ToxiRAE Pro

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The ToxiRAE Pro Single-Gas Detectors, manufactured by RAE Systems, were purchased by KYOSH in 2017. A replacement was needed for the aging and irreparable Quest SafeLog 100s, which were used for carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) detection. The units themselves and parts were no longer being manufactured and existing part stocks were quickly dwindling. Because KYOSH responds relatively frequently to imminent danger calls concerning carbon monoxide, it is imperative to employee safety that KYOSH continuously has functional detectors. The SafeLogs could no longer provide that assurance.

Enter the ToxiRAE Pro. It is a complete replacement for the SafeLog detectors, as there are ToxiRAE Pros for CO detection and NO₂ detection.

KWIC Summary Info

Knowledge With Immediate Concern

If you're pressed for time and need a rundown of the most important items, here you go: [However, if you're not pressed for time, look at the full write-up below.]

• To reach configuration screen on the ToxiRAE, hold down both buttons for at least three seconds. The default password is 0000.
• "Man Down" mode → Off
• "Policy Enforcement" → Both unchecked
• "Data Selection" → All four checked
• "Log Mode" → Manual
• "Sensor Summary"
  • Span = 50
• Make sure Time and Date are set correctly or you will hate yourself.

Physical Interface

TO DO: Location of lights, type of sensor installed, buttons, speaker, sensor, belt clip, charging/communication contacts

On-Screen Interface

TO DO: Items on main screen, menu, settings

Sampling

When using the ToxiRAE to detect either carbon monoxide or nitrogen dioxide, the following apply to both gases.

• Whether you're screening or conducting personal air monitoring, use the OSHA-93 Direct Reading Report for any direct read devices, including the ToxiRAE Pro.

ProRAE Studio II Software

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Because this is a different brand of instrument from 3M (formerly Quest), a different application is used to interface with and download from the ToxiRAE Pro. This section will detail the various settings and nuances of the software and how to get your data from the ToxiRAE Pro and into a report format.

Unlike the 3M DMS application, ProRAE Studio II is available for download from the RAE Systems website. Download it from here: ProRAE Studio II | RAE Systems

Configuration Settings

Configuration Settings can be downloaded from the instrument or modified settings can be uploaded to the instrument. The single arrows apply to just the current screen, while the stacked arrows apply to the entirety of the settings available.

The following list of setting descriptions and values contains both required and suggested settings. Unless further explanation is needed, this will be a simple list of setting vs. value. Settings that are straightforward or non-configurable will not be listed.

IMPORTANT: Some of these settings canNOT be changed on the device itself. They must be set using the ProRAE Studio II Software. Ensure you have modified those settings before you arrive on-site.

General

Alarm Information

• Alarm Type → Auto Reset (See description at top of this setting screen.)
• Buzzer and Light → All On
  • Here, "buzzer" means the beeping sound. Don't confuse it with the vibrator.
  • It would be wise to consider the job duties the employee will perform. If they are to be standing on a ladder, it may be best to turn off the buzzer, leaving only the vibrator and lights enabled. Use your best judgment.
• LCD Contrast(%) → How dark you want the LCD display to be. This is not referring to the backlight. This will be your preference.
• Startup Mode → Fast
  • With Normal startup mode, there is a lot more information provided on the screen. When you're in the office, take a look at how the Normal startup mode is. However, while on-site to do sampling, it's best to stick with Fast startup mode.
  • Refer to page 14 of the ToxiRAE Pro User's Guide (Rev. C) for information on what is skipped in Fast startup mode.
• Site ID and User ID → These are at your discretion. For the User ID, I've found it useful to set it to CSHOHXXX. It must have 8 characters — no more and no less. To do it in this format, you have to drop the first number of your HXXXX ID. In my case, CSHOH105.
  • These IDs are included in the datalog report generated by the software.
• User Mode → The only difference here is that Basic mode requires the user to type in the 4-digit password when entering the Configuration screen. In Advanced mode, no password screen is shown.
• Password Access → The password required to enter the configuration screen on the instrument.
• Zero At Start → On
  • This will automatically prompt to zero calibrate the ToxiRAE Pro as soon as it starts. I find this extremely helpful when on-site, as it prevents having to go to the configuration screen to zero the instrument. And it serves as a reminder.
• Man Down → Off
• Policy Enforcement → Leave both unchecked.

