Early one morning I was on a flight to the West coast to start up a system that I had designed and built for a large food producer. After the flight attendants had passed out our first beverage and snack I struck up a conversation with the passenger next to me. We engaged in the typical banter about how hilarious it is to watch some passengers try to stuff an oversized bag into the overhead compartment and ultimately have to check it.
I then asked the reason for her trip and she explained that she worked for OSHA and had conducted a study on flight crew safety and was in route to give her report on the findings. I was naturally intrigued and asked her what the risks were for a flight crew other than the obvious perils of being 35,000 Ft. above the ground for long periods of time.
Her reply was radiation exposure from the sun! I had never considered that flight crews spend long periods of time above the thickest layer of our atmosphere. Flight crews are exposed to significantly greater amounts of radiation compared to us folks who are on the ground more and consequently develop certain health conditions at a higher rate than the general population.
This standard is concerned with the level of noise that personnel are exposed to over a given period of time. Often times in plants compressed air noise exceeds the OSHA noise level requirements which unfortunately results in hearing loss. Noisy air blow-offs can produce noise in excess of 100 dBA. Studies have proven that noise levels that are sustained for varying periods of time can ultimately result in permanent hearing loss. Similar to the way flight crews are exposed to the radiation, some employess may not realize they are being exposed to a harmful level of noise from compressed air usage. This is why OSHA generated the standard that has allowable limits for sustained noise levels in order to mitigate the risks for personnel in the area. Utilizing EXAIR Super Air Nozzles the noise can be reduced to only 74 dBA. EXAIR Engineered Air Nozzles reduce the noise without losing the hard hitting force.
EXAIR also meets OSHA Standard 29 CFR 1910.242(b) for “Dead End Pressure”. This standard addresses how dangerous compressed air can be when the outlet pressure of a hole, hose or open pipe is higher than 30 PSIG (2 Bar). If the opening is blocked (dead-ended) into any part of the body, air could enter the bloodstream through the skin. This may result in serious injury. All EXAIR Nozzles and Jets are designed for safety and can’t be dead-ended into the skin therefore can be safely operated above the 30 PSIG (2 Bar) limit.