{"id":3685,"date":"2023-04-07T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=3685"},"modified":"2023-04-10T20:47:44","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T20:47:44","slug":"protecting-health-is-nhb-industrial-hygienes-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=3685","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Health is NHB Industrial Hygiene\u2019s Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Public health is defined as the science of protecting the health of people and the communities in which they live and work.<\/p>\n

NHB\u2019s Public Health Directorate Industrial Hygiene department is one such unit with a distinctive focus and responsibility.<\/p>\n

Industrial Hygiene\u2019s mission is to anticipate, identify, and evaluate occupational stressors to advise commands within Navy Region Northwest and Naval Hospital Bremerton’s area of responsibility on methods to prevent and reduce workplace injuries and illnesses. With a staff of two officers and 19 civilians, the IH department supports more than 30,000 workers throughout Navy Region Northwest encompassing 126 unique commands with 480 different shops that require an IH survey. Industrial Hygiene is an integral part of Public Health.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndustrial Hygienists recognize, characterize and control exposures in the workplace that lead to illness. Our team collects and analyses samples, interviews workers, and is embedded alongside some of the most hazardous operations that support the fleet,\u201d said Lt. Cmdr. Laura Moody, IH department head and Medical Service Corps officer.<\/p>\n

The IH team recommends protective equipment, new work processes, novel engineering solutions and materials all with the focus on preserving the health of those who work in surrounding military bases like Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, as well as Naval Base Kitsap \u2013 Bangor.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the heavy hitters we help protect the workforce from include industrial noise, lead, hexavalent chromium, asbestos, cadmium or PCBs,\u201d Moody noted. \u201cYou\u2019ll find Industrial Hygienists right alongside workers in all these environments, collecting air samples, taking measurements, and performing statistical analysis to build comprehensive exposure profiles for our service members and civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n

As an example, the IH department team workload for calendar year 2020 indicated there were 248 personal and area samples collected, 248 personal breathing zone samples collected, and another 186 personal noise dosimetry samples collected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe monitor a number of things by which a shipyard worker can be exposed. Say someone is welding for eight hours. We put a personal sampling pump on that person to collect chemical samples of the air to determine toxic or non-toxic levels,\u201d explained Moody adding that airborne contaminants are another major concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cLungs especially,\u201d stated Moody. \u201cBreathing is so important and industrial environments can be so porous. We carefully monitor a worker and their air intake.\u201d<\/p>\n

A worker\u2019s hearing is yet another crucial concern for IH. Noise dosimeters are used to monitor the surrounding noise and vibration someone is exposed to when on the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not recording or examining someone\u2019s conversation but measuring the sound pressure that a worker is exposed to during their shift,\u201d Moody said.<\/p>\n

Moody affirms that the most challenging aspect of Industrial Hygiene is supporting the complex and sprawling industrial environment of PSNS and IMF with approximately 14,000 employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur work is diverse, include emerging techniques and materials, and a 24-hour, seven days a week workforce. Additionally, we support units from Alaska to Wyoming, multiple afloat platforms and submarines, and of course our very own military treatment facility. Over one calendar year, we will collect and analyze up to 1,000 field samples covering the scope of operations in our area,\u201d remarked Moody.<\/p>\n

Although much of what the Industrial Hygiene does is behind the scenes, there is a gratifying aspect that their efforts are helping to identify possible risks to the health and welfare of workers, to determine what is suitable, what is harmful and how to mitigate those health hazards.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost industrial hygienists report that the interaction with workers and being in a position to effect real change and keep them healthy is the most rewarding part of their job,\u201d stated Moody. \u201cWhile the results may not be immediate, knowing that we\u2019ve played a role in the prevention of occupational disease a 19-year-old service member may face when he or she is 65, is very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DHA\u2019s Public Health supports the Joint Force and DoD across the globe with subject matter experts in Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division, Occupational and Environmental Health Division, Radiation Safety Division, Immunization Healthcare Division, Veterinary Services Division, DoD HIV\/AIDS Prevention Program, Health Readiness Support Division and Health Promotion and Wellness Division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public health is defined as the science of protecting the health of people and the communities in which they live and work. NHB\u2019s Public Health Directorate Industrial Hygiene department is one such unit with a distinctive focus and responsibility. Industrial Hygiene\u2019s mission is to anticipate, identify, and evaluate occupational stressors to advise commands within Navy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3685"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3688,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3685\/revisions\/3688"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}