Who we are
BRITER is an environmental, chemical and industrial hygiene/safety consulting firm. We offer our clients personalized service at competitive prices. Our firm specializes in:
- Certified Industrial Hygiene Services
- Remedial Action Studies and Plans
- Health and Safety Plans
- Indoor Air Pollution (Tight Build and Sick Building Syndromes)
- Certified Safety Inspections (both manufacturing and construction
- Asbestos Material Identification and Abatement Management
- Environmental Audits and Site Assessments
- Governmental Agency Liaison
- Expert Witness Services
- Training in OSHA/RCRA/DOT
BRITER staff are trained professionals, holding national board certifications in Industrial Hygiene, Safety and Environmental Training. Our staff is available to provide insightful evaluation and knowledgeable recommendations to your OSHA and EPA compliance situations.
Our approach to problem-solving is to obtain a detailed understanding of your facilities processes, the operations and raw materials being utilized. This information will be translated into the collection of meaningful data and formulated into a comprehensive remediation / compliance plan.
BRITER staff are experienced in providing these services using state-of-the-art test equipment, while practicing full quality control procedures.
Additionally, our staff members interface well with all levels of management - both private industry and governmental - to assure the successful completion of your project.
Degree's and Certifications
All BRITER staff hold Bachelors in Industrial Hygiene (Health-Related Professions/Occupational Health and Safety). Additionally, we hold national board certifications and registrations in the following areas:
- Certified Industrial Hygenist
CIH
- Certified Safety Professional
CSP
- Certified Environmental Trainer
CET
- OSHA / EPA HAZWOP/ER and Supervisory Training
29 CFR 1910.120
- FEMA Disaster / Emergency Management / Manager Training
- EPA / AHERA Asbestos Building Inspector and Contractor / Supervisor
Staff
Brian Gladhart, CEO of BRITER
Current CEO and President of BRITER Environmental, Brian has served the Tucson community since 1992 helping people all across the mid-west. Besides a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Hygiene, Brian maintains professional certifications in several key areas (MSHA, asbestos, emergency response and FEMA).
Alongside his professional work, Brian also taught students as a primary instructor for the largest training provider in the Southwest in topics for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act courses that include Contractor/Supervisor, Operations and Maintenance and Building Inspector.
BRITER is a home-grown business built from the ground up and supported by years of great service and reference from satisfied clients. From the local schoolhouse to the industrial airfield, Brian has taken samples, professionally evaluated the outcomes and prepared reports to concisely explain the problems and their circumstances in the workplace. We can then offer advice on how best to proceed taking care of the situation in a professionally responsible manner that can, in most instances easily be implemented in your workplace.
Industrial Hygienists
BRITER’s American Board of Industrial Hygienists (ABIH) Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIH) have the knowledge and equipment to identify areas in you plant or workplace that could present potential chemical and physical exposure problems. BRITER can perform breathing zone and / or noise dosimetry exposure monitoring, calculate time weighted average exposures and compare them to the OSHA permissible exposure limits or other more stringent guidance values.
We then can assist you in remediation these situations with cost effective recommendations reflected by the project’s outcome. Some of the physical and chemicals that can be assessed for potential exposures include:
Noise Exposure
Monitoring Occupational Noise for exposure (U.S. OSHA for overexposed) alleviates workplace concerns and potential risk. Risk, in this case is prevention of one of the most common workplace health effects and worker complaints. If exposure to noise is evident, BRITER can help you and your organization with remedies that have been found effective in the prevention of hearing loss.
Industrial Chemicals
Industrial chemicals can have a negative impact to your staff. BRITER helps ensure overexposures to these chemicals don’t occur. If an overexposure is found, we can assist you in correcting the situation and return your risk to a minimal level of concern.
Styrene and Epoxy-based Resins
Styrene resins impart a sweet smell into the workplace. However, their use can create unnecessary exposures that have long-term effects. Monitoring for both styrene and epoxy exposures is prudent practice. BRITER can monitor these monomers and assist you in remedial actions that can attempt to minimize both or either employee exposure.
