Do's and Don'ts of Atmospheric Testing

Every air monitoring program is filled with a number of choices that ultimately affect the safety of workers as they perform their daily duties. Typically the program is far from the core competency and productive focus of a company's staff and workforce. Too often, this distraction from the organization's main theme causes the program to concentrate on doing only what is necessary to get by, rather than focus on what is involved with best practices in the industry. The following list comprises some of the most common mistakes encountered with atmospheric testing. 1. Wrong sensors for the job. The most fundamental mistake in an air monitoring program is the lack of proper detection equipment. Somewhere along the way, a portable confined space gas monitor became defined as a four-gas instrument which detects oxygen, combustible gas, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide.