Document B5E9jjX9Z597gmLG8qyeeO4QE

FILE NAME: Railroads (RR) DATE: 1978 Jan 16 DOC#: RR054 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Industry & Employee Warning Information with Cover Memo W v - ' K) r .1 Xmx\--$ rn'vl'v'. m tmVl.-c z~ r-r;fe O. i r. M / o V t~ 0 ( jQ vJv /9 0/}A ` 1-- w y v-\7'rv'i> January 1-6, 1970 File H-liO L-195 Mr. J. M . Schercinger Seer e.tarv , Safety Sec tier; Association of American Railroads 1920 L St. H.W.. Washington, D.C. _ 20036 - . A i PLAINTIFFS EXHIBIT RR-*160a Dear Johm . Attached herewith is a copy of a Superintendent's General Notice issued on the Rock Island Lines concerning composition brake shoes and precautions to be taken in regard to the residue dust. By copy of this letter, I am giving all members of the Steering Committee the benefit of this bulletin ana I would appreciate your placing this subject on our docket for our March meeting. I think a discussion of the experience of the various roads in regard to this possible hazard and the actions taken by the various carriers would be enlightening for us .all, lip to this point I'have not been aware that we had a problem in this area. Sincerely, G. y/. c.fTAki iAi?n CV/G/fm All Members of -AAR Safety Section Steering Committee Enc. . . tlO1* V/^slc' '*1>0\' . v . i - j . m ... r . i i - j ? Co'np.-jMy* G v o * OC W 0 rW'*i3i! ( h ' I I C I . I M . t O . K J l ' l mi P1U t&JI \Lti2J January 16, 19?0 F i l e H-310 L-195 Mr. J. M. Schercinger 1 Secretary, Safety Section Association of American Railroads' 1920 L S t ; N. W. Washington, D.C, 20036 Dear Johni Attached herewith is a copy of a Superintendent's General Notice issued on the Rock Island Lines concerning composition brake shoes and precautions to be taken in regard t o T h e "residue d u s t . By- copy of this letter, I am giving all members of the Steering- Committee the benefit of this bulletin and I would appreciate your placing this subject on oar docket for our March meeting. I think a discussion of the experience of the"'various roads in regard to this possible hazard and the actions taken by the various carriers would be enlightening for us all. Up to this point I have not been aware that we had a problem in this area. Sincerely, GV/G/fm All Members of AAR Safety Section Steering Committee Enc . No/lolk nd W cSfotn Slid, 0*,..Imr.it R o a l i o k d . V u g . n i . 3<0-<2 COfT'p^ny OJO.g. W. C.vh<t G u i.c lrl S .Irly K O C H I S I, A H n L I N F. S o m c K__0 F_J un: r<i wteudunt ' M1SSO URI-1CANS AS DL VI S I O N GENERAL NOTICE NO.. 2 - Kansas C it y , Kansas J a n u a r y 6, 1973 ALL CONCERNED: ALL SUB -DIV ISIONS Item (68) C a te go r y 1 oe Employes who arc e x pos ed t o b ra k e shoe r e s i d u e d us t when c h a n g i n g b r a k e shoes ohouJei u a s t h e i r h a n d s t h o r o u g h l y b e f o r e e a t i n g , and s h o u l d wash, w o r k c l o t h e s gloves frequently 'to'prevent possible a c - m u !.u io n of asbestos fibers that c o u l d be i n h a l e d f r o m t h e i r ' c l o t i l i n g . Emp 1o c.s' u'n o u s e t o b a c c o w h i l e w o r k i n g should c a r r y in w e l l wrapped or clo sed c o n t a in e r to p r e v e n t . d u s t i n f i l t r a t i o n Before u s i n g or h a n d l i n g t o b a c c o , lands s h o u ld be c l e a n . Sm oking in any form should be avoided while changing, composition brake shoes to e lim in a t e unnecessary inhala tio n . ' .... , I t e : (69) C a t e g o r y '1 S t a t e o f Oklahoma Commission Order 26163 e f f e c t i v e February 1, 1978,' r e q u ir e s : 1. That each t r a i n crew s h a l l carry and r e t a in the c u r r e n t manifest l i s t i n g the co nte n ts of the t r a i n . 2 . T h a t u p o n t h e o c c u r r e n c e o f a n a c c i d e n t w i t h i n t h e S t a t e o.f Oklahoma in v o lv in g hazardous m aterials which is reportab le"un der 1 7 1 . 2 6 o f T i t l e 69 o f the Code o f F e d e r a l R e g u l a t i o n s , the t r a i n 1 . crew i n v o l v e d s h a l l f u l l y c o o p e r a t e and g i v e a s s i s t a n c e to a l l response personnel. ' " 3. A l s o upon the o c c u r r e n c e o f such an a c c i d e n t as d e s c r i b e d above, the t r a i n crew involved s h a l l immediately c o n t a c t it s d is p a tc h e r 's o f f i c e s h a l l j tniciM.itely contact the Oklahoma Highway Patrol at i t ' s c e n t r a l number ( 605) 6 26-1. 