health. Risk assessment is performed in accordance with EPA’s Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS) and incorporates the most current toxicity information and screening levels.

Exposure concentrations are developed using EPA’s ProUCL software. WET staff have provided risk assessment services for sites in Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

WET has performed vapor intrusion investigations at both residential, commercial, and industrial sites that may be impacted by subsurface petroleum products or solvents, in accordance with Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requirements.

Our staff perform site walkdowns and then develop conceptual site models to identify potential vapor exposure pathways, develop a work plan with specific data quality objectives, and collect data required to address each of these objectives.

This provides our clients with information on whether vapor intrusion poses a concern to current or future residents or workers at their site, and what activities are required to address issues identified during the investigation.