06.3 Richard Job Air Quality Systems for Agricultural Cabs

ASABE Environmental Cabs 

The S613 Standard Series 

ASABE AETC 

PM23/2/1 Environmental Cabs 

Richard W. Job 

29 January, 2013



• Some history: 

– I was assigned the task of joining the ASAE 

Environmental Cabs committee in 1995. They 

were working on a new standard which could 

be used to qualify a cabs to protect the 

operator in spraying applications



• Who were the members of the committee 

– Equipment manufacturers 

– Component manufacturers 

– Filter manufacturers 

– NIOSH researchers 

• The Miller Nelson Study of filtration systems 

and potential application to cabs had just 

been completed



– What are the issues involved in protecting the 

operator: 

• Hazard types 

• State of the industry generally 

• Level of protection offered in current cab design 

• Filter design to provide adequate protection to the 

operator 

• How to measure contaminants? 

• How to verify a system design? 

• What instrumentation was available – cost? 

– How could it be effectively used?



– What level of protection should the operator 

be afforded? 

• In particulate environments? 

• In vapor environments? 

• What about fumigants? 

– How does a vapor hazard compare to a 

particulate hazard? 

– Is there equipment which can measure how 

well constructed a system design is? 

– What role should protection against fumigants 

play in this standard?



• Results of these deliberations resulted in 

ASAE S525 Agricultural Cabs – 

Engineering Control of Environmental 

Air Quality. Approved in 1997 as an 

ANSI standard 

– It gave us a measurable means to determine 

a protection level for the operator 

– It categorized cabs into three categories 

• BC – a basic cab 

• ECPAD - enclosed cab for pesticide application 

incorporating dermal hazard reduction



• ECPAR - enclosed cab for pesticide application 

incorporating respiratory hazard reduction 

• The qualification test proved to be difficult 

to perform because the amount of 

contaminant in the atmosphere was not 

consistent



• One year after it’s introduction researchers 

identified a series of tractor cabs that were 

certified to the standard failed to comply 

with the standard 

– Detailed analysis of the reason for failure 

were that the manufacturing processes were 

not consistent resulting in poor fit of some 

sealing surfaces which leaked - adequate 

design??



• The ultrasonic scanning procedure 

recommended as part of the standard was found 

to not provide consistent results



• We quickly changed S525, eliminating the 

ultrasonic scanning procedure and 

changing the scope to reflect that the 

standard is to be applied in a managed 

program of “occupational health and 

safety”. 

• The change was approved as an ANSI 

standard in 2003



• During this and a subsequent period we 

attempted to introduce ASAE S525 into 

the ISO standards arena. Twice it was 

started and then withdrawn because there 

were, or were perceived problems with the 

standard as it was being developed. 

• Much discussion took place on the role of 

designing a cab for spraying applications, 

maintenance and testing in the managed 

program.



• For the next few years the committee had 

difficulty determining how to move forward 

with what a meaningful environmental cab 

standard should be. 

• In 2007 the committee in its annual 

meeting concentrated on what a cab 

standard should achieve.



• They went back to the Hierarchy of 

Controls as defined in ANSI/AIHA Z10, 

“the organization shall implement and 

maintain a process for achieving feasible 

risk reduction based on the following order 

of controls: 

– A Elimination, 

– B Substitution of less hazardous materials, 

processes, operations or equipment,



– C. Engineering controls 

– D. Warnings 

– E. Administrative controls; and 

– F. Personal protective equipment (PPE)



• ANSI/AIHA Z10 talks about: 

– The nature of the risk 

– The risk reduction desired 

– The best practices of industry 

– Available technology 

– Cost effectiveness



• Based on the rating that an engineering 

control is preferable to personal protective 

equipment they applied the OSHA 

requirements from a “Managed Program of 

Occupational Health and Safety? These 

are: 

– Identification of the risk involved and the 

protection required for the hazard identified 

– A survey of the equipment involved in the 

hazardous application



– Testing the protection equipment to assure it 

provides the protection required for the 

identified hazard 

– Repair and/or replacement of any defects or 

defective equipment found 

– Retesting of the equipment system as 

required 

– Recording in an appropriate log book all 

information regarding the repairs, test results 

and replacement of parts and/or components



• Based on this concept they proposed to 

develop a standard that could consist of 6 

parts: 

