by
Ed Pearl
I have been doing on-site environmental health and safety (EHS) work at many types of outdoor job sites for six years. A big part of the site safety manager at a construction project is air monitoring. When workers have the possibility of exposure to an airborne hazard, it's critical to take frequent measurements of site conditions (often airborne particulates or hydrocarbons) to define worker risk for exposure. When the risk increases, the safety plan kicks in to prevent overexposure. Knowing what is floating in the air at the job site (and how much of it) is why air monitoring is such an important part of any construction site safety program.
For the last several months I have been working at a former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) responsible for, yet again, another air monitoring program. The difference is, for the first time, Im using the Greenlight Environmental Monitoring System for air monitoring a completely new experience.
Maybe this daily process looks familiar to you? Snow, rain, ice, cold the daily routine didnt vary much!
A real leap in monitoring technology meant that I was using a laptop for data collection! I drove or walked to each field station to download data onto the computer. Sunny days, while pleasant, had their own challenges have you ever tried to look at a laptop screen while combating the glare of full sun? Needless to say, when it came to technology I was open but skeptical.
The differences between the fairly standard monitoring equipment setup (even with the laptop addition) and how the Greenlight System works is like night and day. As I worked, my initial impressions were shaped by Greenlights ease of setup and operation as the entire system design has been set up from an EHS professionals perspective:
From the minute the project starts up each day, the monitoring results are displayed in REAL TIME on my operator screen. I can see ALL of the readings from the entire sites monitoring stations at the same time, no matter where they are in the field! In fact, now I see site conditions as they happen so that I can take action as needed. And, if a field station or monitoring device is non-responsive, I am notified almost immediately rather than discovering that theres no valid data to download at the end of the day.
The Greenlight System that Im using includes what I consider to be ever-important a weather station: temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. Having this information corresponding to particulate or hydrocarbon monitoring -- in real time -- is critical when trying to define potential exposures to hazardous materials and implement appropriate controls. Since weather conditions directly affect air monitoring and have a potential to change quickly (and sometimes without much warning), the data pouring in from the weather station is very useful to have at my fingertips.
Since I am a new operator of the Greenlight System, it has been a learning process for me. Starting out was a little bit scary! After six years of doing it pretty much one way, its a new way of both thinking and reacting. But, the ease of operation and the effectiveness of the System have transformed me allowing me to provide more effective support to the site construction team.
My sense is that when the construction team experiences how available the air monitoring data is and that with these data we can be very responsive with control implementation, they are more confident that are working in a safe environment. The workers seem more content, and project managers are pretty happy knowing that they can continue working safely while staying on time and on budget.
What new innovations do you see in particulate and hydrocarbon monitoring at construction sites? Have you found any other tools that will help you be a more effective site safety manager? What other tools would you like that would help you monitor airborne contaminants?
Read More
I have been doing on-site environmental health and safety (EHS) work at many types of outdoor job sites for six years. A big part of the site safety manager at a construction project is air monitoring. When workers have the possibility of exposure to an airborne hazard, it's critical to take frequent measurements of site conditions (often airborne particulates or hydrocarbons) to define worker risk for exposure. When the risk increases, the safety plan kicks in to prevent overexposure. Knowing what is floating in the air at the job site (and how much of it) is why air monitoring is such an important part of any construction site safety program.
For the last several months I have been working at a former Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) responsible for, yet again, another air monitoring program. The difference is, for the first time, Im using the Greenlight Environmental Monitoring System for air monitoring a completely new experience.
How I Used to do Air Monitoring
Maybe this daily process looks familiar to you? Snow, rain, ice, cold the daily routine didnt vary much!
- I collected the air monitoring instruments at the end of the day and downloaded each one individually to get the days readings.
- I checked through the days data to see if there were any problems (maybe a little late?).
A real leap in monitoring technology meant that I was using a laptop for data collection! I drove or walked to each field station to download data onto the computer. Sunny days, while pleasant, had their own challenges have you ever tried to look at a laptop screen while combating the glare of full sun? Needless to say, when it came to technology I was open but skeptical.
My New Perspective
The differences between the fairly standard monitoring equipment setup (even with the laptop addition) and how the Greenlight System works is like night and day. As I worked, my initial impressions were shaped by Greenlights ease of setup and operation as the entire system design has been set up from an EHS professionals perspective:
- All monitoring devices in the field are turned on and off from a central location.
- No tedious end-of-the-day drive and download because the System continuously feeds and records monitoring data to a server in real time.
From the minute the project starts up each day, the monitoring results are displayed in REAL TIME on my operator screen. I can see ALL of the readings from the entire sites monitoring stations at the same time, no matter where they are in the field! In fact, now I see site conditions as they happen so that I can take action as needed. And, if a field station or monitoring device is non-responsive, I am notified almost immediately rather than discovering that theres no valid data to download at the end of the day.
The Greenlight System that Im using includes what I consider to be ever-important a weather station: temperature, humidity, wind speed, and wind direction. Having this information corresponding to particulate or hydrocarbon monitoring -- in real time -- is critical when trying to define potential exposures to hazardous materials and implement appropriate controls. Since weather conditions directly affect air monitoring and have a potential to change quickly (and sometimes without much warning), the data pouring in from the weather station is very useful to have at my fingertips.
The Learning Curve Levels Out
Since I am a new operator of the Greenlight System, it has been a learning process for me. Starting out was a little bit scary! After six years of doing it pretty much one way, its a new way of both thinking and reacting. But, the ease of operation and the effectiveness of the System have transformed me allowing me to provide more effective support to the site construction team.
- Need the entire site air monitoring and weather condition information? With the data on my computer screen and on the server, if anyone needs a snapshot of site conditions at any moment, I can supply that information.
- Want to know what happened last week? Ive got it the information all ready to go! It no longer takes hours or days to find the right data and put it into a format that is understandable and explainable.
- Concerned that there is a change in airborne contaminant levels at the site? Im on top of that, too! Even when a small change occurs, I am notified immediately, and I can quickly investigate.
The Data Speaks
My sense is that when the construction team experiences how available the air monitoring data is and that with these data we can be very responsive with control implementation, they are more confident that are working in a safe environment. The workers seem more content, and project managers are pretty happy knowing that they can continue working safely while staying on time and on budget.
What new innovations do you see in particulate and hydrocarbon monitoring at construction sites? Have you found any other tools that will help you be a more effective site safety manager? What other tools would you like that would help you monitor airborne contaminants?