Document QXM6gaYVZDGRXdmBZqb2akYeE

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH "^4 (Ab0^*2^- COURT BATTLES LOOM OVER OSHA's ASBESTOS STANDARDS By Richard M. Kendall Under the new asbestos standards, "regulated \ areas" must be established where exposures are " / above the PEL. Only authorized persons wearliur g---7 jrespirators are permitted in regulated areas. Eat- SHA will be in federal courl this fall mg. suiuk ing. llMnkingTchewinggum or tobacco, Otrying to fight off challenges from la and applying cosmetics are prohibited in regu bor and industry to its recently re lated areas. In general industry and construction, vised asbestossfandard for general in signs must be posted to demark regulated areas, dustry and its new asbestos standard for itfhaescboenstos removal, demolition, or renovation is struction industry. being performed in a regulated area in construc Under the two final standards, which were tion. enclosures with negative pressure must be announced in June and became effective July 21. employed to assure that asbestos cannot escape the permissible exposure limit (PEL) for asbestos to unregulated areas. The construction standard is 0.2 fiber per cubic centimeter over an eight- also requires that a "competent person," one ca hour time-weighted average, a tenfold reduction pable of identifying asbestos hazards and with from the 2.0 fiber/'cc PEL which had been in authority to lake prompt corrective action to a- effect since 197B. OSHA had proposed either a bate such hazards, be named to monitor compli 0.2 or 0.5 fiber/cc PEL in 1984. ance with the regulated area requirements. The f The standards also establisha 0.1 fiber/cc "ac .construction standard provides exemptions tion level" which triggers a series of medical Jfrom the regulated area requirements for small- monitoring, employee training, and other re Iscale, short-duration operations. quirements. The standards do not include short- Both the general industry and construction \ term exposure limits. standards require employers to provide workers OSHA's old asbestos standard applied to all exposed above the PEL with protective clothing industries. The new general industry standard and ensure that it is used, replaced, stored, dis appliestoall industries except construction The posed. and laundered properly. Change rooms. Nath: OSHA new construction standard for asbestos, the first showers, and lunchrooms must also be provided health standard issued strictly for the construc when exposures exceed the PEL. 'significant rut tion industry, covers new construction, general in general industry, employers must perform of injuryfrom building renovation, asbestos abatement, de initial monitoring of employees who are, or may asbnstosaio.2 molition. and contracted maintenance oper be expected to be. exposed to asbestos above the fft*r/cc. ations. action level: no initial monitoring is required if Both standards generally require that employ the employer, using objective data, has deter ers use engineering controls, where feasible, and mined that there are no asbestos exposures at or work practices to reach the PEL. In some sanding above the action level. Subsequent monitoring and grinding operations in general industry, res must be done with a frequency tied to the expo pirators may be used if feasible engineering con sure level, and in no case may monitoring inter trols fail to reduce exposures to below 0.5 fiber/ vals be longer that six months for employees cc. Employers are no longer permitted to rotate whose exposure can be foreseen to be above the workers in and out of asbestos-exposed areas as a action level. In construction, monitoring of as means of achieving compliance with the PEL. bestos levels must be done daily when exposures Both standards require employers to provide re are above the PEI., but monitoring car, in; dis spirators to employees when; feasible engi pensed with in regulated areas where workers neering controls ore insufficient to reduce expo wear supplied air. positive pressure respirators. sure levels to the PEL. to maintenance workers, ""AhiiTTal medical surveillance is required in and in emergencies. Where respiratory protec general industry where employees'exposure ex tion is necessary, the level of exposure deter ceeds Ihe action level In construction, sur