AIHA Expands Sector-Specific Guidelines for Business Re-Opening

As businesses, schools, retailers and manufacturers manage reopening due to the pandemic, AIHA continues to expand its library of comprehensive Back to Work Safely guidelines, white papers and resources aimed at 26 different business and community sectors.

The latest guidelines include recommendations on engineering controls (ventilation, enhanced filtration and physical barriers), germicidal ultraviolet radiation, enhanced cleaning and disinfection and personal hygiene and physical distancing. Guidelines include:

“While many solutions rely primarily on PPE, AIHA scientists and health professionals have developed more comprehensive guidelines which are specific and written with small to mid-sized businesses in mind. The guidelines include practical checklists that point out ways the employer, employees, customers and visitors can minimize their risk,” said Lindsay Cook, CIH, CSP, AIHA President. “The AIHA Back to Work Safely guidelines include engineering and work practice solutions that can complement the effective utilization of masks. They offer a detailed view of how ventilation can be an effective control in non-healthcare and non-industrial workplaces and how employers can develop specific cleaning and disinfection programs.”

AIHA and its volunteer committees of industrial hygienists urge employers to implement engineering controls in all indoor workplaces, even those outside of the healthcare industry, to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The broad category of engineering controls that may be effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus includes the following:

  • Physical barriers, enclosures, and guards
  • Automatic door openers and sensors
  • Local exhaust ventilation
  • Enhanced filtration to capture infectious aerosols
  • Devices that inactivate or “kill” infectious organisms
  • Dilution ventilation and increasing outside air delivery

“Using a combination of available technologies, equipment, and time-tested methods to control infectious aerosols is the most reliable way to reduce the risk of disease spread,” said Cook.

The AIHA Back to Work Safely Task Force is comprised of over a dozen highly-trained and experienced OEHS scientists and professionals representing various business sectors: government, industry, higher education and consulting.

Share on Socials!

Related Articles

Related Articles

AIHA Announces AIHce EXP 2022 Sponsors

The annual American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Expo will take place May 23–25, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee AIHA is pleased to announce the companies sponsoring the ...
Read More

Ajin USA pleads guilty to charge related to east Alabama worker death

A judge on Monday ordered an auto parts manufacturer to pay $1.5 million after admitting violating federal safety standards before a worker was crushed to death ...
Read More

A Sound Partnership for North America

UK acoustic instrument specialists, Cirrus Research plc, today announce the formation of an exclusive partnership with NoiseMeters Inc for the distribution of sound measurement equipment in ...
Read More

Follow IHW!

Leaders in Industrial Hygiene

 

AccuTec-IHS
BOWMAN Dispensers, LLC
ENMET
HafcoVac
ILC
Miller Electric
Nilfisk
OHD
SHOWA
TSI

 

Subscribe!

Sign up to receive our industry publications for FREE!

Industrial Hygiene

Construction Safety