The Occupational Health and Safety

Workers in the metals treatment industry are exposed to fumes, dusts, and mists containing metals and metal compounds, as well as to various chemicals from sources such as grinding wheels and lubricants. Exposure can be by inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact. Historically, metal toxicology was concerned with overt effects such as abdominal coHc from lead toxicity. Because of the occupational health and safety standards of the 1990s such effects are rare. Subtie, chronic, or long-term effects of metals treatment exposure are under study. An index to safety precautions for various metal treatment processes is available (6). As additional information is gained, standards are adjusted. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) covers a broad range of issues relating to worker health and safety, many of which impact the power generation industry (16,17). The Act sets standards designed to protect worker health and safety, particularly in industrial settings. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration, organized under the U.S. Department of Labor, implements and enforces OSHA standards and periodically updates poHcies governing worker health and safety. 

Talc is considered a nuisance dust and subject to regulation in the workplace by both the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Eight-hour exposure limits for talc dust are two milligrams of talc per cubic meter. 

OSHA- Occupational Health and Safety Administration The U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration, OSHA, is a federal government agency in the U.S. Department of Labor. OSHA s Web site is http //www.osha.gov/. The primary goals of OSHA are to save lives, prevent injuries, and protect the health of America s workers. OSHA employs over 2,000 inspectors to ensure job site safety. OSHA was created by the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act of 1970. While many see OSHA as an intrusive government agency intent on enforcing arcane rules, the fact is that OSHA saves lives. And if that is not enough... 

The remaining Sections e.xainine tluce important topics as tliey relate to the subject title of tliis book. Section 2.7 reviews the details of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency s (USEPA s) Risk Management Program while Section 2.8 provides information on the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). The chapter continues with a short Section (2.9) on potential environmental violations and then concludes with a Section (2.10) on tlic Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. 

It is an accepted practice when assessing the environmental effects of pollution on man and his place of abode to use a divisor of 40 (some agencies may divide by 30) against the long-term exposure level in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA). Much lower exposure limits are necessary due to the much longer term of exposure in the domestic situation. The section of the population most likely to spend long periods of time in the home are those most susceptible to the detrimental effects of pollutants, i.e. the young, the elderly or the infirm. For short-term exposure the known data can be used directly from the list or from animal-exposure data. 

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) has limited workers exposure to 1,2-dibromoethane in air to an average of 20 ppm for an 8-hour workday. According to OSHA, short-term exposure of 15 minutes to 1,2-dibromoethane should not be more than 0.5 ppm. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set an average limit for 1,2-dibromoethane of 0.045 ppm in workroom air during an 8-hour day. According to NIOSH, short-term exposure of 15 minutes to 1,2-dibromoethane should not be more than 0.13 ppm. 

Exposure limits The permissible exposure limits (PELs) in air, set by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations (General Industry Standards for Toxic and Hazardous Substances, 1977). Unless noted otherwise, the PELs are 8-h time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations. 

A key element of the mission of the CSDP is to eliminate safely the aging U.S. stockpile of chemical agents and munitions. The Army has in place safety and occupational and environmental health programs at chemical agent disposal facilities that have been visited by the Stockpile Committee (NRC, 2001). The committee found these programs to be comprehensive, professional, and adequate to meet the occupational health and safety needs of the CSDP workers as well as to protect the public and the environment (NRC, 2001). 

Hekmat M, Smith R, Fung P. 1994. An evaluation of the occupational health and safety administration method for the "determination of chlorine dioxide in workplace atmosphere." Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 55(11) 1087-1089. 

Over 25 years ago Carman and coworkers recognized the adverse potential of fieldworker exposure to pesticide residues ( ). Subsequent fieldworker acute organophosphate intoxications and resulting political pressure led to regulations by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. These regulations and the worker reentry situation have been the subject of reviews (, 3). 

Source C. J. Mumford, PS1 Chemical Process Safety, October 1993, Reproduced with permission of the Occupational Health and Safety Training Unit, University of Portsmouth, U.K. 

