Document GKnq6J98vgjz9mbkMZVy06GV

I 't 572 OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH REPORTER benzene, alpha-Methyl styrene, styrene, vinyl toluene, cyclohexane, camphor, mesityl oxide, 5-mehtyl-3-heptanone, and ozone. The proposal was issued as part of the Standards Completion Project, a joint effort involving OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Under the proposed standards, exposure levels for the 11 chemicals would remain at present permissible limits. In ad dition, employers would be required to make an initial deter mination of whether exposure exceeds an action level of one-half the permissible limit for each chemical. If results of the initial determination were positive, the employer would be required to establish monthly or bi monthly monitoring, record keeping, worker training, and medical surveillance. Application of engineering controls Regulated Areas The proposal would require that any work area where a person may be exposed to airborne concentrations of asbestos fibers in excess of the permissible limit be designated as a regulated area. The following regulations would apply to all regulated areas: Only authorized personnel would be allowed in the areas. A daily roster of all personnel entering the areas would be maintained. Monitoring According to the proposal, monitoring must be performed in a manner that will measure accurately the airborne and respirators (where engineering controls were found to asbestos concentrations in the workplace to which be inadequate) also would be required. Comments on the proposed standards should be submitted employees would be exposed if they worked in the area without personal protective equipment. It may not be within 60 days of publication of the proposal to the U.S. necessary to monitor every exposed worker to satisfy this Department of Labor, OSHA, Docket Officer, Docket SCP-2, Rm. N3620, Third St. and Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20210. Comments on environmental or in requirement, the proposal noted. Other monitoring requirements proposed by the revision are as follows: flationary impact should be addressed within 30 days to Employers must conduct initial monitoring of all David Bell, OSHA Office of Standards Development, Room N3669, at the same address. A study to assess the in flationary impact of the proposed rules is being conducted by OSHA, and results will be made public at least 30 days before a public hearing. The OSHA proposal will appear in the Full Text section of a future Current Report. worksites where asbestos fibers might be released to deter mine the level of worker exposure. If initial monitoring shows that the asbestos concen trations are above the permissible limit, the monitoring must be repeated every month. If they are below the per missible limit, they must be repeated every three months. All monitoring must be done with a membrane filter method with phase contrast illumination. Within five days after receiving the results of monitor ing, employers must notify their workers in writing of the results. Employees must be given the opportunity to observe the OSHA REVISION OF ASBESTOS RULE monitoring. EXCLUDES CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY,* Compliance Methods Revisions to the current safety and health standard for asbestos proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Ad According to the proposal, worker exposure to asbestos would be controlled to or below the permissible limit by ministration would reduce the permissible exposure limit to engineering controls, work practices, and personal protec an eight-hour time-weighted average of 0.5 fibers per cubic tive equipment. centimeter of air except for construction activities. Engineering controls would be instituted immediately to Permissible levels for the construction industry would reduce worker exposure. Where engineering and work prac continue under the present standard which has a ceiling tice controls are not sufficient to reduce exposure to or limitation of 10 fibers per cubic centimeter. A separate rulemaking is planned for revising the asbestos standard for below the permissible limit, they would be used nonetheless and supplemented by use of respirators. construction, OSHA said. Employers also would be required to establish a written Other major provisions of the OSHA proposal which would program to reduce exposure to or below the permissible revise 1910.1001 are as follows: limit solely by means of engineering and work practices con The ceiling limit would be reduced to five fibers per trols. The written program would include a description of cubic centimeter as determined during any 15-minute each exposed operation, engineering plans and studies used sampling period. to determine the controls, a report of the technology con There would be additional requirements for regulated sidered, monitoring data, and a detailed schedule for utiliz areas, worker rosters, hygiene facilities, worker training ing the controls. and information programs, signs and labels, and monitoring and medical surveillance programs. The period for retention of monitoring and medical records would be extended to 40 years, or for the duration of the worker's employment plus 20 years. Principal industries affected by the proposal are asbestos fiber processing, manufacture of asbestos-containing products, construction, shipbuilding, automobile industry, and automobile repair. According to OSHA estimates, ap proximately 50,000 workers are involved in the manufacture of asbestos-containing products. The total number of workers exposed to asbestos is not known. Respirators The proposed revisions specify that respirators may not be used to achieve compliance with the permissible exposure limit except in the following cases: During the period necessary to install engineering or work. In work situations where engineering controls and supplemental work practice controls are insufficient to reduce exposure to or below the permissible limit. In emergencies. Where respirators are permitted, the proposal specifies that the employer must select them from a list of those ap The proposed