Urethane-based Paints and Spray Foams
Isocyanates are a class of highly reactive chemicals with widespread industrial, commercial, and retail or consumer applications. Exposure to isocyanates may cause skin, eye and lung irritation, asthma, and “sensitization.”
Silica Dust
Breathing in dust from silica-containing materials can lead to silicosis. Silica dust particles become trapped in lung tissue causing inflammation and scarring. The particles also reduce the lungs’ ability to take in oxygen. This condition is called silicosis. Silicosis results in permanent lung damage and is a progressive, debilitating, and sometimes fatal disease.
Chrome Plating and Anodizing Operations
Beyond being an irritation to the nose, throat and lungs Chromium can cause cancer of the lungs.
We also deal with:
- Oil and Latex Acrylic-based Paints
- Hexavalent Chromium from Paints and Alodine
- Flotation Chemicals and Flocculants
- All forms of Nuisance Dust
- Any Compound, Solvent or Reactant that presents an exposure hazard
- Ceramic Powders, Process Powders, Salts and Dry Compounds
Written Compliance Services
BRITER can provide written programs to satisfy government and safety organizational requirements. We have written compliance documents for the following programs:
- U.S. OSHA Hazard Communication Program (Employee Right-to-Know)
- Chemical Hazard Program (Laboratory Right-to-Know)
- Hearing Conservation Program
- AHERA-based Asbestos Management Plans
- Site-Specific Chemical and Physical Hazard Management Plans
Clients
Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air quality issues began back in the 1990’s with the advent of higher fuel and energy costs. These higher fuel costs translated to owners tightening their buildings to lighten the burden placed upon them by higher heating and cooling costs. Fresh air intake was minimized in order to lower electric and natural gas usage and cost. Tight Building Syndrome (TBS) became a national problem within a few years and placed an extreme burden upon staff members that was until this point in time basically unheard of.
With the realization of this unique situation, the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) replaced older standards with those that looked towards carbon dioxide concentrations found indoors as indicators of problematic indoor air quality. The older ASHRAE standard using carbon dioxide directly has since been replaced with recommendations for fresh air intake based upon occupancy and square footage. While most of the problems with TBS have been abated with ventilation changes, the area of indoor air quality is still not without its challenges.
BRITER can provide insight and air sampling in the following areas to assist you in the determination of your building, floor or wing, its HVAC system and overall indoor air quality:Asbestos and Mold
Asbestos was described as a “miracle fiber” in its heyday. It was used in over thirty-five hundred different products to strengthen, fire proof, reduce noise transmission, insulate and decorate. It was used in water and flue pipes, sprayed-on decorative and acoustical materials, to strengthen concrete slabs, in floor tiles, mastics, window glazing and roofing materials, to name but a few. Health effects caused by the mining, milling, manufacturing and installation of these asbestos-containing products eventually caused its fall from grace.
BRI+TER can assist you in the identification of asbestos-containing materials located inside and on your building. We follow strict protocols established under the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) regulatory standards in the collection, and analysis of your building samples. As an alternative, we can also use the ASTM E2356-2014 guideline in both the collection and analysis of these bulk samples. This ASTM guideline can offer a more definitive outcome to better answer the question…Is this an asbestos-containing material.
BRITER can provide the following asbestos related services:
- Building Inspection following AHERA Regulations
- Building Inspections using the ASTM E2356-2014 Guidelines
- NESHAP required Building Inspection needed prior to Renovation and Demolitions
- AHERA Schools Inspections and Management Plans
- Abatement Project Management
- Abatement Final Clearance Sampling for AHERA Projects (TEM sampling)
- Abatement Final Clearance Sampling following NESHAP Projects (PCM sampling)
BRITER Environmental Inc. | Chemical Consultants, Air Quality and Asbestos
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