In the United States the basis of the relative legislation covering chemicals in the workplace is the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct) which is enacted via the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). The objectives of this body are as listed below [B-17]. 

OSHA Acronym for the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, U. S. Department of Labor. 

In the past decade, however, the occupational health and safety community has directed greater attention to pesticide exposures among workers and then-families. Initiatives, focused on minority workers, women and the children of workers, have also made pesticide exposure assessment a timely topic for scientific invesfigation and medical management. Finally, major new epidemiologic initiatives in both the United States and Canada have given new stimuli to the study of occupational pesticide exposme in farming (Alavanja et al, 1996 Arbuckle et al., 1999). 

Prosecutions fines a chart shows Notices of Violations (NOVs) and fines paid. In 1999 Ashland received approximately 20 NOVs from the US Environmental Protection Agency, 50 from the Department of Transportation, 12 from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and 40 from the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Total fines paid were approximately US 30000. APAC Inc has a target to have no compliance violations by 2003. In 1999 Ashland provide for a reserve of US 166 million in relation to future environmental assessments and remediation. 

The Australian Industrial Chemicals (Notification and Assessment) Act 1989, as amended, provides for a national scheme for the notification and assessment of industrial chemicals in order to protect people and the environment from the harmful effects of industrial chemicals. The scheme, known as the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS), began operating in July 1990 and is administered by the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission (Woiksafe Australia), who also perform the primary toxicological assessment and the occupational health and safety assessment. The Department of Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories undertake the environmental hazard assessment, and the Department of Community Services and Health carry out the public health assessment. A Handbook for Notifiers is available from Woiksafe Australia [35]. 

In order to assist NPCA member companies in communicating such health and safety information to their workers. NPCA through the Occupational Health and Safety Task Force (and in conjunction with the Canadian Paint and Coatings Association—CPCA) has developed a Hazardous Materials Identification System (HMIS) for use by the paint manufacturers. The system allows the paint manufacturing industry to quickly and concisely inform their employees about the variety of hazards presented by the large number of raw materials in the plant. 

Strictly speaking, these compounds are not chemical warfare agents. However, over the last few years, there has been a growing concern among most governments regarding the occupational health and safety of their troops in operations other than war (OOTW). These are low-intensity conflicts (peace-keeping, humanitarian aid, etc), with little or no threat of classic chemical warfare. However the problems at hand in that country have usually resulted... 

If a SNUR cross-references a subsection of 40 C.F.R. 721.72 then it will be a significant new use to manufacture, import, or process the SNUR substance unless the manufacturers, importers, processors, and users have a hazard communication program to warn about the risks that the substance poses. This group of significant new uses builds on a system of hazard communication established by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA). OSHA has promulgated Hazard Communication Standards that require employers to assess hazards posed by the chemicals they make or import and provide hazard information on labels and in MSDSs. Employers and processors of chemicals that pose hazards must make the labels and MSDSs available in the work place and train their employees in safe handling procedures. 

There are at least two industry consensus standards for injury and illness prevention programs. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) have published a voluntary consensus standard, ANSI/AIHA ZIO—2005 Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems (ANSI/AIHA 2005). The Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) Project Group, a consortium of selected Registrars, national standards bodies, professional associations and research institutes, has produced a similar document, OHSAS 18001—2007 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems (OHSAS Project Group 2007). These consensus-based standards have been widely accepted in the world of commerce and adopted by many businesses on a voluntary basis. 

Under authority of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 1994, OSHA issued its HAZCOM Standard to address the assessment and communication of chemical hazards in the workplace. OSHA has authority to enforce its Hazard Communication standard (see Figure 14-1). Civil penalties (fines) and criminal penalties (for gross neglect) are possible... 

The regulations concerned with exposure limits to various substances vary around the world. However the Occupational Health and Safety Authority (OSHA) and the American Conference of Government Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) set the most commonly applied regulations and guidelines used. With reference to sulphuric acid mist, the current OSHA/ACGIH requirements are ... 

---