Occupational Biological Monitoring

Biological Monitoring · Biological Monitoring overview

Occupational biological monitoring sits within the COSHH hierarchy of control as a verification tool — it evidences whether the chosen controls are limiting absorbed dose to acceptable levels in the actual working population.

Position in the hierarchy of control

The COSHH hierarchy prioritises elimination, then substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and finally PPE. Biological monitoring is not a control — it is the measurement that closes the loop, confirming that whatever combination of controls has been chosen is delivering adequate protection in practice.

It is particularly powerful where dermal absorption is significant (skin-notated substances) because air monitoring alone will systematically miss that route.

Relationship to air monitoring

Air monitoring and biological monitoring are complementary. Air monitoring evaluates engineering control performance at the source; biological monitoring evaluates the worker's whole-body exposure across the shift. A programme that uses both can attribute exposure to a specific route and target remedial action correctly.

Integration with occupational health

Biological monitoring results are confidential occupational health data. They should be held by the occupational health provider, reviewed against established reference values, and communicated to the individual worker with interpretation. De-identified group statistics are shared with the employer for control review.