Occupational exposure banding

rdf:langString Occupational exposure banding

rdf:langString Occupational exposure banding, also known as hazard banding, is a process intended to quickly and accurately assign chemicals into specific categories (bands), each corresponding to a range of exposure concentrations designed to protect worker health. These bands are assigned based on a chemical’s toxicological potency and the adverse health effects associated with exposure to the chemical. The output of this process is an occupational exposure band (OEB). Occupational exposure banding has been used by the pharmaceutical sector and by some major chemical companies over the past several decades to establish exposure control limits or ranges for new or existing chemicals that do not have formal OELs. Furthermore, occupational exposure banding has become an important component of the Hierarchy of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs). The U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has developed a process that could be used to apply occupational exposure banding to a broader spectrum of occupational settings. The NIOSH occupational exposure banding process utilizes available, but often limited, toxicological data to determine a potential range of chemical exposure levels that can be used as targets for exposure controls to reduce risk among workers. An OEB is not meant to replace an OEL, rather it serves as a starting point to inform risk management decisions. Therefore, the OEB process should not be applied to a chemical with an existing OEL.