CHANGES REGARDING HYDROGEN SULFIDE

n February, 2010 the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) changed the threshold limit value (TLV) and the short-term exposure limit (STEL) recommendation for hydrogen sulfide. The TLV was changed from 10 parts per million (ppm) to 1 ppm, and the STEL was changed from 15 ppm to 5 ppm. The ACGIH is a professional association of industrial hygienists and practitioners of related professions, with a goal to advance worker protection by providing timely, objective, scientific information to occupational and environmental health professionals. ACGIH establishes TLVs for chemical substances and physical agents. The TLV of a chemical substance is a level to which it is believed a worker can be exposed day after day for a working lifetime without adverse health effects. The STEL of a chemical substance is a level to which it is believed that a worker can be exposed for no longer than 15 minutes four times a day or less where that worker should not show adverse health effects. The recommended TLVs and STELs are developed as guidelines for use by trained professionals, and are not intended for use as legal standards.

limit of 50 ppm. Exposure at the STEL should not be repeated more than four times per day with at least 60 minutes between successive exposures in this range. OSHA does not recognize the ACGIH guidelines. Although compliance with the ACGIH standards is not mandatory, it is often believed that these standards represent best health and safety management practices. Therefore the fear4 exists that if a worker becomes seriously ill or injured from an alleged exposure may utilize the ACGIH TLV and STEL in a courtroom situation.

HOW DOES THIS CHANGE WHAT WE DO?

WHY COMPLY?

OSHA does not establish a TLV for hydrogen sulfide. OSHA has established a 10-minute ceiling exposure limit of 20 ppm and an instantaneous peak exposure
Provided by IMA, Inc. for the exclusive use of our clients. www.imacorp.com
Information provided by Jeff CitroneRisk Control Consultant, IMA of Colorado.

Currently field monitoring for hydrogen sulfide involves using an instantaneous read instrument and setting a ceiling exposure limit. These trends in field monitoring for hydrogen sulfide exposure are based on the previous ACGIH TLV of 10 ppm, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended short-term exposure limit of 10 ppm, or the OSHA instantaneous ceiling exposure limit of 20 ppm. The majority of oilfield operators and service companies currently set an alarm limit of 10 ppm hydrogen sulfide for workers at their locations, establishing that workers evacuate a location if that alarm level is exceeded. If oilfield operators and service companies were to follow the new

All IMA recommendations are purely advisory to help clients identify and effectively control exposures to loss. We do not infer or imply in the making of recommendations and comments that all possible hazards are noted or to indicate that other hazards do not exist. The maintenance of safe premises, operations and equipment, the avoidance of unsafe conditions and practices, and compliance with Federal, State and local statutes and laws are the sole responsibility of the client.

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ACGIH guidelines, they would lower this ceiling guideline to 1 ppm hydrogen sulfide. The instruments currently used by the oilfield operators and service companies to monitor hydrogen sulfide exposures to their employees may not all be capable of accurate detection at levels below 1 ppm. Each currently used instrument would have to be evaluated for its applicability for use with the lower limits. At a minimum the current instruments will have to be re-calibrated and re-alarmed to the lower levels. In addition to evaluating the ceiling limits an employee may be exposed to, it may also be necessary to evaluate the full-shift and short-term timeweighted average hydrogen sulfide exposure of the employee with respect to the lower TLV. This evaluation would involve collection of a larger set of data utilizing classic industrial hygiene sampling techniques, or at a minimum instruments with datalogging capabilities. This is not always currently done.

TRAINING

If your company does adopt the new ACGIH guidelines, all affected personnel will need to have their H2S training updated.

Provided by IMA, Inc. for the exclusive use of our clients. www.imacorp.com
Information provided by Jeff CitroneRisk Control Consultant, IMA of Colorado.

