Document 0J5ZB32ymvbxqQx1RBgMwBJ

FAT 6072550641 CATHLsKWOOD LIB^ @1008 THE IROIIWORKER INTERNATIONAL OFFICERS Official Publication of tha International Association of Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron Workers JOHN H. LYONS General President Suite 400 1750 New York Ave., N.W. Washington. O.C. 20006 1750 New York Ave., N.W., Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20006 Phone (202) 872-1556 Volume 79 APRIL 1979 Number 4 Atlantic City's New Boardwalk Legalized gambling spurs a boom in construction along the most highly-prized stop along the Monopoly board, Boardwalk Marshall Refutes GAO's Davis-Bacon Study U.S. Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall attacks a faulty study of the Davis-Bacon Act done earlier by the U.S. Government Accounting Office 2 4 Georgia World Congress Center Completed Atlanta's new convention center and the Omni Coliseum are expected to draw big crowds to the state once governed by Jimmy Carter 5 JUEL D. DRAKE General Secretary Suita 400 1750 New York Aw.. N.W. Washington, O.C. 20006 CHARLES R. ANDING General Treasurer Suite 400 1750 New York Ave., N.W. Washington. O.C. 20006 ROBERT E. P. COONEY First General Vice-President Suite 321 400 First St, N.W. Washington, O.C. 20001 A New Way to Fight Inflation The National Safety Council proposes to President 7 HUGH WILLIAMSON Second General Vice-President , Carter a safe and healthy method of cutting inflation AFL-CIQ Building, Ste. 201 by IS percent 1106 Le Veca Street Organized Labor Takes to the Offensive 11 Austin. Texas 78701 Midwinter meetings of the AFL-C10 Executive Council end with a bold new political agenda on domestic JDHN F. WALSH and International issues Your job and Your Health A new feature including recent information on lead Third General Vice-President Suite 310-Guaranty Life Bldg. 18 137 E. Forsyth St. iacksonville. Fla. 32202 poisoning, asbestos exposure and micronutrients Tariffs Reinstated for Offshore Platforms 20 lEONflRO P. MAHONEY jie Ironworkers won the war to impose duties on rigs Fourth General Vice-President m* from Malaysia, but Brown & Root wins the battle with the third in a series of strange loopholes 4258 Castor Ave. Philadelphia, Pa. 13124 DEPARTMENTS >ns The President's Page Inside Front Cover A. S. GOODWIN Fifth General Vice-President iy. North American Labor Report 8 Suite 400 lot Indoor/Outdoor Illustrated .10 1750 New York Ave, N.W. Washington, O.C, 20006 lot Local Union Activities 15 at Shanty Talk 21 DALE M. RAY ib* Official Monthly Record 22 Sixth General Vice-President Room 133 .se Family Focus 23 1633 Oayshore Highway Yesteryear 24 Burlingame, Calif. 94010 le- EDITORIAL COMMITTEE J. W. Hardesty, Executive Director, Apprenticeship & Training MATTHEW TAYLOR Seventh General Vice-President 42 Salem End Lane ;t. Walter Hill, General Organizer Framingham, Mass. 01701 et Calvin L Walker, General Organizer W. M. Lawbaugh, Editor oh. ON OUR COVERS--This month's front cover shows the Georgia World Con J. W. MERRITT Eighth General Vice-President 301 W. Vine Avenue Knoxville, Tenn. 37902 U, gress Center, one of the largest single .ir rooms in the world, giving Atlanta a THOMAS CLARKSON id post position ir Ninth General Vice-President Rqom 1308 ventions. Our 265 W. 14th Street >y struction of o New York City, New York 10011 1 Atlantic City's an artist's co DMART 137 ground's new o J, :e POSTMASTERS--ATTENTION: Change ot address carda oft Form 3579 should be sent to the international Association of Bridge. Structural and ornamental Iron Workers* Suite *00. 1750 New York Ave.. N.W, Washington, o.C. 20006. Subscriptions S2.50 pcryaar. ISSNs 0021-1WX* Published monthly by the international Association ol Bridie. Structural and Ornamental iron Workers at 2750 New York Ave.. N.W., Washlntfon, O.C. 20005. second Class mill entry af W4hlAflfAh DC PrlA><< nn nnlflN-JTIi'j* OiOfr. 12/17/01 MON 17:12 FAX 6072559641 CATHERWOOP LIBjl ?1009 Your Job and Your Health by Anthony Robbins, MD Or. Robbins is Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The institute which is part of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was established by the OSH Act of 1970 to perform re* search on causes of workplace Illness and accidents and to develop recom mended standards and other methods of control. Q.