Video exposure monitoring (VEM) is a technique that uses a direct–reading measurement to test a worker’s exposure while performing a task as it is being recorded on videotape. Thus, VEM consists of logged real-time collection superimposed upon worksite video.
As part of an ongoing project to demonstrate the effectiveness of engineering controls used to reduce the amount of worker exposure to airborne crystalline silica dust, the New Jersey Department of Health and other partners are conducting a series of VEM studies.
Shown below are the products of two VEM studies, one on jackhammering concrete and one on overhead sawing. Each study includes a comparison between a dust-suppression engineering control versus a no-control scenario.
In the jackhammer VEM, a side-by-side comparison is presented of work being conducted with and without a water-spray control for silica dust.
Instructions: Allow approximately 5-10 seconds for videos to load. Videos can be played simultaneously. Click to view video: No Control - With Control. If you don't have Windows Media Player, click here to download.
In the right-angle saw VEM, a side-by-side comparison is presented of work being conducted with and without a dust-suppression control during structural repair in a concreted parking garage.
Instructions: Click each play button below to launch videos. Allow approximately 5-10 seconds for videos to load. Videos can be played simultaneously. Click to view video: No Control - With Control. If you don't have Windows Media Player, click here to download.
