Control Banding Strategies

Control Banding (CB) strategies offer simplified solutions for controlling worker exposures to constituents often encountered in the workplace. The CB approach is often intended for non-experts to input hazard and exposure potential information for bulk chemical processes, receiving control advice as a result.

The dissemination of qualitative and semi-quantitative risk assessment tools have been developed to complement the traditional industrial hygiene sampling and analysis. The CB approach recently expanded into safety, nanotechnology and multi-disciplinary applications, and is now being used worldwide with an even broader implementation in progress. It is hoped that this independent CB mailing list will assist in furthering communication on new strategies, research and validation efforts toward understanding CB's strengths and weaknesses, and assist in its further refinement and confidence in its ongoing utility.

NIOSH Director John Howard had suggested that a better solution to setting PELs may be control banding, where a chemical is assigned to one of four "bands" of exposure control measures based upon its hazard classification, the amount in use, and its volatility. A set of general control strategies could be used for each of the four bands.

Sincerely,

Deborah Imel Nelson, CIH, PhD
University of Colorado at Boulder
Deborah.Nelson@Colorado.EDU

David M. Zalk, CIH, MPH
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
zalk1@llnl.gov


ESSENTIAL LINKS

First International Control Banding Workshop (1ICBW) London, England 2002

Second International Control Banding Workshop (2ICBW) Cincinnati, Ohio 2004

Third International Control Banding Workshop (3ICBW) Pilanesberg, South Africa 2005

Fourth International Control Banding Workshop (4ICBW) Seoul, South Korea