What to Expect from Occupational Hygiene Assessments

Occupational hygiene is one of those industry terms that gets thrown around a lot, but isn’t always well understood. Most people have a general sense that it relates to keeping workers healthy, yet what that looks like in practice can be a bit more vague.

If you’re considering an NZ occupational hygiene assessment, it’s because you want a more accurate picture of how your organisation is managing exposure to risks that might impact workers' health. You might want to confirm that existing controls are doing what they should. Or check that exposure from certain tasks is not going to impact health. Sometimes you just want the data to back the decisions being made around investment into controls that will improve worker health.

That’s where an occupational hygienist comes in, interpreting what’s happening during operations and putting that risk into perspective with recommendations that are both practical and proportionate.

What happens during an occupational hygiene assessment

Not every occupational hygiene assessment involves the same depth of work. The level of assessment will largely depend on the nature of the work, the level of exposure, and what questions you’re trying to answer.

All occupational hygiene assessments begin with understanding the operation:

• Information on the workforce 

• The hazards likely to be present,

• The points in a process where exposure is more likely, and 

• How existing controls are being used in practice.

The occupational hygienist spends time observing work as it happens, which involves talking with staff, watching tasks being performed, and paying attention to things like task duration, work practices, and how equipment is set up or maintained.

Sometimes monitoring can also be used to help answer specific questions about exposure. Those measurements can be reviewed alongside task observations, product safety data sheets, and the realities of the working environment, providing context to our findings.

The focus then shifts to what that information means for your site. Whether risks are being managed appropriately. Whether exposure levels are acceptable or edging closer to unacceptable levels. And which areas deserve attention now, compared with those that can be addressed as part of longer-term planning.

Learn more about Choosing the Right Exposure Assessment for your Workplace.

What you’ll get from an occupational hygiene assessment

The outcome of an occupational hygiene assessment is an evidence-based understanding of your risks and the degree of confidence you can have in the controls already in place.

For some organisations, that will be reassurance that everything is already being well managed. For others, it might highlight the need to adjust a process, review controls, or plan future improvements. Either way, the emphasis is on proportionate action rather than overreaction.

Findings are explained in plain language and linked back to your processes, making it easier to prioritise actions and justify investment where it’s needed. It also helps you explain decisions internally, whether that’s to senior leadership, health and safety teams, or the people on the tools.

When you should involve an occupational hygienist

In many cases, organisations bring in an occupational hygienist to consult when something has changed on-site. That could be a change in materials, a new piece of equipment, an updated process, or feedback from staff that has raised questions about exposure.

Others take a more proactive approach and use occupational hygiene assessments as part of a regular review cycle. This is often the case in environments where exposure risks are an inherent part of the work. Over time, these assessments can help confirm that controls are working and that day-to-day practices haven’t inadvertently increased risk.

Whatever the reason for booking an assessment with an occupational hygienist, having access to the sort of information we can provide allows you to make informed decisions, rather than relying on assumptions.

How occupational hygiene fits with other assessments

Occupational hygiene assessments often sit alongside other forms of monitoring and review. Health risk assessments, ventilation assessments, and indoor air quality checks can all be part of the bigger picture.

Whereas those assessments show what’s happening at a point in time, occupational hygiene helps interpret what that information means in terms of daily operations. It connects the data back to tasks and working conditions and helps determine whether risks are being managed appropriately.

For organisations that already have monitoring data, an occupational hygiene assessment can be the step that turns that data into decisions.

Book occupational hygiene assessments NZ

At its core, occupational hygiene is about understanding exposure to health risks in your workplace and making informed choices around control based on the understanding it provides.

If you’re exploring whether an occupational hygiene assessment is the right next step for your organisation, a conversation is often the best place to start. Get in touch with our team to discuss your options.