Datalog Option

Data Selection → Check all

• These determine what columns show up in your datalog report for each recorded interval.
• It is very important to realize what these mean. The ToxiRAE Pro is continuously monitoring, though we set the logging interval to 60 seconds. Therefore, Min is the minimum level during that 60-second interval; Max is the maximum level during that same 60 seconds; Average is the average of all measured levels during that 60 seconds; and Realtime is the measurement at the specific time recorded in the Date/Time column.
• Because the Realtime entry is only at a single moment, the Average value is the one to use when calculating your TWA. (By the way, your TWA is not automatically calculated by the software. A custom Excel template is available for this, however, which also generates a chart from your data.)

Log Mode → Manual: Start logging data manually.

• If you choose "Auto," it will start logging data as soon as you turn the unit on. You will have to manually stop the data recording and you'll have an extra Event (similar to a session in 3M DMS) to deal with in your downloaded data. Starting the data logging is easily enough done.

Log Interval(seconds) → 60 seconds

Sensor Information

Sensor Summary → There will be an entry for either CO or NO₂. The following information and table will help complete that screen.

• Span must be set to the same level as indicated on the calibration canister label used. Our calibration canisters current concentrations are shown below.
• Low Alarm is the instantaneous concentration of the gas that will trigger an alarm. This doesn't necessarily apply in our situation where we're looking for a high threshold to be crossed. These would apply when an employer wanted two thresholds — for example, when something has started to go wrong and the worker needed to be notified that levels were increasing but hadn't yet reached a dangerous level; reserving the High Alarm for an imminent danger situation. However, setting this does apply to us in that you want it to be high enough to not be triggered during regular sampling.
• High Alarm is the instantaneous concentration of the gas that will trigger a stronger alarm response. For CO, there is no peak level set by our PELs. Here, I've used the NIOSH peak level.
• STEL Alarm is the 15-minute average concentration triggering an alarm. In the table below, this is indicated as being at your discretion for CO because there is no STEL set in our PELs or the limits set in industry standards. For NO₂, it's set to the NIOSH STEL.
• TWA Alarm is the concentration at which the "running TWA" crosses to trigger an alarm. The "running TWA" is explained below in the Data and Results section. This could very well give a "false positive" as far as our PEL is concerned. The "running TWA" does not factor in the whole eight (8) hours — just the amount of time data-logging has been running.
• Over Range (not in the table) is the maximum concentration the ToxiRAE Pro sensor can detect. For CO, this is 500 PPM. For NO₂, this is 20 PPM. This value is not configurable.

	Calibration / "Span"	High Alarm	STEL Alarm	TWA Alarm	IDLH†
CO	50	200N	YD	50• | 35N | 25A	1200
NO₂	5.0	5.0•	1.0N	0.2A	20

All values shown are in PPM.

^† Not a configurable setting. For reference only.
YD There are no regulatory or suggested limits, so what you enter here is at your discretion.
^• OSHA limit
^N NIOSH recommended limit
^A ACGIH recommended limit

Sensor to Log → Checked

Retrieving Data

TO DO: Steps involved in downloading instrument data

Working with the Data

TO DO: Steps for exporting/copying/printing data

Data and Results

In the ProRAE Studio II software, the Datalog tab can show a TWA/STEL report. It is important to note the nature of these two columns of computed data.

• The TWA column shows a sort of "running TWA." At any given time in the data, this column will show the time-weighted average up to that point. If you look 15 minutes down the datalog, you will have a 15-minute TWA. At 4 hours 30 minutes, you will have a 4.5-hour TWA. For Compliance, this does not provide any useful evidence. However, this would benefit an employer who is trying to ascertain a representative sampling over a shorter time frame.
  • For example, Stuff Burners, Inc., has an employee that works at two workstations — one in the morning and one in the afternoon. They leave the monitor on him throughout the entire shift but note what time he switched stations. The first station generates a lot more CO than the second. Having a "running TWA," they can look at the TWA at the time he stopped working at the first station. They can note this TWA to let it represent the 8-hour TWA if someone were to work their entire shift at this station. They continue to let it run so they can see this employee's actual full-shift TWA.
• The STEL column shows a real-time average of only the last 15 minutes recorded. This explains the absence of data in the first 14 rows. STELs typically consider only 15-minute periods. This data is beneficial in that a quick scan through this column will show at what times the STEL was exceeded. The location or process could be inferred from this time data. Because there is no regulatory STEL for CO or NO₂, this will assist a Compliance action only when a general duty citation is to be based on the NIOSH STEL for NO₂.

I've created an Excel report template into which you can paste the data from the datalog.