With the aging workforce in the United States and many employees working well past the standard retirement age of 65, there is heightened concern about those who have implanted and portable medical devices (like pacemakers and insulin pumps, respectively) and who work in and around electromagnetic energy fields. At certain field strengths and frequencies, these energy sources have the potential to adversely affect the operation of these devices and put the employee at risk for corresponding health issues. The American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) has issued guideline human exposure values for workers with implanted medical devices that operate in static magnetic fields as well as both magnetic and electric fields between 50 and 60 Hz. These allowable field strengths are lower than those allowed for the general public under the IEEE C95.1-2019 standard for these frequencies.
The firm of Smith and Fisher has the ability to measure low-frequency electric and magnetic field strengths with state-of-the-art meters and probes. We also have significant experience taking such measurements in various environments, especially those associated with power generation equipment (such as at substations). We can determine those areas that exceed the ACGIH exposure standards so that companies can develop appropriate access controls and/or training for those workers with implanted and portable medical devices, as well as for non-employees who also may be using such devices.
