Computer aided assessment and design of occupationally healthier process during research and development stage

Abstract

Systematic computer-aided tool was developed for early inherent health hazards assessment during process research and development stage. Themethodis based on the earlier manual-basedapproach called the Inherent Occupational Health Index method. The tool was developed using MATLAB®(R2010b) and is presented in the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Electronic chemical properties database of almost 800 chemicals was constructed and this database was integrated with the computer-aided tool. The database further enhances the attractiveness of the proposed tool as users need only to key in process conditions data and the remaining materialrelated data will be directly imported from the database. The tool was applied on six process routes to produce methyl methacrylate. It was found that with the proposed computer-aided tool the inherent occupational health evaluation has now become much easier and faster. Besides, the method also can be integrated with existing CAPE tools.