Work Area Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established stringent Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL) for solvent vapors in occupational environments. Vacuum Processing Systems’ protocol mandates achieving the specified PEL within the enclosed chamber prior to opening, ensuring compliance even in the event of accidental occupational exposure. Routine monitoring involves assessing the parts per million (ppm) concentration of cleaning solvents over an 8-hour timeframe (8-hour Time-Weighted Average, TWA), typically via a collection device attached to the primary operator interface of the cleaning system. Although transient exposures to elevated solvent concentrations may occur, the TWA must not exceed OSHA’s prescribed PEL. For chlorinated solvents such as perchloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene, the 8-hour TWA limit is 25 ppm. Our systems reliably record concentrations of 3 ppm or lower during and following cleaning cycles, rendering the TWA exposure effectively negligible under standard operational conditions.