mines the typo of respirator that most he pro veillance is required when workers are exposed vided. above tin- action level for .'10 or more days per UCC 006381 workers exposed to asbestos over a working life time will die of chronic exposure-related dis AFL-CIO's Seminurio eases |OSHA. in its preamble to the new stan said the union supports dards. had staled that the 0.2 fiber/cc PEL left exposed workers at a significant risk tit incurring EPA's proposal to asbestos-related disease, but the agency said that phase out asbestos use because OSHA's new a lower PEL was infeasible.). The union had sought a O.t fiber/cc PEL during rulemaking. The union also criticized OSHA's failure to standards leave workers at risk. include short -term exposure limits (STEL)in the standards. "This means workers who are in volved with asbestos removal and maintenance operations can be exposed to high levels ofasbes tos in jobs of short duration with no protection rear, or if they wear negative-pressure res required." the union complained. Sheldon Sam pirators. uels. the Industrial Union Department's direc -- Tlremew asbestos standards also require de tor. health, safety, and environment, in decrying tailed annual training and education programs the exclusion of a STEL. argued that peak asbes for workers exposed above the action level to tos exposures permitted under the standards can warn them of asbestos hazards and inform them overwhelm the body's natural defense mech about safe work practices. Material safety data anisms. putting workers at extreme risk. sheets, as prescribed in OSHA's hazard commu Samuels did. however, express gratitude to nication program, arc to be used in the training Secretary of Labor William Brock for moving the and education programs under the asbestos stan asbestos standards out of the Office of Manage dard. Warning signs are required in regulated ment and Budget (OMB) where it had been areas, and warning labels must be affixed to raw lodged for some time. The budget office is ac materials, containers, scrap, debris, and prod cused by some critics of trying to delay release of ucts containing asbestos. Employers performing the standards and to unduly influence their con asbestos work on multi-employer construction tent in the course of its regulatory review. OMB sites are also required to inform other employers has denied these allegations. Rep. John D. Din- of the nature of the work, the existence of regu gell (D-MI), chairman of the House Subcom lated areas, and work rules that pertain to them. mittee on Oversight and Investigations is investi- Legal challenges gating OMB involvement in asbestos . OSHA's two new asbestos standards were im rulemaking. (Dingell was also a party in a re mediately challenged in the Federal courts by cently-decided case challenging OMB's author organized labor groups, asbestos trade organi ity in agency rulemaking; he is also trying to zations, and two manufacturers affected by the eliminate funding for OMB's regulatory review standards. office. See "OSHA Communique" elsewhere in The AFL-ClO's Industrial Union Department this issue.) filed a petition for review of the general industry standard before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department filed a petition for review of the construction standard before the same court. In another challenge to the OSHA standards, the Asbestos Information Association (AIA). a U.S. trade group, sought review of the standards before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. Government Affairs Counsel Kenneth Nyquist said AIA believes ac The AFL-CIO said that after wailing for a de cade for a revision of the asbestos standard, "as bestos-exposed workers deserve a stronger stan dard." The union pointed out that, even with the curate monitoring of asbestos exposures at the 0.2 fiber/cc level is not technically feasible and. therefore, will pose compliance difficulties. The Asbestos Institute (AI). a Canadian non tenfold reduction in the PEL, seven of every 1,000 profit organization funded in part by Canada's asbestos mining industry, petitioned to inter vene in the AIA case. AI President Gary Nash contends that in formulating the standards. Secretary of Labor OSHA did not meet its court mandate of estab lishing a significant risk of injury from asbestos William Brock is credited with dislodging at 0.2 fiber/cc. He also criticized OSHA's stan dards for failing to require different controls for different types of asbestos, depending on their the asbestos standards from OMB. varying health effects in humans, as he main tains asbestos standards in other countries do. Anothersuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for tin: Second Circuit in New York by R.T. Van derbilt Co., a maker of industrial talcs, sought a slay of the asbestos standards as they apply to UCC 006382 I,.uv lit. tit: SI a hr fi *i al.