Abstract

Industrial hygiene is defined as the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace that may cause sickness, impaired health or well-being, or significant discomfort and inefficiency among workers or among the citizens of the community. The practice of industrial hygiene starts with an awareness of the hazardous nature of chemical, physical, and biological agents, and of the processes that give rise to opportunities for people to be exposed to these agents. The skill of industrial hygienists includes this recognition ability, the skill to make and interpret complex measurements of conditions, and the ability to identify risk reduction measures that may range from changes in work practices to modifications of the physical plant. All of this is performed in continuous interactions with workers, management, regulatory agencies, the public, and other professionals such as physicians and safety professionals. The techniques of industrial hygiene undergo continuous improvement resulting from the work of the practitioners and from research in toxicology, epidemiology, risk assessment, analytical chemistry, engineering, and other disciplines.