A Critical Review of Various Exposure Banding Approaches in Safety and Health
David E. Downs, CIH, CSP, FAIHA
Since development of control banding approaches, primarily by the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in the 1980s- 1990s, there have been numerous other "banding" approaches developed for use by Safety Professionals, Industrial Hygienists and others. These approaches all provide a solution to one or more information or knowledge gaps. Using a case study example approach, each methodology presented will be categorized in terms of inputs, how the data are used, and the expected outputs. The goals, advantages, and disadvantages of each approach will be described based on review of published information gathered during our research. The goal of this presentation will be to enable users in the safety and health professions to select the most effective approach for their situation, based on the data availability and tool viability, while understanding the limitations.