--For several years I have worked on commercial construction jobs. Often l work in the same room with welders, painters, and electricians. Some of us have become sick with upset stomach, trembling, lost weight, and have been weak and tired lately. At first we thought it was the flu, but a welder said it is lead poisoning. Is this serious? He said that several years ago, before he started wearing a respirator, a doctor gave him some pills to take every day. After that they couldn't measure the lead in his blood anymore. Why don't they give us these pills? A.--The symptoms you describe can indeed be the result of lead poisoning, but it is hard to be sure without the results of medical tests. If you have been overexposed to lead--you should see your doctor and advise your super visor of the problem. The health ef fects of lead overexposure can be seri ous. Lead can be swallowed or inhaled, and, as may have happened in your case, you need not be working directly with lead to be overexposed if the sub stance is used nearby. We have also found that people using lead at work can carry enough lead home on their clothes and body to poison their chil dren. After the lead gets into the body, it is carried in the blood to various sites where some is stored and some ex creted, the stored part adding to the normal amounts of lead we get from food, air, and water. When the body cannot eliminate the lead as quickly as it takes lead in, the person may suffer lead poisoning with typical signs as de scribed in your letter or more severe signs such as "wrist drop," caused by damaged nerves controlling certain mus cles. Recovery in these cases may be slow and not always complete. In more serious cases, kidneys are damaged, red blood cell production im paired, and coma and death may follow. 5ome of the most serious problems are faced by workers with certain health disorders or by women of childbearing age, whose unborn children may be ad versely affected by lead. Numerous studies show lead in the mother's body can enter the fetus and damage the child or cause a miscarriage. Even men with higher than normal levels of lead in their blood may have lower fertility rates. There <s a way to help the body elim inate lead, by taking chelating drugs as your welder friend did, but the treat ment can be dangerous if used re peatedly or to prevent lead poisoning. Not only may the lead, but the drug it self, damage the kidneys. And the drug may not protect against the nerve dam age linked with lead poisoning. Chelating drugs should be used only to treat diagnosed cases of lead poison ing and then only under a doctor's di rect supervision. They should not be used to prevent lead poisoning--the way to do this is by reducing exposure. NIOSH has made the following specific recommendations to prevent lead in toxication--of which every worker po tentially exposed to lead should be aware: 1. Make sure your employer takes measurements of the amount of lead in the air in your workplace and that the level does not exceed the OSHA standard. 2. Use adequate engineering contain ment or ventilation--not respirators-- to prevent breathing lead fumes during normal workday operations. 3. Wear coveralls or other full body protective clothing, change the clothing at least daily, and do not take the clothes home for laundering. Vour em ployer should provide for laundering of workdothes and should provide show ers for employee use. 4. Don't eat, drink, or smoke in areas where there may be lead, and wash hands before eating, smoking, or drink ing. 5. Keep the workplace as clean as possible. This column Is the result of many in quiries received by NIOSH and is in tended to help directly communicate the results of the Institute's research and Investigations to other concerned work ers. The Institute continues to welcome inquiries from individuals or organiza tions concerning health and safety haz ards at work. Each month NIOSH will screen the letters and select one or more with the most importance and general interest to answer in this col umn. The others, as in the past, will be answered directly by NIOSH health and safety experts. Letters may be addressed to: Q & A, NIOSH Room fl-20, Parklawn Building, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 2085 7 18 THE IRONWORKER J Do yc worth los is threat' wprke Asb struct! and cl shops, many travel area tr tion sy swal lo in ; workei bestos more t workei ed disi posure disease show i Other: percen ily mer orders, exposu brough Then for exp importj duce y. possible the O Health. quires \ erage < shift to than fi cubic o