Document 5Le4w1vEddGj7gMN71V8krdKV

Vc k?A t') 820 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH REPORTER The technical amendment to the final rule appears in the t--n--a---i--me countjy law pre-emp--ts --------- ucguuaviuua, duu mat Full Text section of this issue. the county law provides a major obstacle to developing non- Chart Revision polluting industries in the town. Town residents "rely on jobs with computer technologyiHn businesses that are threatened OSHA began revising the charts in 1986 to-jirovide a more by the county VDT la^r according to Woodhull. up-to-date listing of acceptable combinations of multi-piece Scibilia said thaLSouthoid's action "adds to the confusion components. In addition, the eharo-'ftientify wheel compo on the questioned what level of government has jurisdiction nents that no longer are manufaptfired. Information relating to regulate^VDTs. LLA contends that the legislation should to the safe servicing of singl^piece rim wheels, previously come fpem the state or federal legislatures, so all counties contained only in manuajs^now is included on the charts. The charts also include information from the standard to in a state would be required to follow the same restrictions f provisions. "provide a more coniprehensive document for the employer and employee^giuse in their servicing operations.'' the agency sauL, Health Hazards Current/fJHSTA charts and other relevant publications and manuals will continue to be acceptable, the agency said. Copies of the revised charts may be obtajnEd from the 'COSTLY' OUTBREAK OF MUMPS AMONG EMPLOYEES AT CHICAGO EXCHANGE RIOTED IN REPORT BY CDC OSJU Publications Office, U.$. Departmenj^df Labor, Room N-3101, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W,, Washington, D.C. 20210; Employees at three^fdtures exchanges in Chicago faced two unusual job-relafed stresses last fall, according to a (202) 523-9667. report publishedSdpt. 9 by the Centers for Disease Control: For further information, contact''James F. Foster, OSHA the stock marisdt plummet in mid-October and an outbreak Office of Information, Room 5W647. at the same address; of mumps tbit occurred over a four-month penod between (202) 523-8148. August and December. Theyfflhbreak, which CDC linked to close contact between Display Terminals empifiyees on the trading floors of the exchanges, had stly" results in terms of expenses fopmospitalization. SECOND TOWN/EXEMPTS LOCAL BUSINESSES FROM SUFFOLK COUNTY SAFETY, HEALTH VDT LAW 'medication, and visits to the doctor, according to the report, published in the centers' Morbidity^nd Mortality Weekly Report. // A second town in Suffolk County, N.Y., has vob exempf/employers within its boundaries from cpYerage under i recently passed county law regulating the us* of In all, 116 employees came town with the disease, three more cases occurred iir^family members, complications developed in 21 iasfmces, and nine persons were hospital vidw display terminals, contending that the l^wputs unfair ized, CDC said. anomic burdens on local businesses. Closed environments like the trading floors make the The town, Southold, voted Aug. 9 to expirfpt itself from the i of infectious diseases easier, the report noted. county VDT legislation. The first towitto do so was Brook- It also said that the number of cases of mumps at the three haven, Suffolk County's largest taara (18 OSHR 663). The exduufges peaked during the surge of tradingjactivity that county has 10 towns, and currently four other towns-- prpdeded the Oct. 19 market decline. Babylon. Smithtown, Islip, aptf Riverhead--also are consid interviews with some of the patients, it appeared ering similar resolutionaydccording to Valerie Scibilia, a bat the "intense activity" during that Period may have spokeswoman for the ^eng Island Association, a local busi "encouraged" some employees to continue working even ness coalition. though they were sick--"thus possibly exposing susceptible The Suffolk Couafy VDT legislation applies to businesses co-workers," CDC said. with 20 or mote VDTs, employing operators who spend at least 26 hours a week on the units, and requires those The report compared the o of each case of mumps, nearly $1,500. with the $5 to 'that it costs to be immunized employenXo provide ergonomically designed wprk stations, safety-related training and education, and eyp4are benefits against the disease. CDC said that the outbreak should remind persons of the (18 Q9HR 92). `Home-Rule' Previa need to have documented immunity to mumps, and the need for employers and health-care providers to be aware that mumps may occur in adults as well as children. Lisa Reardon, an official with thyCoramunication Work ers of America, have told her the told BNA Septyfz that county attorneys towns' actions/are totally illegal." But she d^Vinyl Chloride said the union will probabta/not act to try to change the towns' positions unless the town councils try to interfere with businesses compiyjrfg with the law. The county law requires employers to/Offer health education programs and 15-minute breaks to/vDT workers starting in January 1989. Ruthanne WoodhuU, assistant to Southold Town Supervi sor Frank Murpfly, told BNA Sept 8 the town council voted unanimously to exempt local employers from compliance with the ctnmty law on the basis that the town's "home-rule powers'* aradate the county's charter, thereby making the county/mw non-binding on the town. UPDATED STUDY FINOS LOW CANCER RATES AMONG WORKERS PREVIOUSLY SEEN AS HIGH-RISK An updated study of workers potentially exposed to vinyl chloride at a Dow Chemical Co. plant demonstrated that an earlier finding of an increased risk of all cancer types did not apply over the long run. In addition, statistically significant excesses of specific types of cancer sometimes associated with vinyl chloride exposure were not found, according to the update published in the August Journal of Occupational Medicine. objections to the resolution are that no medical The earlier detection of higher-than-expected cancer rates evidence exists to prove that VDTs cause adverse health effects, that the county law conflicts with labor contracts. among workers potentially exposed to high levels of the chemical--200 parts per million or more--was attributed to 9-14-S8 Copyright 1988 by The Bureau of N*oon Affairs, Inc. OOtS-am/M/tO+.N SL 106747 I SL 106748 C--U--R--R--E--N--T--R--E--P-O--R- T- 821 a chance finding" and may