Document RGNmBooRmwyExeevDz9q9Bg7

FILE NAME: Genuine Parts Company (GPC) DATE: 1972 Aug DOC#: GPC002 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: NIOSH Inspection Report - Air Sampling & Industrial Hygiene Survey I I AIR SAMPLING & INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SURVEY GENUINE PARTS COMPANY RAYLOC DIVISION ATLANTA, GEORGIA Survey Conducted By: JOHN M. DEMENT PATRICK J. SHULER Report- Prepared By: JOHN H. DEMENT PATRICK J. SHULER t I Environmental Investigations Branch D iv isio n of Field Studies and C lin ic a l Investigations NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH 101A Broadway Cincinnati, Ohio A5202 August, 1972 GP0004492 INTRODUCTION During the week of July 17-21, 1972, an Industrial hygiene survey and a ir sampling for asbestos and lead dusts were conducted at the Rayloc D ivisio n of the Genuine Parts Company, Atlanta, Georgia. From the sample results and industrial hygiene survey, several conclusions can be drawn. The following paragraphs discuss plant operations and industrial hygiene practices along with conclusions and recommendations. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT The plant Is located west o f Atlanta and employs approximately 5^0 people operating on three sh ifts. Of these workers about 50 coate into contact with brake lin in gs or clutch * facings on a routine basis. This f a c ilit y was constructed by Genuine P a rts Company in 1959 fo r the purpose o f rebuilding various automotive parts. The plant is enclosed under one roof, ' additions having been made over the years to the o rig in a l -plant site. GP0004493 PLACE VISITED Rayloc *1200 Gordon Road Atlanta, Georgia Phone ff: * 0*1-691 -3780 DATE OF TRIP July 17-19, 1972 PERSONS MAKING TRIP : John M. Dement Patrick J. Shuler PERSONS CONTACTED : Mr. Edward Kipling, Plant Manager Hr. Thomas Damiel, Production Manager PURPOSE OF TR1P : To conduct an industrial hygiene survey and take asbestos and lead dust samples in the plant. t 4 i % V GP0004494 2 i Genuine Parts Company provides consultation to a s s is t Rayloc and their other d ivisio n s with any safety and industrial hygiene problems. These services are a lso provided by Sentry, Rayloc's insurance company. The production manger is responsible for safety in the plant and is chairman of a five member safety committee which meets each month. The union, Teamsters Local 52B, is a lso actively involved In the safety program in the plant. The medical program co nsists o f local physician retained as a part-time consultant, and workers trained In f i r s t aid who are always in the plant. A pre-employment physical is given which Includes a chest X-ray, and blood and urine analysis. No pulmonary Function te sts or further physical examinations are given. Products o f the plant presently include rebuilt starters, generators, alternators, water pumps, fuel pumps, clutch pressure t plates, and relined clutch discs and brake shoes. Clutch disc and brake shoe rellning has been done here since the plant opened in 1959. * ' k* t DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESSES The processes sampled were the relining of riveted and bonded brake shoes and clutch d iscs. GP0004495 3 A. Brake Shoe R e lin in g The used brake assem blies are f i r s t sorted accord in g to s iz e . The o ld worn lin in g s a re removed next. R ive te d l i n i n g s are sheared o f f and bonded l i n i n g s are burned o f f . Next the shoes are degreased by heat i f necessary, then cleaned in a "W heelabrator" which uses high v e lo c ity steel shot to abrade the su rfa c e s. The shoes are then dipped in a c o rro sio n in h ib it o r and stra ig h te n e d i f needed. Next, the new l i n i n g s are e it h e r r iv e te d o r are bonded to the shoe. A l l r e lin e d assem blies are then surface ground to provide the co rre ct radius o f curvatu re. The fin ish e d products are give n a f in a l In sp e ction and packed fo r shipment. B. C lu tch D is c R e lin in g The used clu tch d is c s are f i r s t "w heelabrated" w ith the o ld f r i c t i o n pad s t i l l on to in su re th a t the th in m etal torque members a re not damaged. Next, the o ld f r i c t i o n s u rfa c e is removed by d e r iv e t in g the c lu tc h d is c w ith e it h e r a d r i l l or punch p r e s s. A new pad is riv e te d on the d is c ; the whole assem bly i s inspe cte d and boxed f o r shipm ent. SURVEY PROCEDURES The a ctu a l sam pling f o r a s b e s to s f ib e r s and lead d ust was confined to the brake and clu tch re b u ild in g areas sin ce these GP0004496 4 were the only areas using these materials. No other potential exposures were noticed in the rest of the plant with exception to toluene in the starter rebuil ding area. Personal samples were collected on workers at each of the steps in the process of rellning brakes and clutches in order to determine which jobs, i f any, pose potential health problems. Samples were collected on a M illip o re Type AA ce llu lose ester membrane f ilt e r at a calibrated flow of 1.7 1iters/minute. The type o f pump used was a MSA permissible personal a ir sampler. Analysis for asbestos fibers was done by counting fibe rs greater than 5 um in length under a phase contrast microscope at a magnification of 430x, The amount of lead was determined by chemical an alysis2 on the same f ilt e r s as the asbestos concentration was evaluated. An industrial hygiene survey of the plant w as'also conducted to try to evaluate general housekeeping and ven tilation systems. l IH5PECTI0N OF THE PLANT * . Potential Health Hazards The potential health hazards which were noticed during the survey are as follows: GP0004497 5 1. Exposure to asbestos dust during brake and clutch ; relnng. 2. Lead exposure from lining materials during brake and clutch relining. . 