Bruceton Research Center – Protecting Workers for 110 Years

Having had the experience of meeting dozens of top-notch researchers at the Bruceton facility across multiple areas of endeavor was both an honor and a massive source of input and inspiration into the work I did as a safety instrumentation developer over the past 39 years. Even prior to being able to visit the facility in person, my first company, Metrosonics, had developed the very 1st datalogging personal noise dosimeter that could be used in explosive underground environments. The studies done by NIOSH in multiple areas of hazard assessment and exposure monitoring such as noise, heat stress, explosive particulates and respiratory protection helped drive hundreds of innovative solutions by the private sector as companies such as the ones I was associated with took the real life needs of miners, first responders, healthcare workers and ALL workers exposed to Occupational hazards into account when developing new technologies — because of the invaluable research done at Bruceton. Many companies in the area of safety technology are small entrepreneurial businesses driven by a desire to save lives and protect health of workers worldwide, and crippling the work done at Bruceton will have a deleterious effect on new tech development.