Document 2JMbk0z71m12d8BNo3zxVpgBN

CURRENT REPORT Legislation HOUSE SCHEDULES OSHA OVERSIGHT HEARINGS; 80 BILLS ARE PENDING The House Select Subcommittee on Labor scheduled oversight hearings on the Occupational Safety and Health Act on June 25-26. Over 80 bills are pending in the House and Senate to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act. A chart of the bills appears in the Full Text section of this report. Lead witness for the scheduled hearings this month will be Richard B. Berman, labor law director, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Other witnesses include Leonard Dodson, safety committee chairman, Associated General Contrac tors of America; Clyde Roberts, National Association of Manufacturers; Congressman David Towell (R-Nev); Robert H. Doyle, National Society of Professional En gineers; Robert M. Clyne, American Cyanamid Company; and William E. McCormick, American Industrial Hygiene Association. A number of the bills pending before the House deal with differentiating between light and heavy construction standards and others would provide for an on-site consulta tion. The latter topic is given the best chance of serious attention by the House. In the Senate, Senator Peter H. Dominick's (R-Colo) bill, S 1147, which he attached as an amendment to the non-profit hospital bill and which was subsequently de feated (Current Report, May 9, p. 1539), would have significantly changed the law. The Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee is expected to hold hearings on OSHA sometime this summer. '"'Health Hazards ^AJORiTv'^FTiDMMETMTrPRoT^T^* ""PROPOSED VINYL CHLORIDE .STANDARD A majority of comments on the standard for vinyl chloride proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Current Report, May 9, p. 1539) were in opposition, stating that 'if the standard--were adopted -numerous businesses would be forced to shut'dow'n. Deadline for comments was June 10 on the OSHA proposal which calls for "no detectable level" of expo sure. A public hearing will be held June 25 in Washing ton, D.C. (Current Report, May 30, p. 1672). G. Frederick Hanna, regulatory agency liaison,'Borg* Warner Chemioals, Washington, W. Va., said in order to evaluate the impact of the proposal, it is essential that details of the approved monitoring, air sampling, and analytical procedures be made available to all involved. If there are preferred techniques and specific items of equipment required to assure the necessary accuracy and sensitivity, these should be identified, he added. Allan J. Topol, Covington and Burling, Washington, D.C., representing Tenneco Chemicals? Inc., Saddle Brook, N.J., objected to tire proposal stating that it lacks ade quate scientific support, is not justified in view of the long safety record of the industry, cannot be feasibly achieved in view of the current technological capability, 39 and will, if put into effect, require either complete shutdown or drastic reduction of production in the vinyl chloride industry with attendant severe consequences in numerous other sectors of the economy. PVC Production H.^.M^Walker.'Dickinson, Tex., said polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is probably the most important industrial polymer and the least replaceable. The automobile industry and the wire and cable industry could scarcely survive without PVC, he said. The entire concept of dosage was forgotten in the proposal, he said. "The interaction of living matter with foreign materials is controlled always by the param eters of concentration and duration," he added. Walker said he is not aware of any reports where cancer was produced by a single short-duration applica tion of a carcinogenic material. In general, repeated applications are necessary until a significant threshold has been exceeded. "There is no reason to believe that vinyl chloride is any different in this respect," Walker said. Referring to personal experimentation, Walker said evi dence indicated to him that the "level of susceptibility in humans is of the order of seven to ten parts per million-hours dosage. This is the data to use in standards setting," he said. Instrumentation Donald H. Strodel, director, engineering. Environmental Systems''''Development Corporation,* Charleston, S.C., urged that instrument experts be consulted as to what can be reliably expected in the way of detectable levels of measurement. Control measures could then be stated in terms of measurement by certain instruments or their equivalents, he noted. Edward J. Malek, executive vice president, Joanna Western'Mills Go., Chicago, 111., said the investigations to date by no means support the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommendations calling for "no detectable level," of vinyl chloride as determined by a sampling and analytical method capable of detecting concentrations of one ppm plus or minus 50 percent. Emory G. Cook, president. Cook -Laboratories, Nor walk, Conn., said 1910.93 (q) (a) (1) is in conflict with 1910.93 (q) (c) (4) in that the term "capable" is not defined regarding meaning and intent. Cook pointed out that PVC in powder form is capable always of releasing detectable levels. He said also that 1910.93 (q) (b) (2) does not ade quately define PVC, that 1910.93 (q) (b) (4) does not adequately define "contaminated," and 1910.93 (q) (b) (6) does not adequately define "detectable level." Possible Shutdowns Many manufacturers and processors said" the proposed standard would put them or their suppliers out of busi ness. Among them were; Jo-Gal' Shoe, Int., Lawrence, Mass; Sportsmen's ' Plastics,"* Inc., Leominster, Mass.; Montrose Products1 Co., Auburn, Mass.; Spherex;-4nc., Seabrook, N.H.; Multicolor Co.? Hatfield, Mass., a manu facturer of vinyl wall covering; American Universal, Inc.