Document Dv68mbxgpVEXo9rKL674yRXxO

FILE NAME: Shipbuilders Council of America (SHIP) DATE: 1972 Mar 21 DOC#: SHIP037 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Excerpt from Letter to Mr. Joseph Bee, NAVSHIPS, RE OSHA Standards for Exposure to Asbestos Dust 21 March 1972 % Mr. Joseph Bee Safety & Fire Protection Coordination Code OIG ' NAVSHIPS # - The National Center , Building 03 ' Arlington, Virginia ' ' Dear Mr. Bee: Occupational Safety and Health Administration of The Department of Labor is currently engaged in establishing standards that will help protect the health of workers exposed to asbestos dust. One of a number of issues raised by alternative standards under consideration is their impact on governmental and private activities. Arthur D. Little, Inc. has been engaged by The Department of Labor to assist in assessing this impact. A review of the uses of asbestos in government-related activities has indicated to us that most occur in shipbuilding and repair. Accordingly, we have been requested by The V. S. Department of Labor to ask you for assistance. Our assessment should include Navy shipyards, ship repair facilities and fleet repair employing tender operations. Information on private shipyards is also important to us. We understand that it will be necessary to obtain such data through the supervisor of shipbuilding having cognizance over administrative and technical aspects of the construction of Navy ships in each private shipyard. Your coordinating role in safety and fire protection promises to provide the most compre hensive coverage possible of all these activities. I hope'you will be able to assist us in obtaining the information we need within the next two weeks. To anticipate how new standards for asbestos will affect workers in shipyards we need to have information on as many of the following questions as possible. 1. . What level of protection is provided to those working with asbestos? This, of course, asks for a statement of current standards and practices. Since we are identifying alternative standards by the number of fibers/cc greater than 5p , it would be most helpful to have the information you provide in these terms. If current protection levels can be related to the operations where they apply your data would be especially useful. " C-41 A rth u r D Little, Inc