Health & Safety
CARE Programme
- In 1996, ECFIA initiated an industrial hygiene assistance programme known as CARE: "Controlled and Reduced Exposure".
- Cornerstone of the programme consists of industrial hygiene surveys.
- ECFIA hygienists evaluate workplace control methods and monitor personal concentrations of fibrous dust.
- Fibre counting is done by an independent laboratory using phase-contrast optical microscopy (PCOM) in accordance with WHO Euro counting rules.
- During the last nine years of the CARE programme, a total of over 4.822 ATWA measurements were conducted.
- These measurements were the result of regular monitoring at ECFIA primary production plants and of surveys at customers' premises.
Sampling Strategy
As it is impractical to sample all workers a statistically based stratified sampling programme has been devised to collect representative data. Selected individuals are monitored, with separate filters for each task, for an entire shift. Work with HTIW has been classified into the following 'functional categories', all of which are sampled at a frequency proportional to the number of workers employed in each job:
| Fibre production | in manufacturing only |
| Finishing | sanding, grinding, sawing, die cutting, milling or routing |
| Installation | fitting, packing, wrapping, cutting, tamping and hardware installation |
| Removal | mould knockout, cleanup/disposal, disassembly, furnace maintenance |
| Assembly operations | encapsulation/lamination, stapling, sewing, cutting, module fabrication, ball milling and dry mixing |
| Mixing/forming | mixing and forming |
| Auxiliary operations | maintenance, handling /shipping, cleanup, supervision, laboratory |
| Other | textile, automotive and other operations not classified elsewhere |
Product Stewardship Programme
The CARE programme is only one aspect of ECFIA´s Product Stewardship Programme.
