ABIH Encourages Industry Awareness of OSHA’s Annotated PEL Tables

In October, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published a news release that declared, “While many chemicals are suspected of being harmful, OSHA’s exposure standards are out-of-date and inadequately protective for the small number of chemicals that are regulated in the workplace.”
 
The document discusses the fact that tens of thousands of American workers become sick or even die due to occupational exposures to thousands of hazardous chemicals that are used in the workplace.  In response, OSHA has created a new web resource: the Annotated Permissible Exposure Limits, or annotated PEL tables, which enables employers to voluntarily adopt newer, more protective workplace exposure limits.
 
“There is no question that many of OSHA’s chemical standards are not adequately protective,” said Dr. David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. “I advise employers, who want to ensure that their workplaces are safe, to utilize the occupational exposure limits on these annotated tables, since simply complying with OSHA’s antiquated PELs will not guarantee that workers will be safe.”
 
The annotated PEL tables provide a side-by-side comparison of OSHA PELs for general industry to the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health PELs, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Recommended Exposure Limits, and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Values. They offer an easily accessible reference source for up-to-date workplace exposure limits and are available at www.osha.gov/dsg/annotated-pels/index.html.
 
“ABIH supports awareness of these new annotated PEL tables and the need to analyze and manage risks in the workplace,” reports Tracy Parsons, CIH, Administrative Program Manager at ABIH. “Our Certified Industrial Hygienists are the go-to professionals for applying the proper occupational exposure limit to workplace assessments and controls.  Their expertise is critical to minimize potential health impacts from exposure to workplace chemicals.”
 
To learn more about the American Board of Industrial Hygiene, the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) program or to locate a CIH in the Public Rooster, please visit www.ABIH.org, email abih@ABIH.org or call (517) 321-2638.
 
About the American Board of Industrial Hygiene
Since 1960, ABIH, a not-for-profit corporation, has been the world’s largest, premier organization for certifying professionals in the practice of industrial hygiene. ABIH is responsible for ensuring high-quality certification including education, experience, examination, certification maintenance and ethics enforcement.  Currently, more than 6700 people are certified to use the CIH designation.

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