Bringing quality to our qualitative assessments – the Tyndall beam
Occupational Hygiene Technical Manager, Mary Cameron, tells us more about the tools to aid an assessment during an airborne hazardous substances investigation.
Mary says: “Following on from our recent post about our smoke generators, here is another one of our tools which aids our occupational hygiene consultant’s qualitative assessment undertaken during an airborne hazardous substances exposure investigation.
This qualitative testing helps us decide whether there may be a risk to the health of your employees.
In the absence of effective exposure control measures, airborne particles may be released into the workplace atmosphere. A Tyndall beam, also known as a dust lamp, is a tool which allows us to see very fine airborne particles which are invisible under normal light but may be made visible by the use of a high-intensity beam of light.
This tool aids us to identify emission sources and watch the movement of airborne dust. We follow HSE’s method MDHS 82/2 ‘’The Dust Lamp’’.
The presence of many different types of particles, both solids (e.g. dusts, fumes and fibres) and liquids (e.g. organic or inorganic mists), can be revealed by the dust lamp. With this we gain an understanding of how the work processes cause exposure or how the controls fail to prevent emissions.”
Find out more about our occupational hygiene services and assessments https://eeukltd.com/occupational-hygiene/