Occupational Hygiene FAQs
Answers to common questions about engaging an occupational hygienist, preparing for an assessment, understanding the process and requesting a quotation.
Getting Started
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A hygiene assessment helps you understand real risks in your workplace and take steps to protect your people. It’s not just about compliance (though that’s important). It’s about reducing health risks that can lead to illness, absenteeism, or long-term claims.
Regular assessments show your commitment to worker wellbeing and can help you meet WHS obligations, improve productivity, and avoid costly incidents or enforcement actions.
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You don’t need to know exactly which service you require before getting in touch.
Start by telling us what is happening at your workplace, what concerns you have, and what you are trying to achieve. This might be a worker exposure concern, a compliance requirement, a planned project, an unusual process, or simply uncertainty about whether a workplace health risk is being adequately controlled.
AusCOH can discuss the issue with you, identify the most appropriate type of assessment and recommend a practical scope of work. Where several hazards may be involved, we can also help determine which issues should be prioritised and whether monitoring or further investigation is actually necessary.
Our aim is to make sure the assessment is proportionate to the issue and provides the information you need to make informed decisions.
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Typically, it starts with a discussion about your needs and any concerns you have. Then we’ll plan the assessment to suit your operations, often with minimal disruption to work.
A site visit involves inspecting processes, observing tasks, taking measurements or samples, and talking with your team. Afterward, you’ll receive a clear, practical report explaining the findings, what they mean, and what to do next.
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In most cases, disruption is minimal.
Occupational hygiene assessments are often most useful when work is being carried out under normal operating conditions, so we generally try to observe and measure activities as they would ordinarily occur.
Some assessments may involve workers wearing small monitoring equipment, brief discussions with employees, access to particular work areas, or short periods of measurement around equipment and processes. We will explain what is required beforehand and work with you to minimise any impact on production, staff or normal operations.
Where a particular activity needs to be monitored, we can also coordinate the assessment around your work schedule so the measurements are representative of actual conditions.
Quotations and Timing
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Costs vary depending on the site location, type of assessment, number of workers or areas, shift arrangements, sampling requirements, laboratory analysis and reporting needs.
AusCOH provides a clearly defined scope and transparent quotation before work begins. As an independent consultancy, projects can be scoped proportionately without unnecessary layers or overhead.
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We like to keep it simple. To give you an accurate, transparent quote, we’ll usually ask for:
- A brief description of your site or business (e.g. size, industry, location).
- The type of assessment or service you need (e.g. air monitoring, noise survey).
- Shift length and structure.
- Number of workers or areas involved (if relevant).
- Preferred timing or any deadlines.
The more detail you can share, the better we can tailor the scope and cost to suit your needs and budget. If you’re not sure what you need yet, we’re happy to talk it through with you.
If the site is more complex, sometimes a site visit and walkthrough is more beneficial.
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We’re flexible and aim to fit your schedule. Some assessments can be arranged at short notice if needed. For more complex projects or busy periods, it helps to book in advance.
We also offer after-hours or weekend work for sites that can’t be assessed during normal hours, and we can arrange ongoing monitoring programs if needed.
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Yes. Where required, assessments can often be arranged outside normal business hours, including evenings, early mornings or weekends.
This can be useful where the activity being assessed only occurs at particular times, where monitoring needs to capture a specific shift or process, or where completing the assessment during normal hours would cause unnecessary disruption.
Timing can be discussed when the assessment is being planned so that the work is undertaken when it will provide the most useful and representative information.
Qualifications and Reporting
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Yes. AusCOH is led by David Jowett, a Certified Occupational Hygienist (COH)® with over 15 years of industry experience.
David holds a Graduate Diploma in Occupational Hygiene, is a Full Member of the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists (MAIOH), a RESP-FIT Accredited Fit Tester, and a Licensed Asbestos Assessor.
You can trust you’re getting professional, accredited advice at the highest standard.
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You’ll get an easy-to-understand report written in plain English, tailored to your business. It includes:
- Measurements or sampling results
- Clear interpretation of what they mean for worker health
- Comparison to relevant standards or guidelines
- Practical recommendations for controls or improvements
Our goal is to make sure you know exactly what to do next.
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Occupational hygiene results are not considered in isolation.
AusCOH reviews monitoring and assessment results against applicable workplace exposure limits, legislation, recognised guidelines and accepted occupational hygiene practice. Just as importantly, the results are considered in the context of the work being performed, including the tasks involved, duration and frequency of exposure, work practices, existing controls and the workers who may be affected.
Where exposure monitoring has been undertaken, we explain what the results mean in practical terms rather than simply providing laboratory data or measurement values.
Our reports identify the key findings, explain whether further action may be required and provide practical recommendations to help manage the identified risks. Where appropriate, we can also recommend additional monitoring or ongoing review to confirm that controls remain effective.
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Yes! At AusCOH, we pride ourselves on giving real-world, science-based advice that suits your business. We know every workplace is different, so we don’t offer generic solutions.
We’ll work with you to find controls that are effective, achievable, and appropriate for your industry, size, and budget.
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AusCOH can help identify and assess workplace health hazards, interpret results against relevant criteria and recommend practical controls.
This supports your organisation’s WHS risk-management and due-diligence processes. Responsibility for meeting legal duties remains with the business, and the appropriate assessment scope will depend on the workplace and applicable requirements.