Z9 Accredited Standards Committee  

Health and Safety Standards for Ventilation Systems

The purpose of AIHA ASC Z9 "Health and Safety Standards for Ventilation Systems" is to maintain and update existing standards in the Z9 series, establish new standards as necessary, and resolve issues concerning those standards.

The scope of the ASC Z9 encompasses standards for the design, operation and maintenance of equipment to provide a safe atmosphere in industrial, manufacturing or construction operations by removing harmful substances by either local exhaust or general ventilation and safely disposing of such substances, and such supplementary standards on personal protection as may be necessary to prescribe methods for the protection of workers.

The committee Chair is John M. Price, CIH, CSP, PE, and Vice Chair is Thomas C. Smith.

Z9 Information

• Members
• Subcommittees
• Operating Procedures 
• Minutes 
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • 2005
  • 2004
  • 2003

Updates on Z9 Subcommittees and Standards

• Z9.1: ANSI/AIHA Z9.1-2006 Open-Surface Tanks – Ventilation and Operation: Revised Standard has been approved by ANSI and is available for sale through AIHA. Chair John Sheehy. This standard establishes minimum control requirements and ventilation system design criteria for controlling and removing air contaminants to protect the health of personnel engaged in open-surface tank operations. It is not intended to cover fire protection. 
• Z9.2: ANSI/AIHA Z9.2-2007   Fundamentals Governing the Design and Operation of Local Exhaust Systems: Chair: Jeff Burton: Reaffirmed Standard has been approved by ANSI and is available for sale through AIHA. This Standard establishes minimum requirements for the commissioning, design, specification, construction, and installation of fixed industrial local exhaust ventilation (LEV) systems used for the reduction and prevention of employee exposure to harmful airborne substances in the industrial environment. 
• Z9.3: ANSI/AIHA Z9.3-2007 Spray Finishing Operations - Safety Code for Design, Construction, and Ventilation: Ballot on draft standard has passed. Completion date is fall 2007. Chair: TBD. This standard is intended to help manufacturers and users protect the health of personnel from injurious effects of contact with gases, vapors, mists, dusts, powders, or solvents used in, or created, released or disseminated during or by spray finishing operations. 
• Z9.4: ANSI/AIHA Z9.4-1997 Abrasive-Blasting Operations – Ventilation and Safe Practices for Fixed Location Enclosures: Chair working on updating draft. Chair: Kathleen Paulson. This standard shall apply to all operations in fixed location abrasive-blast enclosures in which an abrasive forcibly comes in contact with a surface by pneumatic or hydraulic pressure or by centrifugal force.  It shall not apply to steam blasting, steam cleaning, or hydraulic cleaning methods in which work is done without the aid of abrasives.  It also shall not apply to abrasive blasting conducted outdoors (e.g., bridges, water towers) even though temporary enclosures may be built at such locations.  This standard has been administratively withdrawn by ANSI. The subcommittee will submit it as a new Standard to ANSI. Draft Standard is being revised and will be balloted in 2008.
• Z9.5: ANSI/AIHA Z9.5-2003 Laboratory Ventilation: Steven Crooks is new Chair. This standard sets forth the requirements for the design and operation of laboratory ventilation systems. Subcommittee membership has being finalized. Revision of the draft standard has begun.
• Z9.6: ANSI/AIHA Z9.6-1999 Exhaust Systems for Grinding, Buffing and Polishing: Draft standard is ready to be sent for public review. Chair: Mark Rollins. The rules and engineering principles described in this standard represent the minimum criteria intended to protect the health of personnel engaged in and working in the vicinity of grinding, polishing, and buffing operations; and to control contaminants generated by those operations. Revised standard has been balloted and gone through the public review process. Standard is expected to be published in June 2008.
• Z9.7: ANSI/AIHA Z9.7-2007 Recirculation of Air from Industrial Process Exhaust Systems: Revised standard has been approved by ANSI and is available for sale through AIHA. Chair: Jeff Burton. This standard established minimum criteria for the design and operation of a re-circulating industrial process exhaust ventilation system used for contaminant control. 
• Z9.9: BSR/AIHA Z9.9 (Draft) Portable Ventilation Systems: Draft new standard is almost ready for the ASC Z9 ballot and public review simultaneously. Chair: Neil McManus. This Standard discusses portable ventilation equipment and systems used for the reduction, control or prevention of exposure to hazardous atmospheres or airborne substances in the occupational environment, and for provision of comfort to employees. Standard has been balloted and has gone through the public review process. Subcommittee is addressing and responding to all comments before finalizing the Standard.
• Z9.10: BSR/AIHA Z9.10-2008 Fundamentals Governing the Design and Operation of Dilution Ventilation Systems in Industrial Occupancies: Chair Jeff Burton. This Standard establishes minimum requirements for the commissioning, design, specification, construction, installation, management, operation, maintenance and testing of dilution ventilation systems (including demand dilution ventilation) used for the reduction, prevention and control of employee exposure to harmful airborne substances in the industrial environment.
• Z9.11: BSR-AIHA Z9.11 (Draft) New Laboratory Decommissioning Standard: Draft expected by the AIHce. Co-chairs: Lou DiBerardinis and Farhad Mezmaradeh. This standard provides an overarching roadmap for the decommissioning process of biological research laboratories that can assist an institution in developing its own Decommissioning Plan. Standard has been balloted and has gone through the public review process.  

All Z9 standards on Health and Safety for Industrial Ventilation Systems can be purchased from AIHA at www.aiha.org or (703) 849 8888. If you would like to participate or want more information please contact AIHA Program Manager, Standards, Mili Mavely.


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