Engineering Controls Reduce Hydrogen Sulphide Exposure in Swine Barns
Three engineering control measures were developed and tested for effectiveness in protecting swine barn workers from exposure to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas during manure handling events. A remote manure pit plug pulling system allowed the worker to pull the manure pit plug from outside the room. A water sprinkling apparatus was also devised, which resulted in 79% reduction of H2S gas concentration under optimal laboratory conditions. A manure scraper system was installed to remove manure daily from the manure pit of a grower-finisher room. Preliminary measurements showed that H2S levels were 80 to 96% lower in the scraper room than in a similar room with a conventional pull-plug system.
Engineering Controls Reduce Hydrogen Sulphide Exposure in Swine Barns (view pdf)