Engineering Controls Program At-A-Glance July 2018 The NIOSH Engineering Control Program seeks to protect workers through What are our priorities? engineering interventions that can be The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Engineering Controls Program seeks used to eliminate or allow safe work to protect workers by removing hazardous conditions or by placing a barrier between the worker and the around hazards. This snapshot shows hazard. The program works with partners in industry, labor, trade associations, professional organizations, recent accomplishments and upcoming and academia on these areas among others: work. • Reducing worker exposures to silica dust and welding fumes at construction sites. Approximate percentage of asphalt milling • Reducing worker exposures to silica and drilling fluids at oil & gas extraction sites. machines in the U.S. fitted with engineering controls for silica • Reducing worker exposures to hazardous drugs in healthcare and veterinary medicine. 30% • Reducing worker asphalt fume exposure for roofers and pavers.

• Provide engineering control recommendations to protect workers from emerging hazards. 20% 15% What do we do? • Increase awareness and use of silica dust • Recommend engineering controls for emerging 5% controls and practices for work tasks linked to hazards in nanotechnology, robotics, and silica exposure. advanced manufacturing methods such as 3D 2014 2015 2016 2017 Source: National Asphalt Pavement Association • Promote the use of engineering controls for printing. silica and asphalt fume to U.S. and international • Evaluate the effectiveness of engineering Percentage of global highway class asphalt industry partners, regulatory agencies and controls to protect health care and veterinary pavers fitted with engineering controls for consensus standard bodies. workers from exposure to hazardous drugs. asphalt fumes • Develop and test engineering controls for dust, • Design and evaluate engineering solutions to U.S. Europe Asia

chemicals, and noise exposures. control pathogen exposure in aircraft cabins. 100% 100% 100%

What have we accomplished?

• Published three NIOSH engineering control Machine 6) evaluating engineering controls 20% 10% workplace design solution documents that for silica exposures during concrete surface 5% 3% 5% 7% highlight effective engineering control preparation. The reports provide detailed 2015 2016 2017 approaches for protecting workers during information about the effectiveness of the Source: National Asphalt Pavement Association, NIOSH nanomaterial reactor operations, handling silica dust capture and filtration systems fitted program records, and the Institut National de Recherche et de of nanomaterials, and intermediate and to a variety of concrete surface preparation Securite (INRS) program records downstream processing of nanomaterials. machines. Cumulative downloads of NIOSH Publication- • Published a draft universal performance test • Published field study results on engineering Nanomaterial Production and Downstream protocol for closed system-drug transfer control assessments of nano-metal oxides. Handling Processes devices, which are supplementary engineering 5,879 6,307 • Developed an improved prototype mini- 5,051 controls used to reduce exposure of healthcare baghouse to control the release of respirable workers handling hazardous drugs. NIOSH crystalline silica at oil and gas extraction sites. held public meetings and established a memorandum of understanding with • Published generation rates of respirable dust for manufacturers and stakeholders to develop the controlling silica exposures from cutting fiber test protocol. cement siding with different tools. The results 2015 2016 2017 will help optimize future tool development Source: NIOSH Program Records • Completed testing and published five reports aimed at minimizing dust generation while (Concrete Surface Preparation Tools Machine Publication Spotlight: producing a satisfactory cut. 1, Machines 2 & 3, Machine 4, Machine 5, and What’s next? • Develop a simple, affordable engineering • Develop final recommendations for reducing control to reduce exposure potential to the crystalline silica exposures of workers passengers and crew when a fellow passenger fabricating and installing stone countertops. exhibits symptoms of a potentially infectious • Reduce bricklayers’ exposures to respirable illness while in-flight. crystalline silica from using electric grinders • Publish engineering control field study results to remove mortar (part of the task known as from additive manufacturing workplaces that tuckpointing or repointing) by identifying other use fused deposition modeling. mortar removal tools to replace or supplement grinders. To learn more, visit https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/ eng/default.html Centers for Disease Control “Mention of any company or product does not constitute and Prevention endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and National Institute for Occupational https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB2018151 Safety and Health Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2018-151