Management of Occupational Exposure Levels in The United States

Abstract

The responsibilities of developing occupational exposure limits in the United States is described in terms of the related processes used by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Department of Labor (DOL). In the United States the processes are characteristically lengthy and litigious. Attempts are being made to expedite the promulgation of occupational exposure limits (OELs) by developing and applying more generic forms of decision logic and risk management policies to the process. Dialogue needs to begin on integrating these policies with the concepts of degree of adversity of occupational disease and injury and the acceptability of risk.