Reference no: EM132454648

In the following assignment, you will be given two different questions concerning the material covered in this unit. Each question should be answered using a minimum of 250 words. Any resources, including your textbook, that are utilized to answer the questions should be cited and referenced using APA formatting. A template has been provided here for you to use to answer the questions. Enter your answers into the template, and upload the template into the assignment area within Blackboard. The questions you will be answering are shown below (and in the template).

• The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) currently has a permissible exposure limit (PEL) for noise of 90 dBA at an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA) exposure with an action level of 50% of that exposure. OSHA uses a 5 dB exchange rate (doubling rate); this means that if the exposure increases from 90 dBA to 95 dBA, the allowed exposure time decreases to one-half-from 8 hours to 4 hours.

• The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) recommend using an exposure limit of 85 dBA instead of 90 dBA and also recommend using a 3 dB exchange rate. These levels are much more protective than the levels currently used by OSHA.

Discussion 1: Discuss the merits of each of the two methods. Provide your opinion as to which of the approaches you believe should be used. Support your answer with at least one professional/scholarly reference.

Discussion 2: OSHA does not currently have a regulation specifically covering ergonomic issues. OSHA has issued several guidelines for some specific industries. Consider a workplace you are familiar with where there is a potential for repetitive motion injuries.

Discussion 3: Discuss what methods you would use to identify tasks that would present the greatest risk for repetitive motion injuries. How would you establish an ergonomics program to address the issues? What would be the greatest obstacles in establishing the ergonomics program?