EHE Researcher to Revise National Guidelines on Occupational Exposure Sampling Strategy

Professor Gurumurthy “Ram” Ramachandran, PhD, has been tapped to oversee a team that will overhaul the manual used by employers throughout the country to measure and mitigate workplace exposure to airborne toxins.

The Occupational Exposure Sampling Strategy Manual (OESSM), describes the strategy and the statistical models to analyze exposure sampling data to efficiently and accurately measure workers’ exposure to harmful airborne chemicals. The manual has not been revised by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), since its publication in 1977.

"The science has moved tremendously in the last 45 years. Most of what we teach in our occupational and industrial hygiene courses is nothing like what NIOSH recommended in 1977." - Garumurthy Ramachandran

Ramachandran will work with the Science Applications Branch of NIOSH provide comprehensive guidance on state-of-the-art occupational exposure assessment strategies to replace strategies in the current OESSM.

“The science has moved tremendously in the last 45 years,” says Ramachandran. “Most of what we teach in our occupational and industrial hygiene courses is nothing like what NIOSH recommended in 1977.”

Since its publication, new sampling strategies, new exposure assessment methods, and new exposure standards have all been developed. The current manual also doesn’t account for multiple, concurrent exposures, some of which may compound each other or taken together, represent an unacceptable risk.

The project will take at least a year to complete.

“It’s an honor, but it’s also a somewhat scary honor, to say now you are going to lead this task of revising this exposure assessment strategy that will inform how industries across the United States assess exposure,” says Ramachandran.