Exposure assessments rely heavily on workplace walkthroughs and the professional judgement of the industrial hygienist. If several hygienists completed an exposure assessment of the same workplace, would they all come to the same conclusion? What if there was a tool that was simple to use and could help consistently predict exposure levels? Doug Wylie, CIH, ROH, CRSP, CRM, from Winnipeg Air Testing presents the WATSIN program – a chemical exposure modelling program that uses a mathematical algorithm and has now been in use for a couple of years at Winnipeg Air Testing.

WATSIN works by asking the user to input answers to questions about the chemicals, work processes and existing controls in the workplace. These include, but are not limited to, the vapour hazard ratio, occupational exposure limit (OEL), work duration, worker proximity and position, nature of the process (e.g. spraying, heating) and ventilation. There are two versions of the program: one for liquids and one for solids. The program has a searchable list of vapour hazard ratios by chemical name or CAS#; if it is not on the list but the OEL is known, there is a vapour hazard ratio calculator. Of course, the program has its limitations that come along with the simplicity of its design. However, it serves as a great starting point that should make the next step of sampling easy.

Thank you Doug for sharing this very interesting tool with us! We hope to one day test out WATSIN when it is available outside of Manitoba.

Early Bird Registration is now OPEN!! Take advantage of our reduced rates this year and sign up for our Annual Conference / AGM for 2021 which will be held virtually on March 12, 2021. Our speaker line up and topics include:

Register by February 19, 2021 to take advantage of our Early Bird rates. To register and learn more about the event, click on the button below.

Date: February 17, 2021

ADJUSTED TIME: 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm PST

Presenters:

Topic: Measuring and Trending Occupational Exposures – Same Data, New View

Location: Virtual Meeting on TEAMS

Industrial hygiene data can be powerful when trended across several sites over multiple years to review how exposures have increased or hopefully declined over time. James and Farah use a traditional approach to gather, analyze and in the end quickly view large data sets through one or two charts. This can be extremely helpful when showing progress to a wider audience who might not understand the details of industrial hygiene or have the time to comb through years of sample data. This presentation will walk you through the process on how to practically implement this method and help your organization better understand the benefits of trending sample data over time.

To register, click on the button below. Please be aware that meeting start time has been adjusted to start at 5:30 pm PST.

Date: April 21, 2021

Time: 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM

Presenter: TBD

Topic: TBD

Location: Virtual Meeting

Interested in taking a more active role with the local section? We are looking for a volunteer to fill the following position:

For more information, please contact the Current President (Robin Van Driel) or the Current President Elect (Bianca Malouf).