Exposure monitoring | Air sampling | COSHH | Occupational Hygiene

Air sampling to assess people’s exposure to hazardous substances in workplace air, and discover how and why this exposure happens.

We are listed in the BOHS Directory of Occupational Hygiene Services and can provide:

occupational (workplace) exposure monitoring for airborne substances, this can be undertaken individually or as part of a occupational hygiene monitoring programme (for more information see below). This can include a range of substances including: dusts, vapours, fumes, and gases.
development of occupational hygiene strategy and/or management systems;
occupational hygiene risk assessments; and
personal sampling.

Monitoring may be required:

as part of a COSHH assessment to help select the right controls;
where substances present a serious health risk;
to check or to confirm that exposure limits are not exceeded and check suitability of existing controls;
to help select suitable respiratory protection;
to identify any need for health surveillance; and
when an inspector has issued an enforcement notice that requires you to monitor exposure.

(Contains public sector information published by the Health and Safety Executive and licensed under the Open Government Licence).

Who should do this work?

Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register – British Occupational Hygiene Society (BOHS)

What is personal sampling

Personal sampling is taking an air sample near the worker’s breathing zone to measure the amounts of airborne substances inhaled for a stated task.

Why do we need this?

There is a clear and undeniable need for occupational hygiene and exposure monitoring in our workplaces. For example, it is estimated that there are 13,000 deaths each year linked to past exposure to dusts and chemicals (Source: HSE statistics 2018). Preventable ill-health from workplace environmental factors is a major cost factor for U.K. businesses.