Document 2qjMbVJnYEEEOdG98mNLJaXJg

FILE NAME: Powhatan (PHN) DATE: 1955 DOC#: PHN013 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Govt Inspection Reports u n ti* Ufji'HtT,ucj.'t I ur riiuiijia DIVISION OF INDUSTRIAL HEALTH AND AIR POLLUTION RECORD OF INVESTIGATION OR SERVICE Date s M ' f / s s - Ky jffc J. ^ Address Number o f .Employees: Male b s y t a r * * * -? TnHnvtry A s J / / _ .. Female Conn ty 3- Total -- icM JS*JZ 3 purpose o f V is it // / No. Involved . Survey .Reinsoection ---- !---------/ L -- .S tu d y 'F o llo w -u p . Consultation ^Special A ctiv ity I Project A ctivity Persons Interviewed - - Occupational Disease Reason S e lf in itiated -- O .D. Report --- Complaint-Request . Management ---- Labor ---- . Neighbors ~ -- . Health O ffice -'-- Other . ------------------ Problems Hew `Rttno*menHation3 Ra^arrUno T-'imHronmer^.aV Frohljeaa. Humber Affected Requested Improvement c/ - // D a te . jQoraoleted P ast - completed 3*+*^ - 6U* . > - ^ ^ 7 9 t9 > ^ C * X * </>m a. Made ' uncompleted 3 F ie ld S tu d ie s ; . . '. 1Atmospheric Contaminants -^&_inyolved Physical Conditions r Sancies submitted fo r a n a ly sis^ e a o ^ P ia n t Record_______ jL e t t s r . ^ S r e c j BportJ R _jH e*fc V i s i t Reviewed, ""V "* F i l e Memorandum - Powhatan M ining C o r p o r a tio n 0 'E>> On 3/2U/55, HSE and BCL v isite d the p lan t o f the\ Powhatan Mining Corporation at Woodlavm. The purpose o f th is v i s i t was to follow V p on former recommendations and to reinspect the p lan t fo r fu rth er health problems Jr Upon a rriv a l at the p la n t, we contacted Miss Mett, daughter o f the owner o f the p lan t. Miss Mett accompanied us on a tour o f the plant and, during th is tour, we contacted Mr. Smith, p lan t foreman. In v is it in g the p l a n t v a r i o u s areas in which the D ivision had made recommendations,were observed fo r the completion o f the work. Since the l a s t v i s i t o f the D ivision to the p la n t, a considerable amount o f work has been done in the in s ta lla tio n o f exhaust equipment. New exhaust equip ment has been in s ta lle d in the crude asbestos m ill and i t was noted th at control o f dust appeared to be very good. Operations on which the exhaust had been pro vided were concerned prim arily with dumping shoveling operations. The exhaust rate in the ta k e o ff equipment was measured and found to be in the area o f 200 lin e a r fe e t per minute. Control o f the dust while operations were being done appeared to be good. We observed workers to be wearing respirators a t the time o f th is ' v i s i t . The type o f respirators used i s the mine sa fe ty appliance #55 which is approved fo r a i l d u st. While the workmen were wearing respirators at the time N o f our v i s i t , we were o f th opinion th a t the us*e o f the" respirators might not .* l be consistent a t times when inspections are not being made. For instance, i t was noted th at several o f the respirators appeared to be quite new, which indicates th a t the use o f th is equipment may not be continuous. ,, ______________ The v i s i t wa3 in itia te d prim arily because o f the occupational disease report involving Mr. Nathan Por t e r , deceased. According to the O.D. report, Mr. Porter died o f asb estosis. We were informed th a t Mr. Porter was employed by the Company in 1939 and died in February of 19Sh. During the period o f employment o f Mr. Por te r, he was engaged in the refined asbestos process. According to our information, Mr. Porter' s work consisted of screening the acid washed asbestos. We were ad vised th at-the Compary had made no chest x-rays o f Mr. Porter durirg the time o f h is employment. I t i s the present p o licy o f the Company, however, to have chest x-rays made on a l l new workers. We were informed that prior to the employment of Mr. Porter th a t he had been engaged as a stone cutter in a quarry a t Granite, Md. I t is p o ssib le , o f course, that Mr. Porter was exposed to s i l i c a dust in the stone cutting operation. Regarding the operations in the refined asbestos process, the Conany has made an attempt to elim inate the occurrence o f dust in the handling of asbestos in .t h is area. An enclosure has been in s ta lle d on the screen and exhaust ven ti la tio n i s applied to t h is equipment. A v e lo c ity study made on the enclosure indicated an exhaust ra te o f approximately 150 lfmjjafcfcer the / j c e offthe enclosure.. The exhaust equipment appeared to be doing a f a ir l y good job in controlling d u st. The workmen on th is operation was wearing a resp irator at the >. time o f our v i s i t . The re fin in g o f asbestos consists o f dumping asbestos out of ' . bags onto a flo o r and thereafter p lacin g the asbestos in a washer fo r the removal of d irt and foreign m atter. A fter washing, 'which is done with water, the asbestos is placed in earthen ja rs into which m uriatic acid is added fo r fu rth er re fin in g o f the asbestos. A fter acid u latio n, the asbestos is rewashed and placed in a drier in the screen room. Following the drying operation, asbestos is taken to screens Where i t is c o lle c te d in boxe3 and packed in to va rio u s co n ta in e rs. The m ajority of th is asbestos is packed in one-pound containers and sold to laboratories. A portion, of the refined asbestos is packed in drums. The Company has provided a hood for controlling dust in the packing area. At the present time, th is hood : is portable and. is moved about the operation according to the type o f m aterial F i l e Memorandum - Powhatan Mining C orporation (3/2U/55) being packed. I t i s f;e l.t.: that th is hood which is fa ir ly heavy is inconvenient to use and 3ince workmen are prone to disregard control equipment, in such cases, i t is f e l t that i t would be advisable for the Corpany to attempt to make a perma nent place fo r the takeoff hood under which the material could be packed. This was discussed at the time of our v is it and Mr. Smith, the plant foreman, agreed that a better location could be provided. This w ill be pointed out in the letter to the Company following this v is it . BCL:gj ir^.Porter acd^tha. type of.. porte perqraodAjf. b is ire deacribed-.to-_.the * v-Diviali^^'rep^ntaititvea ->tThhe death. o lir^ Porteir"cart ainly; enhaai .m th#^^w Cproieotij^ixkr` i 5-4"^-- . 'LW'r ` - Tharefore,, the ;*ongr-logicaL iaethod of prerventing-overexpoeure to the dust'- v -; - V 3 '-'- GJ.W*UXug.WjK UU9 XU UXU8T U1M* UWJT UV WVW uovwzot I vUa OU, VV/, * V V - ~ -.y -* ' and u n fit for use.;. I t i s suggested that the respirators be co llecte d '; /; , " weekly' and be carefully washed in soap and water and returned to the.-' :`Vi-VN.*"- 4' .r { i \ i . w / v n t/ A W a '* Ife n tf 1 V t * o e V a v 1 r l V a u ) A m 4>Va + 4 U a 4 > 4 m a ^ *-* * *'