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Compared with the air quality monitoring methods of even a few years ago, today’s air monitor system offers its users a quicker, more effective, and comprehensive way to assess potential environmental hazards. A construction and renovation project within any facility creates a range of situations which can release debris, pollutants and contaminants that can impact the indoor air quality. These contaminants may be transported to other areas via HVAC systems, personnel coming and going through encapsulation barriers, and other factors that can subsequently affect people beyond the project area. Consideration of the effect upon indoor air quality is particularly important in healthcare settings when performing construction or renovation projects. What is the plan? With the departure of Hurricane Irene, many buildings throughout NJ and NY have sustained a wide range of water damage and require action to remediate or otherwise mitigate the impacts of water intrusion: mold, fungus and structural damage. Timing is a key element in this response; immediate action is necessary to minimize the potential for mold growth within the building envelope. As in medicine, early detection leads to an early (and usually less expensive) cure. Time and water combined can grow to be an expensive and time-consuming enemy. Failure to respond promptly will very likely result in mold growth requiring significantly more demolition than if the condition is handled in a timely manner. What is the definition of “timely”? As soon as mold is discovered! n the second day of 2011, the James Zadroga Act was authorized to broaden and renew funding and extend benefits to Ground Zero workers whose death was a result of exposure. These exposures were directly and indirectly caused by toxins present in the billowing clouds of dusts and smoke following the worst tragedy to happen on American soil in my lifetime. The tragic sickness of countless rescue workers continues to add heartbreak where there is little room for more. Protecting Emergency Response Workers: What Has Changed? Since summer vacation usually means no kids in attendance, it is the time of year when schools generally address their big asbestos issues. So instead of students and teachers filling the classrooms, they are replaced by a range of very specific professionals that are required to get any asbestos inspections, removal, repair, encapsulation and enclosure done! Learn more about asbestos removal in schools including AHERA regulations. In reality, information equals power. The more we know, the better decisions we can make. If we have only half the important details, we will make weak decisions. Let’s use some history to drive this home. Although the Allied Forces ultimately won WWII, overconfidence from the D-Day invasion and the quickness with which the Allies pushed the Germans eastward across France, caused Eisenhower to underestimate the tactical abilities and determination of Hitler’s army. This resulted in the disastrous Operation Market-Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. Because of lack of current data in the Market-Garden strategy, the Allies were not in Berlin by the end of 1944 as they expected. Instead, by December of 1944 the Germans had broken through into the Allies’ line of advance in the Ardennes and caught us ill-prepared. Poor intelligence cost tens of thousands of lives. This is perhaps one of the most dramatic examples of “not enough information”, but it makes the point. Amazingly, with the communication capabilities of today’s wireless, cellular, Internet and other “instantaneous” technologies, many choose NOT to use this power to gather all the project information that they can get. Bruce Groves makes a presentation at the New Jersey Clean Air Council’s (NJCAC) annual meeting on April 13th that focused on – a technical dialogue from multiple experts on how to measure and identify the effect of air pollution (and other environmental stressors) on the cumulative health issues of the public. The meeting aimed to bring professionals from varying disciplines to discuss technical approaches, academic research and general opinions on how to reduce this pollution and therefore improve the health of the affected populations. Maybe this daily air monitoring process looks familiar to you? Collecting samples at the end of the day from every instrument, downloading the data and then studying the data to see what had happened. Snow, rain, ice, cold…the daily routine didn’t vary much! After accepting the learning curve, the ease of operation and the effectiveness of the new technologies of the Greenlight System have allowed me to provide more effective support to the site construction team. |
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