Document 4JMqzwEx9Mk9YgLxGxo862mj1

VOLUME 7 NO. 2 PUBLISHED FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE PAINESVILLE PLANT Painesville Plant First Half Safety Award Acts On Vinyl Chloride Problem In January, the PVC industry, including our Painesville Plant, was confronted with a new and serious problem that has very much affected our normal mode of operation. At that time, the EL F. Goodrich Company announced that vinyl chloride (VC) exposure may be the cause of a rare liver cancer, angiosarcoma, in some employees at its Louisville PVC plant. The announcement has triggered an immense effort on the part of industry, government, and iabor to thoroughly investigate the problem and take immediate action to reduce employee exposure to VC, Currently, 19 cases of angiosarcoma have been discovered. These diagnoses have occurred over a ten year period among employees who have had long term, high exposure to VC. The Painesville Plant can announce at this time we have no indication of any cases of angiosarcoma involving our employees. Continued Qn Page 4. Program Completed The first half winners in the. 1974 Safety Award Program have all been announced following a drawing in early July which completed the awards for the first six month period. The purpose of this program is to promote a constant conscious interest in and awareness of safety. Obviously, the primary reasons for safety consciousness on the part of the employee is the well being of the individual and his family. The avoid ance o! pain, inconvenience, loss of income to the indi vidual employee and his family is of major concern to each of us. The Com pany's Safety Award Pro gram is an additional incentive through monetary Bill Nellies, winner of S25 Savings gifts. Cu/wj/ueo On Page 9. Bond. URL 01852 New Emergency Crews Near Completion Of Red Cross First Aid Training Sixty men have completed or are nearing completion of their training in the First Aid and Personal Safety Course being offered in the plant by accredited Red Cross instructors. Instructors in the 18 hour course have been Norm Walter, Plant Safety Supervisor, Mike Nahorniak, Fire Chief, Fairport Harbor Fire Dept., and Fred Armstrong, Capt. and Training Officer, Painesville Township Fire Department. CoBob Mackey prepares inject personnel air sample into chromatograph. Chromatograph and auto lab computing integrator will analyze air for VC concentration in para per million. These training sessions started last November and have continued until the present time with the volunteer groups Continued On Page 3. SOT Vinyl Chloride Problem Continued From Page 1. Employees at the Painesville Plant, as well as the general public, are well aware of the VC problem through the amount of news publicity and the activities initiated at our plant and the industry. It is important that employees and their families know of the actions the Painesville Plant is taking to reduce employee VC exposure and preserve the health and safety of all plant workers in regard to this problem. OSHA ESTABLISHES "TEMPORARY STANDARD": ~he Federal government, through OSHA (Occupational ' -fety and Health Administration), established an ` Emergency Temporary Standard" which sets the gutdei':te of rules and regulations which the Painesville Plant and : I PVC manufacturers must follow. Within this standard, OSHA has established a ceiling exposure level at 50 parts ? :r million; an ambient air and personal monitoring rogram; notification requirements to employees of VC ,.::posure; a protective equipment requirement; and various other measures to be taken related to this problem. While the "Temporary Standard" is in effect, OSHA has spared its "Proposed Permanent Standard", has con,:MCted public hearings on the "proposed standard" for ; `dustry, labor and government to express formal com",5nts and objections, and has initiated plant inspections o assure industry compliance of the "Temporary .tandard". OSHA will publish the "Permanent Standard" ,i October, PAINESVILLE PLANT ACTION Since January, the Painesville Plant has put forth much .:ne, money and effort in working toward reducing employee VC exposure and providing personal protective :-r;i;ipment in those areas where VC exposure exceeds the parts per million ceiling level. MONITORING PROORAM: The plant monitor ing program is directed at fcoth air monitoring and personal sampling of em pioyees. This program gives tne plant the necessary data to determine those areas where employees are ex posed to VC over 50 parts per million. It also gives the piant the opportunity to analyze the progress of re ducing VC emissions, and consequently, the lowering of the level of VC exposure to employees. To date, the plant has been successful in educing VC concentrations :y an estimated 60% since 8iH Booth pins persona/ air sample bag on Dave Hilston who will wear this for ten minutes before air is analyzed on chromatograph. our first monitoring data collected in April. Building air monitoring is being checked in 42 loca tions where samples are being collected and read on a daily basis. This is done with an instrument which reads directly the level of vapors in the air. The personal sampling in volves collecting 10 minute air samples of the at mosphere from an em ployee's breathing zone, Ray Mundie monitors