Occupational Hygiene Assessments

We have more than 25 years experience providing occupational hygiene risk assessments for commercial, industrial, mining, communication, infrastructure and construction sites across Australia.

Occupational Hygiene Assessments

We specialise in:

indoor air quality surveys
noise assessments
respirable/inhalable dust surveys, eg silica dust
volatile organic compounds (VOC) assessments
building health surveys – general comfort parameters (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, humidity, temperature)
forensic testing and remediation action plans
lab analysis

Indoor air quality surveys

Indoor air quality (IAQ) surveys assess airborne contaminants like mould, VOCs, carbon monoxide, or allergens within buildings. They're crucial for identifying sources of poor air quality, which can cause health issues like asthma or "sick building syndrome."

Surveys involve testing and analysis to ensure healthy, productive indoor environments, often spurred by occupant complaints or building performance concerns.

Noise assessments

Noise assessments measure sound levels in workplaces to identify potential hearing hazards and ensure compliance with safety regulations.

We can help identify noisy machinery, determine workers' exposure levels, and recommend control measures like engineering solutions (eg, enclosures), administrative controls (eg, job rotation), or personal protective equipment (eg, earplugs) to prevent noise-induced hearing loss.

FAQs

What is an occupational hygiene assessment?

An occupational hygiene assessment is a scientific process to identify, evaluate, and control health hazards in the workplace. It systematically examines potential risks like chemicals, dust, noise, vibration, or biological agents (eg, mould).

The assessment aims to understand how workers are exposed, measure the levels of exposure, and compare them against safe limits.

Ultimately, occupational hygienists recommend and implement control measures—from engineering solutions like improved ventilation to personal protective equipment—to eliminate or minimise risks, ensuring a safe and healthy working environment and preventing work-related illnesses or injuries.

Who needs an occupational hygiene assessment?

Is a hygiene survey appropriate for a home or residence?

Hygiene assessments are required at home or a tenancy when there is concern over health, or there is has been an event (whether current or historic) that could cause issue, like flooding, water leaks, or effluent discharge. Our inspection can also help with assessing the source of the problem, so that issues do not persist.

This could also include a building assessment where a medical event or trauma occurred:

where body fluids were left or suspected to be poorly cleaned up,
where there may have considerable blood loss, or
other bio-hazards that maybe concerning.

Why is indoor air quality important?

Many of us spend a lot of time inside our homes and workplaces, so indoor air quality is important to ensure it does not impact on health. The air inside our work or homes can be affected by various pollutants, including dust, mould spores, smoke and combustion products, excessive levels of carbon dioxide/monoxide and displacement of oxygen, or volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Understanding if any of these are an issue within a property or as a part of a work process, is the first step on whether we need to improve the indoor environment and avoid health impacts likes asthma, allergies, lethargy, toxic exposure, and general respiratory issues.

This is critically important in homes or workplaces where people are more vulnerable to indoor pollutants causing infections or allergenic reactions, such as people in care or in health facilities. We should be mindful that, poor air quality, and particularly if an issue persists, can impact the well-being of normally healthy occupants as well.

In an industrial/commercial context the air quality directly around our breathing zone is more important to assess when processing or manufacturing, where vapour or particulates are produced.