Tweetz Backgrounds

Lead is a base metal with many uses. Lead is also a toxic substance, which can cause serious health problems. OSHA Lead Standards are aimed at protecting workers who may be exposed to lead by requiring workplace monitoring and employee training. The two standards, workplace monitoring and employee training, deal with different types of work environments. Yet each standard contains many similarities.

Both standards require employers to set up worker training programs covering the health effects and risks of lead exposure. Training must take place before employees can begin work. Periodic training refresher courses are also required. OSHA requires employers to setup a “Medical Surveillance Program” to help prevent lead poisoning. Employers must also maintain a written compliance program (the Exposure Control Plan) to document and describe the methods used to protect employees from lead exposure.

Although lead is common in everyday life, it can have serious health effects. When lead is absorbed into the body, in large amounts, exposure can be fatal. There are two types of overexposure that can occur from excessive amounts of lead: (1) Chronic refers to the presence of small amounts of lead which are continually absorbed and accumulated in the body, (2) Acute refers cases where large amounts of lead are absorbed in the body in a short period of time.

1. Lead can enter the body in two ways:
2. Inhalation. By breathing in dust or fumes.

Ingestion. By swallowing lead dust.

Once lead enters into the body and touches vital organs such as the stomach or lungs, it is absorbed into the bloodstream. While they do occur, incidences of exposure to deadly levels of lead in the workplace are highly unusual. Still, small amounts of lead can accumulate over time and can eventually produce serious health problems.

“Chronic overexposure” can damage the body through the urinary system, the reproductive system and the nervous system. Symptoms of chronic overexposure include headache, dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite, a metallic taste, insomnia, excessive tiredness, muscle/joint pain or soreness, constipation and colic.

“Acute overexposure” can cause fatigue, restlessness, headache, poor memory, vertigo, drowsiness, hallucinations, delirium, convulsions and coma. The most serious result of acute overexposure is Encephalopathy, which can cause death with as little as 48 hours after it produces seizures and eventually heart failure.

Anyone experiencing symptoms of lead overexposure should seek immediate medical attention.

OSHA Lead Standards are:

OSHA 29 CFR 1926.62 is OSHA’s Interim Final Rule for Lead in Construction. It covers a number of activities, including, renovation and demolition involving lead-based materials and removal of lead-based paint.

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1025 covers the use of lead in general industry. It includes lead smelting, manufacturing and the use of lead-based pigments contained in inks, paints and other solvents in addition to the manufacturing and recycling of lead batteries.

Individual employers working in industries that commonly use lead based products or employers who are commonly exposed to environments where lead based products may be used, are required to comply with OSHA Lead Standards through the implementation of specific training and monitoring procedures.

Digital, digital and digital. Looks as if everyone wants to go the digital way. With the digital revolution and digital technology penetrating itself deep into our daily lives, we often land up confused about which product should be the best buy. Same is the case with digital cameras.

Today almost every camera company has launched digital cameras, and it has become really tough to choose the best among the very best cameras. Every camera has some or the other unique feature which seems more interesting than the other. But if you remain a little careful and identify your actual needs of a digital camera, you would certainly land up buying an appropriate camera for yourself.

There are six important factors which you need to consider while choosing a camera for yourself and getting the best out of it. These six factors are your budget, battery life, megapixels, exposure control, zoom lens and user controls. Let us discuss each one of these aspects which play a major role in buying a perfect camera for your needs.

Budget

Before buying a digital camera it is essential that you understand your budget, the limit of your budget indeed. The limit of budget implies that extent to which you can spend money for buying a digital camera. You must be amazed at the cameras which offer 8 megapixel and have 8x optical zoom and many additional features. You would certainly like to buy them, but then you need a camera for general photography and your budget is $500. So it is essential that you look out for a camera which is available within $500 and serves the best for general photography. Knowing your budget would definitely narrow down your search for digital camera.

Megapixels

The cost of digital cameras is determined due to a number of megapixels they offer. Today you can find a digital camera ranging from 2 megapixels to 12 megapixels. Obviously the quality would be very different, but then each camera is made for a specific use. Suppose you want to send or transfer your photographs over the net and you need a digital camera for that, your purpose would be solved by a 3 megapixel camera. On the other hand if you want a camera for high professional photography, a 7 or 8 megapixel cameras would be best suited for you. So deciding on the megapixel is an essential aspect for the best digital camera buys.

