About

Mission Statement

Our Mission

To contribute to a safer and healthier workplace, and community through applied research, teaching and service related activities and establish beneficial partnerships with industry to further the transfer of safety education and research.

Our Vision

To be the leading source of occupational safety and health education, research, and training in the nation with dedicated and highly qualified faculty and staff educating our students about best safety practices and conducting leading edge research.

Our Values

We value

Providing students with occupational safety and health education based on commitment, dedication, and integrity;
Increasing organizational safety, productivity and efficiency

Occupational Environmental Hygiene Lab

Industrial hygiene is the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of physical, chemical, biological hazards that may result in injury, illness, or impairment, or affect the well-being of workers and harm the environment. The profession is dedicated to protecting people in the workplace and the environment from these hazards.

The Industrial Hygiene and Safety Laboratory includes a variety of equipment designed to provide data on industrial contaminants or environmental conditions that may be harmful to workers. Specific equipment includes: air pumps, size selective particle samplers, particle analyzers, ventilation monitors, heat stress and heat strain monitors, noise monitors, monitors for a variety of gasses, and calibration standards.

Some areas that hygienists may get involved in:

Occupational and Environmental Exposure Assessments

Measuring human exposures to toxic materials such as heavy metals, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and carcinogens that may cause illness or impair health.

Hazard Evaluation and Control

Determining the real potential for ill health effects by performing such functions as testing for potentially hazardous gases and vapors, measuring noise levels, and evaluating results from such measurements and tests. Hazards are controls using personal protective equipment, engineering controls and administrative controls.

Asbestos

Testing for and possibly removing asbestos. This mineral fiber, which has fire-resistant capabilities and was used for insulation in buildings, is now known to cause cancer and other illnesses.

Biological Monitoring

Determining if toxic materials have reached a person by searching for them in the person’s body and by evaluating the body’s byproducts, such as blood, urine and breath.

Biosafety

Ensuring that materials such as bacteria, viruses, and used syringes and needles are handled safely so as not to infect workers.

Confined Spaces

Establishing procedures to safely enter closed spaces not designed for human occupancy, such as storage tanks.

Ergonomics

Helping to limit disabilities due to repetitive and/or prolonged movement, such as typing at a keyboard, working on an assembly line, or sitting at a desk all day.

Lead

Finding solutions to problems caused by unsafe levels of lead found in old paint, contaminated water, and other materials.

Emergency Response

Helping ensure that first responders are properly protected from the hazards of their jobs, from fire and electrical shock to chemical and biological exposures, so that they can concentrate on saving lives.