Principles of exposure assessment - application and experience with a task-based approach

Construction workers experience disproportionate mortality associated with occupational diseases such as asbestosis. The degree to which workers are at risk of disease and premature death is dependent on their exposure to hazardous agents. Measuring occupational exposures in construction is particularly challenging since variables which effect exposure, such as the worksite, the workforce, and the materials in use, are constantly changing. The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights (CPWR), the research arm of the Building and Construction Trades Dept., AFL-CIO, has developed and utilized a ‘Task-Based Exposure Assessment Model (T-BEAM)’ for determining exposure to welding and thermal cutting fumes among construction trades. T-BEAM employs two defining characteristics: 1) involvement of specially trained journeyman workers in the exposure assessment process; and 2) an emphasis on the identification, implementation and evaluation of engineering and work practice controls.