3. Toluene exposure during Insulation coating of various armatures. Measurements were made of both asbestos dust and lead exposure In each of the fric tio n operation. No measurements o f solvent exposure were made. Personal Protection Safety glasses are required in certain areas of the plant. Approximately AOS; of the plant employees wear safety glasses. Respirators are not required in production operations; however, respirators are requlred when cleaning or repairing the bag dust collectors. Safety shoes are not required but the company does have a program to aid in their purchase. A noise study has been conducted in the plant recently by Sentry Insurance. Hr. Kipling indicated that the only opration near the 90 dba present standard was grinding. No hearing protection / is required at the present time-. * Ventilation Local exhaust ventilation is provided on a ll 3 brake lin in g grinders and on a ll 5 "Wheelabrator" cleaning-machines. These machines are vented to 6 "Wheelabrator" bag dust collectors. GP0004498 { Figure 1 shows a layout o f the frictio n products area o f the plant along with locations of the dust collectors and th e ir respective capacities^ Velocity measurements at the entrance to the grinder hoods showed velo cities ranging from 600 fpm to 1100 fpm. No ventilation is provided at the clutch deriveting operation. Housekeeping in general, the plant was quite well kept with su ffic ie n t room to minimize overcrowding. All floor cleaning is done with vacuum sweepers on a continual basis. Compressed a ir is used for cleaning but a ll outlets have low pressure nozzles. Results and Discussion The results of th is survey are presented in Table 1. The present standard for asbestos was published fn the Federal Register on June 7, 1972. In essence the standard is as follows: MThe 8-hour time-weighted average airborne* concentration of asbestos fibers to which any employee maybe exposed shall not exceed ' * five fibe rs, longer than five micrometers, per cubic centimeter o f a ir , as determined by the membrane f ilt e r method at magnification miliim eter objective) phase contrast illum ination. No employee shall GP0004499 7 be exposed at any time to airborne asbestos fibers in excess of ten fibers, longer than fiv e micrometers, per cubic centimeter o f a ir ." On July 7 197^, a new standard of Z.O fibers greater than 5 micrometers in length per cubic centimeter of a ir w ill be effective. None of the 45 samples exceeded the present, standard for asbestos, the highest value being 4.8 fibers/ml (fibers* greater than 5 micrometers in length per m illilit e r ) . There were only three samples that exceeded the future asbestos standard o f 2.0 flbers/m l. A ll of these samples were taken on person deriveting old clutch facings by d r illin g out the rivets. A to tal of four samples were taken at th is operation, the mean being 2.6 fibers/ml... Surface grinding produced the second highest average exposure, it s value being 1.4 fibers/m l. A ll other operations had an average . , value at or below 1.0 fibers/ml. ) Lead concentrations were very low except for the clutch de- ' riv e tin g and brake shoe so rtin g operations. The present s'tandard for lead dust exposure is 0.15 mg/mJ. Lead results are a lso given in Table 1. GP0004500 - 8- N CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS From the sample r e s u lt s and the in d u s t r ia l hygiene survey, the F o llo w in g c o n c lu sio n s and recommendations are made: 1. There was no operation that had asbestos exposures in excess of the present standard of 5 fibers/ml. The only operation in excess of the future standard of 2.0 fibers/ml was the removal o f old clutch facings by d r illin g . This operation also had lead exposures in excess of the present standard of 0.15 mg/ni3. Particle size estimates of the lead p a rticle s has shown that 80$ of the particles were less than 3-5p in diameter and would therefore by respirable. Due to the high lead exposures local exhaust ventilation should be added at these d r i l l s Immediately. 2. Lead concentrations in the old shoe sorting operation were also above the present standard of 0.15 mg/m3. P article size estimates on these samples has shown that B5 of these particles were smaller than the 3-5P respirable diameter. t The high concentrations appear to be the result of brake lin in g wear dust c lin g in g to old brake shoe assemblies. Our past experience has shown that most wear dust contains approximately (>% lead by w eight.3 'Two possible solutions to th is problem would be to either f i r s t wet or vacuum o ff the brake assemblies before sorting. GPQ004501 - 9- 3. There was a detectable toluene odor in the area o f the armature dip tank. Although th is odor was present, It is h ig h ly possible that toluene concentrations are well below the present standard of 100 ppm (the odor threshold for toluene is only 2.1 ppm). In any event., toluene concentrations should be determined for this area and local exhaust ventilation in sta lle d I f levels are found excessive {>100 ppm). h. Due to the elevated lead exposures found In the brake shoe sorting operation and clutch deriveting operation, blood lead leve ls should be determined fo r workers in these areas. A program of periodic blood lead checks should be established. GP0004502 REFERENCES J. Edwards, G.H. and J.R. Lynch, "The Method Used- by the U.5. Public Health Service for Enumeration of Asbestos Oust on Membrane F ilte r s ", Am. Occup. Hyg., 11:1-6 {1968) 2. Keenan, Robert 6 .,-e ta l., "The 'U .S.P .H .S.* Method for Determining Lead in A ir and In Biological M aterials", Am. ind. Hyg. Assoc. Journal, 24:481-431 ()9^3T 3. Interoffice Report on Garage Lead Exposures, March 16, 1972. / GP0004503 R W M .1 FRICTIOM PRODUCT LMOUT WITH C.0U.tCY0P,5 GP00454