Operations Manual Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
OOPPEERRAATTIIOONNSS MMAANNUUAALL TTHHRREESSHHOOLLDD LLIIMMIITT VVAALLUUEESS FFOORR CCHHEEMMIICCAALL SSUUBBSSTTAANNCCEESS CCOOMMMMIITTTTEEEE TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. COMMITTEE MISSION............................................................................................4 2. MEMBERSHIP .........................................................................................................5 a) Eligibility ................................................................................................................................................ 5 b) Member Selection ................................................................................................................................... 5 c) Member Responsibilities and Expectations............................................................................................ 6 d) Conflict of Interest.................................................................................................................................. 6 e) Terms...................................................................................................................................................... 9 3. TLV® PRODUCTION GUIDE..................................................................................11 a) Description of Procedures .................................................................................................................... 11 b) TLV® Documentation Format............................................................................................................... 12 4. LITERATURE SEARCH.........................................................................................13 5. COMMITTEE STRUCTURE...................................................................................14 a) Organization Chart .............................................................................................................................. 14 b) Position Descriptions ............................................................................................................................ 14 TLV® Committee Chair ................................................................................................................................... 14 Assistant to the Chair....................................................................................................................................... 15 Vice Chair....................................................................................................................................................... 15 Chemical Substance Subcommittee Chairs ....................................................................................................... 16 Assistants to the Chemical Substance Subcommittee Chairs ............................................................................. 18 Administrative Subcommittee Chairs ............................................................................................................... 18 c) Description of Administrative Subcommittees..................................................................................... 19 Steering Subcommittee .................................................................................................................................... 19 Membership Subcommittee.............................................................................................................................. 19 Communications Subcommittee....................................................................................................................... 21 Notations Subcommittee.................................................................................................................................. 22 Substance Selection Subcommittee .................................................................................................................. 24 Substance Selection Process............................................................................................................................. 24 6. COMMUNICATIONS..............................................................................................27 a) External to the Committee ................................................................................................................... 27 Groups That Set Occupational Exposure Values............................................................................................... 27 Groups with Interest in TLVs® ......................................................................................................................... 27 b) Internal Communications..................................................................................................................... 29 PAGE 2 TLV®-CS COMMITTEE OPERATIONS MANUAL Communications Within Committee ................................................................................................................ 29 Communications Between the Committee and ACGIH® Staff and Board of Directors....................................... 29 7. SYMPOSIA AND WORKSHOPS...........................................................................30 a) Procedure for Developing a Symposium or Workshop........................................................................ 30 8. APPENDICES ........................................................................................................32 a) Membership Application...................................................................................................................... 33 b) Membership Expectations and Responsibilities................................................................................... 35 c) TLV® Documentation Shell................................................................................................................... 36 General Instructions for Preparing Main Body of the TLV®-TWA Documentation........................................... 36 TLV® Documentation Outline.......................................................................................................................... 37 d) Reference Request and Literature Search Forms................................................................................ 49 e) Recommended References for Literature Searches ............................................................................. 51 f) ACGIH® Conflict of Interest Policy ..................................................................................................... 51 g) Symposium Timetable .......................................................................................................................... 59 h) Symposium Proposal Form .................................................................................................................. 60 i) Committee Organization Chart............................................................................................................ 61 PAGE 3 TLV®-CS COMMITTEE OPERATIONS MANUAL 1. COMMITTEE MISSION The Threshold Limit Value Chemical Substances (TLV®-CS) Committee is a Standing Committee established by the Board of Directors of the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH®). This Committee’s vision is to be a respected, worldwide leader in the development and dissemination of health-based occupational exposure guidelines. The mission of the Committee is to develop occupational exposure guidelines that are: · Scientifically credible · On the leading edge · Judgment-based · Well-supported (i.e. TLVs® are based on ACGIH®’s review of “peer-reviewed scientific literature”) · Scientifically valid · Reliable · Understandable and clear · Produced with an honest, unbiased and clearly-defined process PAGE 4 TLV®-CS COMMITTEE OPERATIONS MANUAL 2. MEMBERSHIP a) Eligibility Members of the CS-TLV® Committee must be members of ACGIH®. The Committee may have up to 30 members who should represent the four disciplines necessary to establishing TLVs® (industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, occupational epidemiology, and toxicology). No more than 25% of the Committee may consist of Associate members of ACGIH®. However, all members of the Committee will have full voting rights for the purposes of the business of the Committee. (Each member must have participated in the annual conflict of interest declaration and signed an annual conflict of interest statement.) The Committee may utilize consultants, as necessary, for additional specialized and temporary expertise. Consultants do not have voting privileges and attend meetings only at the invitation of the Chair. b) Member Selection Anyone interested in joining the Committee will be asked to complete a short application form (Appendix A) and provide a resume or curriculum vitae. The Membership Subcommittee will review the application and determine whether the applicant is eligible and fits the needs of the Committee. This process is described in detail in the Membership Subcommittee section. The following criteria will be used to evaluate an applicant for membership: · Disciplinary training and education · Professional background · Past relevant experience · Personal characteristics The following criteria will be used to assess the overall membership of the Committee and whether a particular applicant fits: · The Committee should have a mix of persons who have expertise in one or more of the following: industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, epidemiology, toxicology or other related specialties (e.g. statistics, chemistry, etc.) · A preference will be