To m ers mu trols. Th and enc exhaust dust cc ated an which must be April ig 12/17/01 MON 17:14 FAX 6072559641 CATHERWOOD LIJL, Do You Work with Asbestos? Nature's "Cooking" by Eula Bingham, Assistant Secretary of Labor, for Occupational Safety and Health Do you work with asbestos? It's worth finding out, because asbes tos is one of the most serious threats to the health of American workers. Asbestos can be found at con struction sites, shipyards, textile and chemical plants, auto repair shops, schools, paper mills, and many other workplaces. It can travel from one part of a work area to another through ventila tion systems. It can be inhaled or swallowed with food. In all, three to five million workers may be exposed to as bestos. Studies have shown that more than 40 percent of asbestos workers will die of asbestos-relat ed diseases. Even very brief ex posure may cause a deadly lung disease or cancer which may not show up for 20 years or more. Other studies have shown that 38 percent of asbestos workers' fam ily members may suffer lung dis orders, apparently as a result of exposure to fibers which are brought home on work clothes. There is no known safe level for exposure to asbestos, so it is important that your employer re duce your exposure as much as possible. The standard issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) re quires your employer to limit av erage exposure over an 8-hour shift to two asbestos fibers longer than five micrometers in each cubic centimeter of air. To meet this standard, employ ers must use engineering con trols. These may include isolation and enclosure of work processes, exhaust ventilation systems, and dust collection. All hand-oper ated and power-operated tools which might release asbestos must be equipped with local ex haust systems. As far as possible, asbestos must be kept wet when being handled. Employers must provide ap proved respirators while changes are being made to reduce ex posure, or if otherwise necessary. Workers who can't function nor mally when wearing a respirator may not be assigned to tasks which require respirator use. Em ployers must also provide change rooms, two separate clothes lock ers, and laundry service so that asbestos fibers will not be trans ferred to street clothes. At workplaces where asbestos is present, employers must con duct tests at least every six months to determine asbestos ex posure levels. They also must provide regular medical examina tions. Workers have the right to see their exposure records, and to have their medical records made available to their doctors. if you have questions about as bestos and the OSHA asbestos standard, contact the nearest 05HA office. Look in your phone book under "United States Gov ernment, Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration," or write to OSHA, 3rd and Constitution Ave nue N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210. Is Hard To Copy The eminent Chairman of the USDA's Nutrition Institute favors diets which serve up a healthy helping of foods as "nature" pre pares them. Dr. Walter Mertz says that es sential nutrients we discover to morrow might be missing from our food today. He notes, for ex ample, that only since 1970 have some of the "new trace ele ments" been shown to have es sential functions in animals. Their possible role in human health is still being explored, and recom mended dietary allowances have yet to be established. That's just a tiny taste of what we have to learn. You'd never know it by our modern eating habits. This century has seen a drop in consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grain prod ucts. These provide food fiber, vitamins and essential trace ele ments. We've seen a great increase in intake of refined and "parti tioned" foods. Highly refined foods, Mertz explains, . . carry few micronutrients (ingredients needed in small amounts: trace elements and vitamins). The con tent of fiber is reduced. And the probability of unknown food fac tors being refined-out is consid erable." This places "an undue de mand" for essential micronutri ents on the part of the diet which is not refined. Eating too much of "synthetic" foods can add to that burden. Snythetic foods, says Mertz, are not intended to copy nature. "Soft drinks are perhaps the best, though not the only, example." Nature hasn't told us all her secrets yet!--Marion Wells American Physical Fitness Institute APRIL 1979 L 19 i . ii i i i :i