All IMA recommendations are purely advisory to help clients identify and effectively control exposures to loss. We do not infer or imply in the making of recommendations and comments that all possible hazards are noted or to indicate that other hazards do not exist. The maintenance of safe premises, operations and equipment, the avoidance of unsafe conditions and practices, and compliance with Federal, State and local statutes and laws are the sole responsibility of the client.

CAMBIOS CHANGES CON RR EGARDING ESPECTO AL HYDROGEN CIDO SULFHDRICO SULFIDE

n febrero de 2010, la Convencin de Higienistas Industriales Gubernamentales de los EE.UU. (ACGIH, por sus siglas en ingls) modific la recomendacin del valor umbral lmite (TLV, por sus siglas en ingls) y del lmite de exposicin a corto plazo (STEL, por sus siglas en ingls) para el cido sulfhdrico. El TLV fue modificado de 10 partes por milln (ppm) a 1 ppm y el STEL fue modificado de 15 ppm a 5 ppm. La ACGIH es una asociacin profesional de higienistas industriales y practicantes de profesiones afines, con el objetivo de hacer progresar la proteccin laboral por medio del suministro de informacin oportuna, objetiva y cientfica a profesionales en salud ocupacional y ambiental. La ACGIH estipula los TLV para sustancias qumicas y agentes fsicos. El TLV de una sustancia qumica es un nivel al que se cree que un trabajador puede exponerse das tras da durante una vida de trabajo sin efectos adversos para la salud. El STEL para una sustancia qumica es un nivel al que se cree que un trabajador puede exponerse durante no ms de 15 minutos, cuatro veces al da o menos, con el cual el trabajador no debera manifestar efectos adversos para la salud. Los TLV y STEL recomendados se han desarrollado como directrices para ser utilizadas por profesionales capacitados y no se pretende que se usen como normas legales.

POR QU SE DEBEN ACATAR?

OSHA no estipula un TLV para el cido sulfhdrico. OHSA estableci un lmite tope de exposicin de 10 minutos de 20 ppm y un lmite mximo de exposicin instantnea de 50 ppm. Una exposicin al STEL no debera repetirse ms de cuatro veces al da, con al menos 60 minutos entre exposiciones sucesivas en este intervalo. OSHA no reconoce las directrices de la ACGIH. Si bien no es obligatorio el acatamiento de las normas de la ACGIH, a menudo se cree que estas normas representan las mejores prcticas de gestin de salud y seguridad. Por consiguiente, existe el temor que si un trabajador se enferma o se lesiona gravemente debido a una presunta exposicin, que ste pueda utilizar el TLV y el STEL de la ACGIH en un tribunal.

CMO MODIFICA ESTO LO QUE HACEMOS?

En la actualidad, la supervisin de campo del cido sulfhdrico conlleva el uso de un instrumento lector instantneo y la estipulacin de un lmite tope de exposicin. Estas tendencias en la supervisin de campo para la exposicin de cido sulfhdrico se fundamentan en el previo TLV de la ACGIH de 10 ppm; el Instituto Nacional de Seguridad Ocupacional y Salud (NIOSH, por sus siglas en

Provided by IMA, Inc. for the exclusive use of our clients. www.imacorp.com
Information provided by Jeff CitroneRisk Control Consultant, IMA of Colorado.

All IMA recommendations are purely advisory to help clients identify and effectively control exposures to loss. We do not infer or imply in the making of recommendations and comments that all possible hazards are noted or to indicate that other hazards do not exist. The maintenance of safe premises, operations and equipment, the avoidance of unsafe conditions and practices, and compliance with Federal, State and local statutes and laws are the sole responsibility of the client.

