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# N1135 H U .S . DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES a Public Health Service Centers for Disease Control National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 

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VOLUME 1 SURVEY r) MANUAL


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NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE SURVEY FIELD GUIDELINE S

Joseph A . Seta, David S . Sundin and David H . Pedersen

U .S . DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Public Health Servic e Centers for Disease Contro l National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies Cincinnati, Ohio 4522 6 

### March 1988p .3 a h :~.. DISCLAIMER
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### National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health . 3
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. .. a S• DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No . 88-106 ~<s. . .

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fa .~.p . 4 FOREWOR D The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Surveillance Branch, Hazard Section conducted the National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES) from 1981-1983 . The sample of businesses surveyed in the NOES consists of 4,490 establishments in 98 different geographic locations throughout the United States . The set of surveyed facilities was designed to be representative of virtually all the non-agricultural, non-mining, and non-governmental businesses covered under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 . Like its predecessor, the National Occupational Hazard Survey (NOHS), which was conducted from 1972-1974, the NOES was designed to provide the data necessary to describe potential exposure agents and profile health and safety programs in American workplaces . Specifically, the survey provides data on potential occupational exposures to chemical, physical, and biological agents, and permits an analysis of the changes in the workplace since the NOHS . 

### The material presented here is a compilation of the instructions originally provided to the NOES surveyors and is intended as a reference for those evaluating the survey data and the procedures used in collecting and recording information .



# y iiip . 5 I, ABSTRAC T The National Occupational Exposure Survey ( NOES) was a nationwide data gathering effort designed to develop a base of data which would . support the development of estimates of the number of workers potentially exposed to various chemical, physical and biological agents, and describe the distribution of those potential exposures . Data relating to in-plant health and safety programs were also collected . An ancilliary objective was to compile the data in such a way that analysis of potential exposure trends would be possible by comparing NOES data with ' similar data in the National Occupational Hazard Survey ( NOHS) . 

### Field investigations began in November 1980 and continued for the next 30 months . Trained surveyors conducted on-site visits to each facility in the sample to administer a questionnaire to plant management, to observe processes and operations, and to record potential exposures to al l employees . Walk-through investigations were conducted in 4,490 facilities in 523 different industry types employing approximately 1,800,000 workers in 410 occupational categories . More than 10,000 different potential exposure V agents and over 100,000 unique tradename products were seen during th e 

### on-site visits . This manual presents historical information, instructions and procedures provided to the NOES surveyors . It is intended as a reference for evaluating the survey data, the survey procedures, and the data collection guidelines .



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