What is an Occupational Exposure Limit?
The Occupational Exposure Limit (OEL) is the safety level for dust, fumes, gases and vapours, below which you may not need to wear respiratory protective equipment. For each known hazard, the Health & Safety Executive or equivalent national authority has set a safety limit, a concentration above which the operator need to wear respiratory protective equipment. These safety limits are reviewed regularly and tend to increase rather than decrease. Immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) As a general rule, the lower the OEL, the higher the toxicity of the hazard. TOXIC = Poisonous to the body The OEL can be expressed as a long term limit relating to exposure by the operator for the 8 hours. This is more realistic of a working shift and is, therefore, the more common OEL. Short term limits relate to an exposure of 10 minutes in a day.Both are time weighted averages and take the average concentration over the 8 hour or 10 minute period. How is the OEL expressed? Particulate or fume –