revision does not contain an anticipated proved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and effective date. Health. eolth Reportor C 003229 ! i CURRENT REPORT 573 The proposal specifies also that no worker will be assigned to tasks requiring a respirator if an examining physician has determined that the worker would be unable to function nor mally while wearing one. Personal Protective Clothing Under the proposal the employer would be required to provide personal protective clothing such as coveralls, head coverings, gloves and foot coverings for all workers exposed to asbestos concentrations exceeding the prescribed limits. He also would be obligated to require the use of such clothing by his workers. , Other requirements relating to protective clothing are as follows: Clean and dry clothing would be provided to each worker at least daily. The employer would be required to dean, launder, and maintain the clothing. The employer would be required to insure that protec tive clothing is removed only in authorized change rooms. The employer would be required to insure that workers do not remove the clothing from the change rooms. All contaminated clothing would be placed in im permeable closed containers. The employer would be required to inform personnel laundering the clothing contaminated by asbestos of the harmful effects of exposure. In addition to change rooms, the employer would be re quired to have appropriate shower and lavatory facilities. Medical Surveillance Medical exams required by the proposal would be con ducted at the employer's expense. Where workers refuse to take the exams, the employer would obtain a signed state ment from the worker that he has been informed of the con sequences and refuses to be examined. ' The following medical exams are required by the proposal: -- Preplacement. The employer would provide each worker a comprehensive medical exam within 30 days following his first employment in an area exposed to air borne concentrations of asbestos. Employers would be required to provide annual com prehensive medical exams to exposed workers. Employers would be required to provide medical exams to exposed workers within 30 calendar days before or after termination of employment. The proposal specifies also that no worker should be expos ed to asbestos in such a way as would increase the risk of material impairment of this health. Training and Information Employers would be required under the proposal to provide a training program for workers assigned to regulated areas. The program would be provided at the time of initial assignment and at least annually thereafter. A copy of the final OSHA standard and its appendices must be readily available to workers in regulated areas. Specified also in the proposal are labeling requirements and housekeeping requirements. Under the latter, employers would be required to maintain all exposed sur faces in the workplace free from accumulations of asbestos fibers if their dispersion would create airborne concen trations in excess of the permissible limit. Waste would be disposed of in sealed impermeable bags or other closed con tainers. Recordkeeping Requirements Employers would be required by the proposal to maintain the following records: Exposure records pertaining to worker exposure to asbestos. Medical records for each worker subject to medical sur veillance. Mechanical ventilation requirements. Employee training records. Designated rosters. All records maintained by the employer would be available on request to the Assistant Secretary of Labor and the direc tor of NIOSH. When the employer ceases to do business, the records must be transmitted to his successor or, if there is no successor, to NIOSH. The OSHA proposal for asbestos will appear in the Full Text section of the next Current Report. Sodium Hydroxide NIOSH RECOMMENDS TWO MILLIGRAM LIMIT FOR WORKER EXPOSURE TO SODIUM HYDROXIDE An occupational exposure limit for sodium hydroxide of two milligrams per cubic meter of air for any 15-minute sampling period was recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in a criteria document sent to the Department of Labor. The NIOSH recommendations for sodium hydroxide, also known as Caustic soda, lye, and white caustic, appear in the Full Text of this report. The document includes provisions for medical surveillance including comprehensive preplacement medical ex aminations and prompt medical exams when workers show signs of skin, eye, or upper respiratory tract irritation from exposure to sodium hydroxide. Labeling requirements in clude warning that the substance can cause severe burns or blindness. The employer is required to provide a respiratory protection program in accord with established programs. NIOSH emphasizes "the importance of good work prac tices." The criteria document is HEW publication No. (NIOSH) 76-105 and is available from the Office of Technical Publications, NIOSH, Room 532, U.S. Post Office Building, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Standards OSHA TO SHIFT EMPHASIS FROM HEALTH TO SAFETY RULES IN FUTURE RULEMAKING Future standards proposed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will reflect a shift by OSHA in emphasis from health to safety standards, Deputy Assistant Labor Secretary Marshall L. Miller stated at a press con ference on October 1. The press conference was held to discuss standards proposed by OSHA for inorganic lead, asbestos, toluene, and Sets B and C of the Standards Completion Project (Current Report, October 2, p. 539). Seven other safety and health rules will be proposed by OSHA in the near future. According to Miller, the proposals represent "neither a cave-in nor a hard or soft position by OSHA." Through the proposals, OSHA seeks to "ventilate" the issues concerned including precise exposure levels, recordkeeping re quirements, and burdens imposed on small businesses. Miller stated that the "standards logjam" at OSHA has been broken. Future standards proposals will attempt to redress the balance between safety and health standards, he said. Copyright S 1975 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. c 003230