Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #104296

Michael Sprinker, CIH, ICWUC, 1655 W. Market Street, Akron, OH 44313, 330-867-2444, msprinker@earthlink.net

Control Banding grew out of the need in the pharmaceutical industry to develop methods to evaluate hazard controls for various pharmaceuticals without occupational exposure limits. This method has spread to include additional industries, becoming a broader, “fuzzier” concept. So far, Control Banding seems to be an “expert driven” system, applying control methods based on R phrases developed by chemical manufacturers. How accurate are these R phrases? Do workers, many of whom understand how to apply Occupational Exposure Limits as well as the potential sources of hazardous exposures, understand the concept of Control Banding? Are they involved in determining its effectiveness or problems? Is there room for their input, especially for substances with little toxicological or epidemiological data? How acceptable is this method for evaluating worker exposure under OSHA standards. Or could the application of Control Banding return workers to their old role of receivers of information, protected by the experts, as opposed to full partners in exposure control?

This presentation will address these issues and discuss the experiences of workers in unionized facilities, including worker knowledge of the concept, training, access to information, their satisfaction with Control Banding as a control measure and ideas for improving its use.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants in this session will learn how workers and unions perceive the use of Control Banding as well as learn ideas for improving its use. Participants should then be able to analyze the use of this concept to better apply it in the workplace and better involve workers in decision making.

Keywords: Occupational Exposure, Workplace Safety