ambient air at analyzing the samples on a a fixed point in Area 1 Finishing chromatoaraph analyzer, Department. ana so determining the employee's direct exposure to VC concentrations. From these samples, the plant can put together a "job profile" which indicates the various job functions where probable high exposure exists. Each job classification in the plant is being monitored on this basis to compile these "job profiles." The results of these two sampling programs are discussed on a frequent basis with the plant workers. PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT PROGRAM: Iri most incidences, VC concentration levels can be reduced through leak detection and improved operating procedures which the plant has initiated. Some solutions, however, will involve longer-term engineering projects. Where VC levels cannot be immediately reduced, it is imperative that employees be protected from high VC exposure. First, and foremost, the plant is providing the employee with a supply of breathable air in areas of high VC concentrations. To date, 180 continuous flow air supplied respirators have been issued to employees. The continuous air is supplied by the plant air system, which is purified to a quality of breathable air through a filter canister. This provides the necessary breathable air to the employee who is required to wear the air mask when he must work in an area that exceeds 50 parts per million of VC. Other protective equipment includes coveralls and gloves, which help reduce the employees' contact with any VC; and dust respirators, which reduce PVC dust exposure. Employees have also been advised to practice good personal health habits to help in minimizing VC exposure. These include daily showers, no food consumption in VC Process buildings, and daily change of clothing. All of these precautions contribute to reduced employee ex posure. MEDICAL SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM: It is impor tant to the Painesville Plant and its employees to determine if in fact we have any employees with liver problems that can be associated with high VC exposure. In URL 01853 . VINYL CHLORIDE PROBLEM Continued this regard, the plant began a medical surveillance program in May, consisting of a personal medical questionnaire, brief physical examination related to the liver, and blood tests to determine liver function normalities. 420 active employees and 10 retirees have gone through the medical surveillance program to date. Employees who showed any liver abnormalities whatsoever, are being given extended blood and medical workups to further determine the caus'e of the abnormality. The plant's medical surveillance program calls for the six month retesting of those employed in VC operations for more than 10 years and for retesting of all other plant employees on an annual basis, in this way, the plant can be reasonably assured that no employee is being affected by VC exposure and that our precautionary measures to reduce VC exposure are in fact doing the job. ENGINEERING CONTROL PROGRAM: We believe that the primary solution to reducing employee exposure to VC is by reducing or eliminating VC emissions to the operating areas. The Technical and Engineering Depart ments have initiated many projects to meet this objective. Leak detection throughout the operation is now being used to track down the source of any high level of VC. Most often this will be a valve or flange which needs quick attention by Maintenance to correct the problem. Some times a change in equipment has been required to give a permanent solution. Leak detection is a constant program. Grant F> shell, wearing air tine respirator, emerges from poly after cleaning. Building ventilation was improved quickly by removing some side panels to allow more air circulation .through operating buildings. This prevents a build-up of VC if there is a very small leak. We have begun the design of improved forced ventilation systems including fresh air supplied enclosures for various operating buildings and provisions for winter operation. Solvent cleaning of reactors is being re-investigated as a possible major improvement. This system would enable us to circulate a solvent through the reactor to clean it when required, thus greatly reducing the number of times a reactor must uc opened. We know that opening reactors and cleaning them is a major VC emission source. c jD g Other projects being investigated are instruments to continuously monitor the 42 locations, improved reactor ventilation, and modified operating procedures to reduce emissions. Bill Layman dons respirator to open poly. IN SUMMARY The VC problem is a critical situation both to the health and safety of our PainesvilJe Plant employees and to the continued PVC operations at this plant. Management has made, and will continue to make, a concentrated effort to reduce vinyl chloride levels in the plant. Employees have demonstrated their cooperation to do whatever is possible to reduce VC emissions and to take precautionary measures when exposures exceed 50 parts per million. While this problem has required additional expenditures, much extra employee effort and many changed work practices, with a continuation of the effort shown so far we will attempt to meet any reasonable operating standards which are set.