Zoom Lens

Now zoom lens plays an important part in the overall functioning of a camera. There are two types inbuilt zoom in a digital camera. The first one is an optical zoom. Optical zoom refers to the zoom when the lenses physically move forward to zoom on a subject. The other type of zoom is digital zoom, wherein the image is digitally magnified within the chip. You should always look for a camera which has a higher optical zoom, because the quality of image with digital zoom is not so good. Moreover you should also decide the range of the zoom lens you want in your camera.

Exposure Control

If you are a professional photographer, it is advisable that you choose a camera which offers manual setting options for shutter speed and aperture speed. It is essential because the manual setting can provide you with the best quality images. There are several cameras which offer 1/4000 shutter speeds in 2 seconds or 1/10000 in 6 seconds. Choosing a camera with various exposure controls lets you capture lifetime photographs.

Battery Life

Considering battery life is the least option that people would look for in a camera. But in the long run, battery life proves to be very worthy. You should always verify that your camera doesn’t drain your battery faster than you expect.

User Controls

A good digital camera is one, which provides you easy usage and easy handling. If you are a beginner, you should look out for a camera which has easy controls, and provides easy accessibility to the user controls. There are various user controls like flash, exposure, macro mode and resolution. You should make your self comfortable with all these options in the store itself. As for professional photography, you would certainly like to have more detailed options and features for effective results. But you should also ensure the accessibility to these options is easy.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say, “I only shoot RAW” (you could substitute JPEG for RAW here) I would be rich. Truth be told, if one limits one’s self to a single format then, I suggest, that one has established limits that are simply stifling one’s creative choices. Many people argue that RAW is superior to JPEG in that it captures a significantly wider dynamic range, a fact quite true for single image photography. When it comes to creating hdr images, however, JPEG is the virtual equal of RAW. The dynamic range of an hdr image is captured through exposure control across 3 to 5 bracketed exposures (some folks use up to 7 bracketed exposures but I think this is overkill) exposing for extremes at either end of the dynamic range. By relying on multiple exposures and merging them into an hdr format one extends their ability to capture the dynamic range of a scene so that the final image created extends across the entire dynamic range of the scene being photographed. If your camera only shoots in JPEG you shouldn’t run to the photo shop and buy one that adds RAW to your gadget bag unless, of course, you have other reasons to shoot in RAW.

In HDR photography, RAW does provide one with a possible advantage. RAW exposures create a digital file (not an image) that captures all that the camera’s sensor is capable of capturing. The RAW image displayed is prioritized to the camera settings but all of the other image data is present in the file as well. In single image shooting, RAW offers one a wide range of fixes for shots that simply got away, that are over or under exposed or the white balance is way off. Because all of the data is already there, poor RAW images can be salvaged. In HDR the RAW file allows one to create a faux HDR image in a number of conversion/merger software solutions. Photomatix Pro, the software I use allows one to create a passable HDR image from a single RAW formatted file.

Other post-processing software have presets that selectively adjust the highlights and shadows of a single image to produce something that appears to have the full dynamic range of a merged HDR image but don’t be fooled! Adjusting the shadows and highlights is something like putting 10 peaches in a small basket and then transferring them to a bigger basket. The fact still remains that one still only has 10 peaches. While these adjusting techniques produce interesting images, they are not what they pretend to be.

One more thing to keep in mind. RAW files are quite large and slow. Recall that they record simply everything that can be recorded and store that information in a digital file. To display the RAW file on your camera’s display or on your monitor the prioritized image is converted to a JPEG prior to display. JPEG captures are smaller and load much quicker in both the camera and monitor. Shooting JPEG will speed processing time. If this is important to you than JPEG may be the format of choice.

Making the choice between shooting HDR bracketed images in RAW or JPEG is a matter of choosing the best solution for the task at hand. Let me give you an example. When I am going out to capture an HDR landscape I normally lug my Canon 5D and a carbon fiber tripod (its both sturdy and lightweight but quite expensive). That way I can take my time, compose the image to my liking and manually control my bracketing. When I am in full control I capture HDR brackets in high quality JPEG. But there are times when I am taken by surprise. I see a scene that would make a perfect HDR image but I don’t have an adequate tripod with me. I then take a single image shot in RAW and let Photomatix Pro create a faux HDR tone mapped image. While not perfect, it is a perfectly good solution in a pinch.