Workplace Air Survey

Call our experienced occupational hygiene consultants to discuss the processes and substances at your site and arrange your workplace air survey today.

01782 614236

Planning a Workplace Air Sampling Survey

Our first stage of any workplace air survey is to engage with the customer and identify their needs.

Our experienced occupational hygienist consultants will discuss the processes and the substances you use. They do this either in person or over the phone. We identify high-risk activities and likely routes of exposure. They then tailor a survey to suit your needs. At Synergy Occupational Hygiene Ltd., we aim to provide a bespoke, efficient service, focused upon providing value to customers. Where possible, and required, we can also conduct surveys for other exposures such as noise or hand-arm vibration. We offer these as part of a package, which may give greater value.

workplace air survey

The Air Survey

Once agreed, a Synergy Occupational Hygiene Consultant will attend your site, and conduct the survey using approved methods following the HSE guidance document HSG 173 Monitoring Strategies for Toxic Substances. The range of substances we measure and whether we take samples from one process or several sites depends on the customer’s requirements. Sampling can be made on either a short or long-term basis, depending on the task.

During a workplace air survey, the consultant makes detailed observations of operatives, the environment, usage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as protective clothing or respirators and the type of work as well as taking air samples. The time it takes the consultant depends on the task. Surveys undertaken will cause as little disruption as possible. We aim to see a snapshot of typical working conditions.

Personal Air Sampling

We generally undertake personal workplace air sampling by operatives wearing a small sampling pump with an attached sampling head. The operative wears this throughout the workplace air survey. The consultant places the sampling head within the breathing zone of the operative. This is normally on the lapel – in an area within 300mm of the mouth and nose. The pump draws the air into the head and through the sample media. Our consultants carry out static sampling in a similar manner to give information about background levels of contaminants. For some contaminants, the operative wears a diffusive sampler. This is simply a badge that they wear in the breathing zone, which absorbs the surrounding air. All samples are sent to the UKAS accredited laboratory for analysis once the survey is complete.

Reporting the Workplace Air Sampling Survey

Once we receive sampling results, we write a comprehensive report of the workplace air survey. This report includes the results of sampling, observations taken during the survey and recommendations for reducing or controlling exposure. Once we receive sampling results, we write a comprehensive report of the survey. We then check the report for quality before we send it to the customer.  The report expresses the exposure limits and results of monitoring as time-weighted averages of the substance in the air. Two time periods are used, long-term (8-hour) or short-term (15-minute).