– I. Introduction 

• Scope and Limitations 

• Definitions 

• Context of this standard within a managed 

program



– II. Design Standard for Cabs 

– III. Design Standard for Cab Filters 

– IV. Cab Manufacture Quality Tests 

– V. Cab Filter Manufacture Quality Tests 

– VI. Field Certification of Cab Air Quality 

• “Parts VI and beyond are future work that 

will likely be developed over the long term”



• “ASABE S613-1 Tractors and selfpropelled 

machinery for agriculture— 

Air quality systems for cabs— 

Terminology and overview” was 

approved as an ANSI standard in 

February 2009



• “It covers terminology, definitions and an 

overview of how an environmental cab 

may be used in hazardous environments 

as part of an Occupational Health and 

Safety Management System”



• The Managed Program of Occupational 

Health and Safety listed in the standard 

comes directly from the OSHA 

requirements for industry 

• What does the standard define for a 

“Managed program” for spraying 

applications? 

– Identification of the risk involved and the 

protection required for the material to be 

applied in the spraying operation



– A survey of the machine and the cab involved 

in the spraying application. This includes: 

• Reviewing the cabin filtration system and the filter 

to assure the filter provides the reduction in 

contaminate level required … and 

• Identifying how long the filter can be used in this 

spraying application 

– Testing the cabin air system to assure it 

provides the protection required for the 

material to be applied. This also includes a 

review of any monitoring equipment to assure 

it is working properly.



– Repair and/or replacement of any defects or 

defective equipment found 

– Retesting of the cab air system if required 

– Recording in an appropriate log book all 

information regarding the test results, and 

repairs and replacement of parts and/or 

components 

• We have replicated the procedure OSHA 

requires industry to follow for workers in a 

hazardous environment



• S613-2 Tractors and self-propelled 

machinery for agriculture—Air quality 

systems for cabs—Part 2: Cab & HVAC 

design was approved as an ANSI 

standard in November 2010 

• It defines the elements to consider in the 

design of a cab for environmental 

protection applications



• Some of these elements are: 

– Type of Airborne Contaminants 

• The cab filtration system design should consider 

the particular types of airborne contaminates that 

the tractor or self-propelled machinery will be 

typically operating in such as soil preparation, 

pesticide spraying, harvesting, etc. 

– Sources of Airborne Contaminants 

• The cab filtration system design should consider 

several filtration alternatives for the various 

operational solid, liquid, and/or gas contaminants.



– Cab as a Physical Barrier 

• The cab enclosure provides a physical barrier 

around the operator and a controlled environment 

inside the cab. 

– Performance Monitoring 

– System Operation and Maintenance 

– Cleaning and Maintenance 

• What we have tried to include are 

considerations the designer shall 

exercise in executing the design of a 

cab



• X613-3 Tractors and self-propelled 


systems for cabs—Part 3: Filters for 

environmental cab HVAC systems is 

currently undergoing a second round 

of balloting within the committee for 

approval as a national standard 

– We have determined that this standard will 

cover the design, testing and field approval of 

the filters



• Note that we have now eliminated items IV 

and V: 

– IV. Cab Manufacture Quality Tests 

– V. Cab Filter Manufacture Quality Tests 

from the original objectives of the committee for 

this standard as the manufacturers are in the 

best position to determine the tests needed to 

verify the quality of their product



• X613-4 Tractors and self-propelled 


systems for cabs—Part 4 Test procedure 

for qualifying a cab in the field is being 

balloted via a PPF to PM03 for work to 

begin.



• The preliminary draft calls for: 

– First, determine what the level of protection 

will be required for the application. 

– Do a survey/test of how well the cab is able to 

protect the operator within these 

requirements. 

– Repair and/or replacement of elements in the 

cab would be as specified by the 

manufacturer.



• We will be discussing how to proceed with 

this standard at a special committee 

meeting this afternoon



• Future elements to consider as potential 

parts of this standard: 

– Training of operators for hazardous 

applications 

– Is there a need for improved safety labeling of 

these cabs? 

– Is a generic safety manual needed? 

• When these items are resolved we will ask 

or be asked if there are other items or 

elements we should be looking at



Questions? 

Thank You!

06.3 Richard Job Air Quality Systems for Agricultural Cabs

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