Reference no: EM133373021

An employee working in a room measuring 15 ft x 20 ft x 15 ft sprays paint assembly parts using a paint containing hexane. The PEL for hexane is 500 ppm. The employee wears a half-face, air-purifying respirator, but management would like to install engineering control measures to reduce or eliminate the employee's exposure to hexane. The options are to:

1. install a dilution ventilation system, or

2. install a local exhaust ventilation system.

The employee works a 9-hour shift and has the following exposures

For the general dilution ventilation system to work, there must be at least 20 room air changes per hour. The fan which supplies air to this area produces 1,500 cubic feet per minute (cfm) (Q).