Managing Occupational Exposures in Data Centers
Challenge
A confidential client provides banking services, creates credit cards for new and existing customers and stores confidential information in a data center with battery backup to provide an uninterruptible power supply in the event of a power outage. Managing the occupational noise exposure and indoor air quality (IAQ) in the data center is essential to protecting employee health, meeting regulatory obligations and maintaining critical operations.
Relevant Services
Solution
TRC’s tested practitioners, including Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs), performed personal noise exposure monitoring to help the client maintain a Hearing Conservation Program for a workforce being exposed to noise levels that exceed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Action Level of 85 decibels. We also conducted IAQ evaluations to compare existing conditions to recommend levels for harmful contaminants. To support this client, our team:
- Conducted personal noise dosimetry sampling to evaluate employees’ occupational exposure to noise.
- Conducted noise mapping surveys in select facilities to identify areas/departments where employees were required to wear hearing protection.
- Performed octave band analysis (OBA) in the bank’s data center to identify frequency ranges that could be targeted to reduce overall noise levels throughout the center.
- Measured general IAQ parameters for carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, relative humidity, temperature and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to evaluate the acceptability of the indoor air.
In addition, we supported software integration to manage occupational exposure to noise and/or IAQ. This included implementation of a Hearing Conservation Program that complies with OSHA 1910.95 and services related to the evaluation of IAQ that include the inspection of air handling units, investigation of odors and/or evaluating allergen levels.
Results
TRC’s team helped cultivate a healthy and safe work, environment for our client’s employees and allowed the organization to maintain regulatory compliance. We continue to provide ongoing noise evaluation for occupational exposure to noise, noise mapping and OBA evaluations for the client as well as proactive IAQ evaluations for the client’s office building locations.
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