Occupational Exposure Risk Evaluations Approach

Risk Identification: The first step in ORAU’s approach begins with identifying and characterizing potential exposures among disparate workers, tasks, and environments. Potential risks for workers may occur when exposed to physical agents, chemicals, or biological agents, so the ability to identify these risks in advance is critical. Exposure information may be derived from safety data sheets, historical records, scientific and technical literature, as well as discussions with workers, co-workers and managers. Oftentimes a worker’s illness or adverse health outcome may be the result of historical occupational or off-site exposures. Characterization and evaluation of these exposures requires retrospective exposure assessments for the determination of possible disease association.

Risk Characterization and Assessment: ORAU’s team of experts will help you identify and characterize exposures and then align that information with a characterization and assessment of potential disease risks associated with these exposures. The exposure-disease association should be characterized by an assessment of the strength of the association, the exposure-response relationship, and qualitative and quantitative analyses. Duration of exposures, intensity of exposures, peak exposures, and cumulative exposures are metrics of interest in the risk characterization process.

Risk Management and Mitigation: The development of control and mitigation programs for occupational exposure risks requires a comprehensive understanding of the association between occupational exposures and disease risks. Once understood and characterized, ORAU can assist with the development and implementation of proactive programs to timely identify, assess and control exposure conditions (including susceptible populations), develop and implement exposure registries, proactively implement health or biological surveillance programs, effectively communicate risks, and assist in

regulatory compliance and litigation mitigation. In the implementation of these mitigation measures, consideration should also be given to current and

foreseeable legislative, regulatory, and consensus standard developments.

Occupational Exposure Risk Evaluations

Managing occupational exposure risks for an organization is critical for continuity of a healthy workforce, regulatory compliance, and mitigation of potential litigation. ORAU’s interdisciplinary team of subject matter experts in medicine, epidemiology, industrial hygiene, biostatistics, law, and risk and exposure assessment help to independently and systematically address and provide timely solutions for the management of occupational exposure risks.

Select Investigations

Industrial Manufacturers

Commercial industrial manufacturers have regularly retained ORAU to conduct independent occupational exposure risk evaluations as a result of regulatory and litigation issues associated with various toxicant exposures and allegations of disease associations. For these customers, ORAU conducted comprehensive reviews and evaluations of identified corporate industrial hygiene and process data. Onsite process evaluations and discussions with workers and management were part of the initial evaluation. A comprehensive review and evaluation of the toxicologic and epidemiologic literature was also conducted to characterize and assess the association between toxicant exposures and disease outcomes. State and Federal regulatory requirements were also evaluated for issues of compliance. Based on these activities, ORAU conducted retrospective exposure and risk evaluations to characterize occupational disease risks which led to recommendations to mitigate potential liability.

Development of Oil and Gas Corporate Timeline Tool

ORAU was contracted to evaluate the industrial hygiene, occupational medicine, and environmental programs of a major oil and gas company as part of a comprehensive effort to characterize and evaluate historical exposures to a variety of toxicants, environmental spills and releases, and regulatory compliance. To identify, collect and characterize data covering over 40 years, ORAU built an electronic timeline that allowed for the collection and integration of all surveillance and exposure data, survey material, government filings, and program material into forward-facing summaries that allowed for characterization and evaluation of the companies programs and potential for occupational exposure risks.

Utilities

In response to issues associated with occupational exposures and disease associations, along with historical industrial hygiene practices and procedures, ORAU provided comprehensive litigation support by characterizing and evaluating environmental and occupational exposure potentials, conducted a comprehensive review, and evaluated toxicologic and epidemiologic literature on toxicant exposures and disease risk associations, and evaluating historical associated regulatory requirements. Working with senor counsel, ORAU integrated the data for the development of a management strategy for occupational exposure risk mitigation.

Working with ORAUWe have a variety of contract vehicles in place to make it easy to work with us, including GSA, MOBIS and HDIAC. For details, visit www.orau.org/working-with-orau.

For more information:

occ.health@orau.org (865) 576-3115

© 2016 Oak Ridge Associated Universities. All rights reserved.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities, ORAU and the ORAU

logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oak Ridge

Associated Universities.

These diseases ... are not relics of the past. We see patients who are coming in from foundries, coming in from stonecutting operations, from little construction jobs and sites, with silicosis.

- Robert Cohen, M.D.pulmonologist of Cook County

Hospital in Chicago and member

of the American Thoracic Society