not reflect effects from vinyl chloride exposures, Gregory G. Bond, technical coordinator of Dow's epidemiology department and co-author of the update, told BNA Sept. 12. When researchers followed worker medical histories for an additional nine years, they found fewer deaths than expected from cancer, overall, for the cumulative 40-year period, according to the study update. Although he did not expect the update to have any specific impact on public policy, Bond said that it "may offer some answers to the question of whether vinyl chloride can cause cancer at other sites [in the body)" apart from those already associated with the chemical, m future regulatory proceedings. Vinyl chloride is a known human carcinogen and has been associated with an increased risk of angiosarcoma of the liver among workers exposed to high levels of the chemical. Bond told BNA Sept. 12. Under a 1975 standard, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that exposures to vinyl chlo ride not exceed l part per million over an eight-hour work shift (Reference File, 31: 8321). Commitment To Employees Dow conducted the update as part of an effort to "assure ourselves and our employees" that no increased risk of angiosarcoma of the liver has been observed among Dow workers exposed to vinyl chloride, according to Bond. The company also updated its information to investigate further the earlier finding of a higher incidence of cancer at all body sites among workers with a higher potential for exposure, the Dow health scientist stated. Researchers looked at 593 Dow Michigan Division em ployees potentially exposed to vinyl chloride who were previously studied from 1942 to 1973. The update followed those employees and their medical histories through 1982. Primary focus of the study were health effects such as emphysema and cancers of the biliary tract, lung, brain, and liver--including angiosarcoma. The results reinforced findings of the original 1975 study that there was no dominant tumor site or a unique cancer type among this subgroup, "weakening any interpretation of a causal link with vinyl chloride," according to the published update. Further Findings Researchers found one death from liver cancer where 0.6 deaths were expected. The update also found that although there were two deaths from brain cancer during the nine-year follow-up period compared with one death expected, one of the deaths occurred less than five years after the worker's first expo sure to vinyl chloride. Both deceased workers received only short-term exposures to the chemical in job categories estimated to receive exposures of less than 200 ppm over an eight-hour shift The update also reported six deaths from emphysema or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with five expected deaths in a population of that size. None of the six, however, worked in areas with a potential for exposure to polyvinyl chloride dust the authors said. Researchers failed to find an increased risk of lung can cer, a finding consistent with that of the "majority" of other vinyl chloride studies, according to the update report In addition to Bond, the study update was conducted by five other Dow health scientists: Wendy S. Debar, Elsie A. McLaren, Fred L. Sabel, Thomas E. Lapps, and Ralph R. Cook. California AMENDMENTS PROPOSED TO STATET4ULES COVERING ASBESTOS REMOVALCONTRACTORS SAN FRANCISCO--(By a/HNA Staff Correspondent}-- Several amendments to Gduforaia regulations governing asbestos removal contractors were proposed by^tfie state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), includ ing one proposin^a tenfold increase in the/ee charged by the division to register contractors. / Besides ihe/iticrease in the registration fee, the division is proposing >o allow oral, in addijifin to written, pre-job notifications, clarify who must register, and exempt certain contractors from a certificatipn requirement. California law requires/efnployers engaged in asbestosrejdted work to register with the division and to'notify OSH before they begin work on a project involving asbes tos. The current registration fee is 330, but DOSH is propos ing- to raise th^/io $350 because it has been unable to recover its coan of managing the registration program with the lower foe. Renewals of registrations' would cost $150, under the proposed amendments. / 341.9 of the division's regpfations already requires j that have registered with DOSH to provide writ- gob notifications when' they engage in asbestosork. DOSH is proposing to amend that section to allow for oral notification in some instances, such as emer gencies during non-business hours requiring immediate action. Sputa On Per-Job Basie Currently, employers that engage in asbestos-related work involving/00 square feet or more oLdsbestoe-containing materiaiyare subject to the registration requirement. DOSH proppked to clarify the 100-sqdare-foot limitation to, compute ivon a per-job basis, rather than as the total! footage bundled on separate jopa throughout the; Contractors that install, jiiaintain, and repair^bestos cement pipe or sheets, vinyl asbestos flooringydt asbestos bituminous or resinouszJiaterials already arrexempted by state law from a requirement that thej^pass an asbestos certification examination. DOSH is proposing in its amended rules to exempythese contractors/from the registration requirement as/well. The exemption for certain contractors, the oral pre-job notification' and the lOO-sqpdre-foot clarification ail were adopted by DOSH as emergency rules in August and can remaipdn effect for up^to 120 days. The tenfold fee increase is notin effect yet. A public heartngis scheduled by DOSH on the''imposed changes for Oct/19 at 525 Golden Gate Avp/Room 101, in San Franciscq/Written comments shoultLbe directed to Ron E. Medeiros/Senior Counsel, DOSH, Department of Industri al Relations. Legal Unit 525 GoldetiGate Ave., Room 616, San Francisco, Calif. 94102; (41>fS57-2960. Nuclear Safaty `SAFE STORAGE' RATHER THAN DISMANTLING PROPOSED FOfFbAMAGEO THREE MILE ISLAND UNIT PHILADELPHIA--(By a BNA Staff Correspondent)--In , submissiojr to the Nuclear Regulatory CommiMipnrGPU Nucleac'Corp. (GPUN) has proposed keepmg-'ffsdamaged Tricep-Mile Island Unit 2 reactor (TMMi-dT'safe, monitored storage" for some 30 years followtiig'completion of cleanup operations, rather than comnletfily dismantling the plant 9-14-88 Occupational Safely 8 Haalth Report*OOM-32S7/M/IO+.M