New ASSE book offers math solutions for common problems

The American Society of Safety Engineers has published a new book that the association says gives safety professionals a reference for time-saving solutions to complex problems. Applied Mathematics for Safety Professionals: Tips, Tools and Techniques to Solve Everyday Problems is now available at the ASSE Website, www.

April 1, 2010

The American Society of Safety Engineers has published a new book that the association says gives safety professionals a reference for time-saving solutions to complex problems. Applied Mathematics for Safety Professionals: Tips, Tools and Techniques to Solve Everyday Problems is now available at the ASSE Website, www.asse.org .

Some of the everyday problems and questions safety and health professionals are faced with include queries on circuit power light safety; what rigging is needed to safely lift a load; fugitive emissions from equipment possibly exceeding the PEL; hearing protection requirements for a job; an instrument possibly being excessively unreliable based on its calibration history; and, how many cool-down breaks should be provided to workers inside a hot vessel.

This book not only addresses those questions, but is also aimed at helping college and university students prepare for a career in safety engineering by providing exposure to problems they will encounter and the mathematical tools and analysis techniques needed on the job.

This book explains the practical uses of important mathematical concepts in the many fields in which safety professionals work, including ergonomics, ventilation, noise abatement, radiation, thermal stress, hydrostatics and hydraulics, and engineering economy. Chapters on statistics and probability are also included, providing a broad base of equations in each area along with detailed answers to problems. The book’s contributing authors’ varied backgrounds are in the areas of industrial hygiene, control systems engineering, design engineering, OSHA management, electronics, highly hazardous chemicals and systems analysis.

The book’s contributors include Glenn Young, author of ASSE’s Background Math for the Board of Certified Safety Professionals’ (BCSP) Safety Certification Examinations and consultant in the field of process safety management; Wayne M. LaCombe, MSPH, CSP, an industrial hygiene professional for a petro-chemical facility in Louisiana responsible for industrial hygiene programs; Karen D. Morton, P.E., a control systems engineer with 15 years of instrumentation and controls experience.

Also contributing are Andrew Rodgers, Ph.D., CIH, an adjunct professor in the Nunez Community College Department of Science in New Orleans, LA, teaching chemistry and physics; Marta Vasquez, Ph.D., P.E., a design engineer for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development who formerly worked for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality as an Environmental Chemical Specialist; John Thomas Watkins, M.B.A., B.S., a lead safety engineer and assistant area director, Baton Rouge Area Office of OSHA, who performs and supervises in-depth investigations and inspections in construction, general and maritime industries.

Others include Ronald H. Williams, a principal for EnviroSafe Resources, LLC, providing occupational safety, health and environmental consulting services to a variety of commercial and industrial clients; and, Robert R. Zinn, B.S., CET, who provides hardware, software and network support for the Louisiana State University Chemistry Department.

For more information and to order the book please go to www.asse.org .