SAFETYMATTERS
ingls) recomend un lmite de exposicin a corto plazo de 10 ppm; o el lmite tope de exposicin instantnea de OSHA de 20 ppm. La mayora de los operarios y empresas de servicio de los yacimientos petrolferos actualmente fijan un lmite de alarma de 10 ppm de cido sulfhdrico para trabajadores en sus lugares, estipulando que los trabajadores deben evacuar un lugar si ese nivel de alarma se sobrepasa. Si los operarios y las empresas de servicios de los yacimientos petrolferos fueran a acatar las nuevas directrices de ACGIH, reduciran esta directriz de limites mximos a 1 ppm de cido sulfhdrico. Es posible que no todos los instrumentos que actualmente utilizan los operarios y empresas de servicio de los campos petrolferos para supervisar las exposiciones de cido sulfhdrico en sus empleados puedan detectar con precisin a niveles inferiores al 1 ppm. Cada uno de los instrumentos actualmente en uso tendra que ser evaluado para determinar su aplicabilidad para ser utilizados con los lmites ms bajos. Como mnimo, los instrumentos actuales tendrn que volverse a calibrar y fijar sus alarmas de conformidad con los niveles ms bajos. Adems de evaluar los lmites tope a los que pueda exponerse un empleado, es posible que tambin sea necesario evaluar la exposicin promedio de tiempo ponderado al cido sulfhdrico, a turno completo y a corto plazo, del empleado con respecto al TLV ms bajo. Esta evaluacin conllevara la recopilacin de un nmero mayor de datos, utilizando tcnicas clsicas de muestreo de higiene industrial o, como mnimo, instrumentos con capacidades para registro secuencial de datos. En la actualidad, esto no siempre se hace.

ADIESTRAMIENTO

Si su empresa en efecto adopta las nuevas directrices de ACGIH, todo los empleados afectados tendrn que recibir una capacitacin actualizada de H2S.

Provided by IMA, Inc. for the exclusive use of our clients. www.imacorp.com
Information provided by Jeff CitroneRisk Control Consultant, IMA of Colorado.

All IMA recommendations are purely advisory to help clients identify and effectively control exposures to loss. We do not infer or imply in the making of recommendations and comments that all possible hazards are noted or to indicate that other hazards do not exist. The maintenance of safe premises, operations and equipment, the avoidance of unsafe conditions and practices, and compliance with Federal, State and local statutes and laws are the sole responsibility of the client.

SAFETYMATTERS

FACTS ABOUT HYDROGEN SULFIDE

Flammable Colorless Toxic,

gas

even at extremely low concentrations than air and can accumulate in low-lying areas like rotten eggs

Heavier Smells Can

cause you to quickly lose your sense of smell at low concentrations

Provided by IMA, Inc. for the exclusive use of our clients. www.imacorp.com
Information provided by Jeff CitroneRisk Control Consultant, IMA of Colorado.

All IMA recommendations are purely advisory to help clients identify and effectively control exposures to loss. We do not infer or imply in the making of recommendations and comments that all possible hazards are noted or to indicate that other hazards do not exist. The maintenance of safe premises, operations and equipment, the avoidance of unsafe conditions and practices, and compliance with Federal, State and local statutes and laws are the sole responsibility of the client.

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DATOS ACERCA DEL CIDO SULFHDRICO

Inflamable Gas

incoloro incluso en concentraciones sumamente bajas

Txico, Ms

pesado que el aire y puede acumularse en reas por debajo del nivel del mar a huevos podridos hacerle perder rpidamente su sentido del olfato en concentraciones bajas

Huele Puede

Provided by IMA, Inc. for the exclusive use of our clients. www.imacorp.com
Information provided by Jeff CitroneRisk Control Consultant, IMA of Colorado.

All IMA recommendations are purely advisory to help clients identify and effectively control exposures to loss. We do not infer or imply in the making of recommendations and comments that all possible hazards are noted or to indicate that other hazards do not exist. The maintenance of safe premises, operations and equipment, the avoidance of unsafe conditions and practices, and compliance with Federal, State and local statutes and laws are the sole responsibility of the client.

SAFETYMATTERS
MEETING TOPIC: CHANGES REGARDING HYDROGEN SULFIDE PRINT NAME DATE: _______________ SIGN NAME LOCATION/DEPARTMENT: ____________________________________________________________

By signing this sheet you are acknowledging participation in this training.