-,* New York, N.Y., a manufacturer of vinyl tablecloths and accessories; Hubbard Apiaries; Onsted, Mich., a honey packager; Extrudyne,E~lnc., Amityville., N.Y.; J. F. Ti\f\ / T O O Copyright 1974 by The Bureau of Notional Affairs, Inc. BFG27356 40 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH REPORTER McElwatrf`CrfT7 Nashua, N.H., a shoe manufacturer; Witts'3 OSHA on February 26 (Current Report, February 28, p. -dlebrjr~Mouldfn'gC Inc., Middlebury, Ind., a mobile 1225). homes supplier; Amer^rv-Vmyl-vTld?, Hialeah, Fla.' a The OSHA proposal appears in the Full Text of this manufacturer of extruded vinyl profiles; -Express'*T(>c<<*fc report. Comments are invited until August 9. Miami, Fla., distributors of vinyl tubing; Crown -Industries, Fremont, Ohio, processors of PVC; 'GTST arid* -Plastics'Go., manufacturer of corrosion resistant products, organic coatings, fusion powders, and plastisols; and '"Health Haiardsca- Forder./Industries* Inc., Wales, Fla., extruder of PVC pipe. Paul B. Steizner, corporate secretary, -Fabric-Finishers^ Inc., Coshocton, Ohio, said the regulation would cause his company to default on several million yards of fabric for MCA ANNOUNCES FOUR-NEW"RESEARCH"* PROJECTS.INTO VINYL~CHLORIDE EFFECT'83* Four new projects to research the carcinogenicity of finishing under contract to the Federal Government, as well as force the company out of business. vinyl chloride as it relates to humans were announced by the Manufacturing Chemists Association on June 6. The studies will be funded by producers involved in synthesis and polymerization of vinyl chloride. The proj Variances ects were approved unanimously by the NAM's board of directors during its annual meeting in White Sulphur BETHLEHEM STEEL GRANTED VARIANCE ON FLOOR OPENING GUARDING REQUIREMENTS Bethlehem Steel Corporation received a standards vari ance from floor hole guarding requirements from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on June 11. The variance was issued to the company's Sparrows Point Plant, Sparrows Point, Md., for 1910.23 (a) (8) (i) and (ii) requiring that every floor hole be guarded by a standard railing and toeboard or a floor hole cover hinged in place. The company maintained that its process of manufac turing steel rods necessitates a floor opening where stand ard guard rails could not be used since coiled rods could become entangled. Instead, chain guardrails, a pipe rail, and toeboards are used. In addition, unauthorized person nel are not permitted in the work area and safety programs and inspections are used. It is expected that the company will be in compliance with the standard by June 30, 1974, after a new system which will completely cover the floor opening is installed. OSHA's announcement of the grant of variance will appear in a future Reference File supplement. Springs, W.Va. The research program includes the following; (J T'A'study^ofiinimal-metabolism^, (2)-A study of-teratogenesis (animal fetus). (3) Animal chronic inhalation-studies at concentrations below 50 parts per million, in an effort to identify a "no-effects" level. (4) An acute'inhalatiom-experimeni in which animals will be subjected to a massive exposure simulating condi tions which might be experienced by a community ex posed to a tank car rupture in a transportation accident. The animals would be observed over their lifespan. The funding companies and MCA consider it essential that the program be expanded to determine the condi tions necessary to assure the safety of workers involved in the manufacture and use of the products and of the plant neighborhoods in which they are made. The scientific information developed from the research program will be disclosed publicly without restriction, MCA said. Further, as determined appropriate to the advancement of the program, technical reports will be developed and made publicly available on work practices, industrial hygiene monitoring and analysis, and the medi cal surveillance of exposed workers. __ Two of the'rcsearch projects wiU'be conducted Sy The* Dow. Chemical Company.'The other projects will be* .Standards... conducted - by -Industrial-'BIO-TEST Laboratories, Ind?- OSHA PROPOSES GROUND FAULT CIRCUIT* INTERRUPTERS RULE FOR WET LOCATIONS' BIO-TEST has been conducting vinyl chloride animal exposure studies, under contract to MCA for administra tion, since February 1, 1973. Results of the study have All 120 volt, 15 and 20-ampere receptacles used in work situations where electricity is easily conducted would be required to have approved ground fault circuit protection under a standard proposed by the Occupation al Safety and Health Administration on June 11. The requirement for ground fault circuit interrupters was included in the 1971 edition of the National Electri been announced on a continuing basis (Current Report, April 25, p. 1478). Results of another study, documenting the health ex perience of present and former employees who have worked with vinyl chloride, were released on May 7 of this year (Current Report, May 16, p. 1589). TabershawCooper Associates, Inc., conducted the study. cal Code adopted by OSHA in 1910.309 and 1926.400. On the basis of the recommendations of the Advisory All findings have been reported immediately to govern ment agencies concerned with the vinyl chloride problem, Committee on Construction Safety and Health and a MCA said. This practice will be followed in respect to the petition from the National Constructors Association, the January 1, 1974, effective date of the requirement was deferred (Current Report, December 6, p. 862). A hearing on the proposed requirement was held by new studies. MCA estimated the four projects would cost a mini mum of 5400,000 to $500,000. Because of the fluid status of scientific knowledge and regulatory climate in 3817002 Occupational Safety & Health Reporter BFG27357