ANSI Z9.9-2010 Portable Ventilation Systems


ANSI Z9.9-2010 is a new standard in the ANSI Z9.9 series for which the Secretariat is the American Industrial Hygiene Association. Copies of the standard are obtainable from AIHA  (www.aiha.org).

ANSI 9.9-2010 describes fundamental good practices related to the design, manufacture, labelling, use and application, and maintenance and testing of portable ventilation systems used for the control of airborne contaminants or environmental conditions. Intended users of this Standard include owners of facilities, designers and manufacturers of portable ventilation equipment, employers, industrial hygienists and safety professionals, maintenance personnel, and end-users. This Standard is compatible with other recognized standards of good practice.
 
This Standard is new. It intends to address a long-standing need in the ventilation arena. Portable ventilation is a broad and complex subject. Much of what applies to portable ventilation systems does not apply to fixed systems, and vice versa. Use of portable ventilation equipment occurs in many applications: sewer entries, collection of welding plumes, maintaining negative pressure in structures during asbestos, lead, and mold remediation, and controlling emissions from spray painting and abrasive blasting, to name just a few.
 
This equipment is usually unobtrusive, often just another piece of clutter in surroundings crowded with other portable and mobile equipment and tools.
 
The environment in which much of this equipment is used is rough and tumble. These units can be used in any kind of condition and unpleasant weather. They can be thrown or kicked in frustration, dropped off trucks, and accidentally run-over. These types of units require solid construction. That construction may require incorporation of subtle features such as abuse-tolerant bonding from the electrical box to the frame to the ground connection through the electrical cord. Safety features must provide reliable protection in situations of high abuse.
 
Portable equipment comes in all shapes and sizes, ranging from the home-built to the shop-built to the factory-built, and the utilitarian to the elegant. Very little, if anything, exists in standard textbooks on ventilation about this subject. Yet, the subject is considerably more complicated than meets the eye of the casual observer.