Some samplers, such as cyclone samplers, have strict guidelines for staying in the correct position to function properly. For example, the hose leading from the air pump needs to be tightly attached so it will not get caught and cause dangerous situations. Furthermore, additional attachment points are needed to ensure that the sampler system stays in the correct position. Worker’s differing sizes (heights, weights, etc.) and different types of worn safety equipment pose challenges for designing harness systems as the same equipment is routinely reused. To enable definite sampler system placement, quite often some kind of harness or back bag system is used. The current state-of-the-art of sampler placement is a clamp with serrated edges, which can usually be attached to the clothing, but slippery fabrics of the work clothes and safety gear may cause problems with it. This can lead to problems when worker’s clothing does not include these aforementioned items. Often instructions for samplers include presuppositions of worker’s clothing/equipment such as “attach to the label of the worker’s coat”, “Clip pump to the worker’s belt”, and “put sampler to the pocket”. In the worst case, poorly attached samplers can change workers maneuvers which can have an impact to the sample results. The need to sample the air that workers breathe creates a challenge for attaching samplers, tubes, and air pumps to the workers without interfering with their work. For such work, an active personal sampler system is a combination of sampler, which collects emissions from the air, an air pump, which pulls in air at a calibrated speed, and hose, which connects them. For example, cyclone samplers can be utilized to measure respirable dust. Depending on the compounds, there are several commercial samplers available. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become increasingly important to maintain sufficient working and social distances to avoid the transmission of aerosol SARS-CoV-2 by inhalation. This is to ensure that workers are not exposed to dangerous levels of airborne contaminants such as dust, biological agents, toxic chemicals, or nanoparticles and that the protective measures are adequate. The purpose of air sampling in a worker’s breathing zone in the workplace is to identify and especially, quantify levels of impurities that worker is exposed during working hours. One of the important ways to assess worker’s personal exposure is to sample the breathing zone of the workers, which is conventionally defined as the area immediately surrounding a worker’s nose and mouth within 30 cm. The field of occupational health varies with the monitoring of working environment air quality being important in traditional fields ranging from mining to pig farming and new emerging areas such as 3D printing. The solution is shared using an open source methodology. The customizable clip system opens new possibilities for occupational health professionals since the basic design can be altered to hold different kinds of samplers and tools. This study presents an innovative custom-designed clip system that can aid in attaching different tools for personal exposure measurement to a worker’s harness without hindering the operation of the worker. The design cost and functionalities of the clip system were compared to commercial systems. The designs were also tested three times in field conditions. The clip system was tested for mechanical stress test to establish a minimum lifetime of 5000 openings, a cleaning test, and a supply chain test. The concept was first tested with a simple clip design, and when it was found to be functional, the ability of the innovative and open source design to be extended to other applications was demonstrated by designing another tooling system. A novel and parametric 3D printable clip system was designed with an open source Computer-aided design (CAD) system and was additively manufactured. Design for additive manufacturing is adopted to help solve problems inherent to attaching active personal sampler systems to workers for monitoring their breathing zone.
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