- s! b: ari II. ra. r ti 2. t*1h** * re h. pc li fe ! S' s; o. li I: C t; ilelDullle. .1 i] 11H l| ill \ I ll ll. and .11 111 li < 11! i - liner - minerals which .ire regulated as asbestos iimli'i the nm' stand,uds All.in ll.iiii'V. Vanderbilt s iliirclm nf i'm iruniMi'iil.i) ,i ft.i i i said lln-1 )SI IA standards l.n) in dilfereiiliatr between tbe Ii lllims. asbestos Im Ills .mil I ll r titilt-.isliexlns Itirnit, nl I Ik? minerals. I In nnse lJn? lliri'r miner als are mi i (iimiinii hi rocks mini'll in lln* l1 S . many mining operations woulil tall under ilii' slyndardsaml ni.wy rock prodiu in would have fn In- labeled as containing asbestos. even il the asbestos formsol'tlit* minerals were mil present. Harvey said. OSHA. on July 1M. rs.sued a tempo rary administrative stay (effective until April 21. 1987) of the asbestos standards as limy apply to I he non-asbestos forms of the minerals; (be old 2.0 fiber/nc standard will apply to these forms of ilii: minerals while OSHA reviews communis by N'tOSf I. Vanderbilt, and others concerning their regulation. All petitions for review of the asbestos stan dards. except for a challenge filed at presslime. have been transferred to tin: I'.S. Court of Ap peals for the D.C. Circuit. The most recent ac tion. filed by 3M Co. in the L'.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in St. Louis, seeks a slay of die portions of the standards which limit the selection of negative pressure, half mask rnxpuntors to those with high elliciencv litters only A :iM spokesman said the company be lieves that, in writing respiratory protection se lection portions of the standards which prohibit the use ot an entire class of XIOSH-apppwed disposable respirators of the type made by !\1. OSHA tatted to consider research data that proves tlie efliearv of such respirators in prolei Iing workers from asbestos. It's expected tti.it the :tM Co. suit will also lie transient'll to the !).(! Circinl coin I. KPA hearings Meanwhile, at presslime. KPA was !n.]tii11-_: run weeks ul administrative hearings on its january ptnpos i! In ban asbestos in certain produi Is and to phase out other uses of asbestos over.) Ill-year period At a hearing. AI I.-CIO Associate Dun:- l ir of Occupational Saint v. Health, and S.h 'at .Security Margaret Semin.irio said. OSHA s new standards will leave exposed wnrkeis at risk ol disease, and. that die Al't.-CIO therefore gener ally supports the Kl'A proposal where te.isible and where substitute materialsth.it are know n to lie less liarmlul than asbestos aie available .she also rei onimended lesling and i nnlrul of sulisti- lute proilucls as part ol an asbestos phase-out plan. Asbestos uidnslrv spokesmen (mm AIA am ! AI on Ihr li.imi. >,iiJ llu'ii or*,Min- /.t I if ms wimld Irshl v Ih.rl I hr I mu s i< -iiin \ lift .I-I'O* ,is|ii*slns is |0 | m.lllh .i :i r t li (1.11K i f i. 11 tHim'lfl llt.tl IN 'n lilt- ( IS 11 \ st.iinlarHs In uik Dining i^surs. ur'H L**p \<m |nr.!n| <>n iIh rlfi|fiiu*fiK 11s flr- If'i'.fl .ttii! 'fijnl.rloi v r:i t ;ir (i\'t*f iin*, i in! jrmes In-houstfconlalnors f Hazardous material: must have ip'rget. organ enacts,' and appro* pHate hara'rd wamlngs pn ttie Jabel lo be1 Itveompjlanco, with, flight , Tol Know...-Our!: Right Labetn,,,l8 ihe only label that has IIIV;V: ACETONE f AS NO SMi4 1 no Flammable. Explosive Mr dtb Irritant. Eye. Skin and Lung Hazard. VJ 2" x 3" for squeeze bottles. 3" x 4%". lor larger; containers'. Written by, professional toxicologists.-.V : ' /;'... t -i -. 1 Sendlorpricing and samples. i CARLTONINOUSTRIESINC. h, C:.. 3 ml Weston H**y. 71: P.' 6, Box280,Vi. , t *&'*' ' Vi; C IS .Grange; Texas 76945-.y.V; <: t// ' - -k1.800-231.S988 * 409(242-5055' N'.w ? T V :**;.w'V'af T,'Viah. grj&iH UCC 006383