616, ns t o any. h a z a r d o u s m a t e r i a l s cn b o a r d s p e c i f i c a l l y naming s a i d m a t e r i a l s and the q u a n t i t y on b oa rd . 6 . T h a t upon v i o l a t i o n o f any o f t h e s e r e g u l a t i o n s , tine r e s p o n s i b l e r a i l w a y company s h a l l be a s s e s s e d a f i n e , the amount o f which is Co be d e t e r m i n e d by t h e C o r p o r a t i o n C o m m i s s i o n o f t h e S t a t e o f . O k l a 1)oma . Files - 630, 667 H . E . P 11c 1ps S u p e r in - t c nd en t LfL M JL L IJK L /L L )^ QAEpATlONS A N D M A IN TEN A N C E D EP A R TM EN T . S A F E T Y A N D SPECIAL SER VIC ES D IVISIO N l E T Y S E C T IO N 1920 L S T R E E T , N.W., W A SH IN G TO N , D.C. 20036 202/293-4119/4128 J. E. MARTIN V ie t F r ti'u L in i 7. A. RISENDAL EitcuEr* Director J. M. SCHERC1NCER A-uistestf Director cjU Secretory F e b r u a r y 6, 1978 F ile : 6.3 OFFICERS OF SECTION F. M. KAYLOR 6- D. NELSON' Vie, CheErmuen STEERING CO M M ITTEE A A R SA F E T Y SECTION G entlem en: This refers to'the attached copy of M r. G. W. Gearhart's letter o f J a n u a r y 16, 1978 to m e t r a n s m i t t i n g a S u p e r i n t e n d e n t ' s G e n e r a l N o t i c e is su e d on the R o ck Island R ailroad con cern in g brake shoes and precautions to b e taken i n r e g a r d to r e s id u e d u s t. I spoke with M ik e Lenahan of the R o ck Isla n d . H e had received an inquiry fro m a union representative concerning the possible health h a z a r d to w h ic h em p lo y e e s' m a y be e x p o se d when c h a n g in g b rak e sh o e s, due to the p r e s e n c e o f a s b e s t o s f i b e r s . M i k e then c h e c k e d with S t e v e U r m a n of F R A who is f a m ili a r with the O S H A stand ard on exposure to asbestos (copy attached), M r . Risendal spoke with M r . U rm an who advised that he in fo rm e d M r . L e n a h an there a r e two schoo ls of thought on this subject. One is that heat fro m brake application changes the chem ical composition w ith the r e s u l t that t h e r e is. no s u c h h a z a r d . T h e o t h e r on e is d i r e c t l y o p p o s i t e . M r . L e n a h a n t h e n c h e c k e d 'w i t h h i s L a w D e p a r t m e n t with the result of the published notice sim ply as a precaution. The language of the notice, w hich was not suggested by Steve U rm a n , was drafted by Mike' Lenahan and somewhat revised by the RI Law D epartm ent. M r . U r m a n provided the attached two do cum ents on a sb e sto s. One is a paper by Je re m ia h R. Lynch, O SH A , entitled B rake Lining Decomposition P r o d u c t s , "w i n c h d e a l s w i t h a n i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f a s b e s t o s f i b e r s in b r a k e linings-of automotive vehicles.' The other is a study on exposure of garage m echanics titled "Asbestos Exposure During Brake Lining Maintenance And Repair" conducted by the E n viron m en tal Scie n ce s Laboratory, Mount Sinai School of M edicine, City University of New York. The Mount Sinai group encountered "high" levels of lead in a study on subway car brake shoe repair w ork. They adm it this data is quite lim ited and only suggestive o f a p o te n tia l h a z a r d . T h e y do not h a v e d a ta r e g a r d i n g a s b e s t o s e x p o s u r e during subway brake shoe repair w ork aa indicated in their attached D e c e m b e r 6, 1976 l e t t e r to F R A . It sh o u ld be noted t h e r e i n , the M o u n t Sin ai group com m ented that "Since s e v e r a l kinds of railro ad brake shoes in clud e asbestos in their com position, the potential of asbestos exposure ; during repair work exists." t I M r . U rm an also inform ed us that F R A is letting a contract through it s R e s e a r c h and D e v e lo p m e n t o f f ic e , to d e te r m in e if there a re actu ally any health h azard s. We are checking into the status of this contract. A s requested by M r. G e a r h a r t, this subject is being docketed f o r y o u r M a r c h 14-15, 1978 m e e t i n g . Sincerely, List: WN v