Document aJ138J2D6wBVyRR12oqqDvO69

FILE NAME: Avondale (AVD) DATE: 197& DOC#: AVD DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION:DZ,Z/ZD ZDZ - . /1. -/f' ',/ 1I I ' . SHIPBUILDERS COUNCIL OF AMERICA 17:30 K STReET N. w. WASHINGTON, .c. 20006 2021:3:38-7722 Feb-ruary-18, 1971 TO: ACCIDENT PREVENTION COMMITTEE SUBJECT: Draft Manual on Handling of Insulation Materials Enclosed is self-explanatory correspondence from Dwican A. Holiday, Research Associate Professor at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine on the above subject. Would appreciate your forwarding comments directly to: Harry Howard Assistant to the Vice Pres-itlent Bethlehem Steel Corporation 25 Broadway New York, New York 10004 Mr. Howard is a member of the Shipyard Manual Committee representing the Shipbuilders Cormcil of America. I would also appreciate your making a ccpy available to Shipbuilders Cowicil. cc: Edwin Hartzman J. M. Conley, Jr. Thomas J. Defoe John A. Byington W. B. Powell E. P. Ruddy Secretary -"f&T1ft,s 1 ------,.j . secA 5039: J ---~- - ,- . .... MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE of The City University of Ntw York FIFTH A.VENUE AND 100TH STR.BHTNl!W YORK, N.Y. tOOH Drpartmrnf of Community 1,ftdlcinr February .9, To: From: _Subject: Members of Shipyard Manual Duncan A Ho la da y \ Roug~ Draft of Manual for Committee Shipyards Mr. Reitze and 1 have composed a rough draft of a manual of recommended practices for handling insulation materials in shipbuilding, ship repair and shipbreaking. This is enclosed ror your edification, comments and suggestions. This draft was prepared with the expectation that the committee members ,. ' t ,- ~ 1 , _ I r ,. _ t .... 1 ... -... _.,,. - NUU IU C:Cl,,,11 1ee1 0 1.,v,11..,1.11-::>IUII LU CAf-1011\J, ouu 1..u, ucL.._L., ...,, '"" write the material. Therefore, this document is not intended to be complete -- but simply a target. We plan on using pictures and design sketches of control procedures or equipment where appropriate. Some of these items we have obtained from Mr. Man- gold nnd Mr. Ay, but would c:1ppreciate any matcric:il which you may have and suggestions 9n what would be.desirable to include. Particularly needed (in our opinion) are discussions of general dilution ventilation and substitute materials. Each of you should have suggestions on these or 6~her topics, and you are urged to contribute. We would appreciate your comments by March 1, 1971. After these are received, we will rewrite the manua r, snd you a copy and arrange a meeting at which we hope to arrive at a fi na 1 form. Sincerely, a11/~ ~,=[$,UDuncan A. Holaday Cl Research Associate Professor ....  Recommended Practices for Handling Insulation Materials in Shipbuilding, Ship Repair and Shipbreaking I, Introduction A. Biological effects of asbestos (succinct summary) B. Tradesmen who are exposed to insulation dusts (l) Insulation workmen (2) Pipe fillers~ steamfitters (3) Other trades working in areas where insulation i ~ be i'ng app l i ed or removed {l) Removal of insulation {rip-out) (2) Mixing mortar (3) Cutting insulation materials (a) On site (b) Fab shop (4) Clean-up and waste handling (5) Blocking or hammering on block or pipe covering to seat material (6) Warehousing or storage .; . 2 .. I I l. Control of Asbestos-containing dusts by use of substitute mater ia 1s A. FibergJass for blanket and pad filling B. Pipe covering and block with reduced asbestos content C. Use of materials treated with dust suppressant I I l -- Reduction of dust bY- changes in work methods A. Minimizing hand cutting at the job sites and use of down-draft, exhaust-ventilated tables B. Premixing asbestos mortardockside D. Wetting asbestos cloth. and fi 1lers before pad and blanket fabrication E. The use of drop cloths at job- sites F. ~ Collection and containment of wastes as they are produced G. Clean-up at end of job or end of shift, using vacuum cl caners H. Conducting all possible insulation work in the shop rnthcr than on shipboard I Packaging of fabricated parts for t ran sport from shop to ship . IV. Reduction of dusts by use of local exhaust ventilation A. Ventilation of large power tools (1) Band saws ( 2) Gang saws B. Venti-lation of hand power tools - C. Use of hoods and down-draft tables for pad and blanket fabrication V. Reduction of dusts by general dilution ventilation A. Scheduling insulation work to minimize numbers of other tradesmen in the area B. Isolating areas in which insulation is being removed C, Use of uitrained men including ship's company, for rip-out should be held to a minimum. Vll. Personal Protective Equipment A. Respirators -- give circumstances in which each type shou1d be used ( 1) Part i cu 1ate :f i 1te r i ng ( a ) Reu sa b 1e (b) Disposable ' i ' ' Vil A (continued) . (2) Air-supplied (a) Air-line (b) Self-powered B. Protective clothing VI I I Education of workers Constant training and updating of information lX. Medical supervision X. Summary A . Measures involving little cost which can immediately be adopted B. Those measures involving more costly engineering and capital funds ... ___ ......... , l. I n t ro duct i on \ . ROUGH DRAFT 2/8/71 . - Inhalation of asbestos fibers has caused serious injury to workmen. Ma~y studies have found t~at cases of asbestosis, lung cancer a~d ~leural and peritoneal mesothelioma.occur fol towing exposure to airborne asbestos. To prevent these serious effects, it is necessary to reduce exP.osure to asbestos dust to the lowest feasible level. Exposures to high concentra- tions, even those of only a few minutes duration, should be avoided. Hand1 ing insulating materials during _ship construction, ship repair and shipbreaking operations can expose many people arid steamfitters may have to remove insulation during their work and rip-out of old insulation may be done by any group. Frequently, members of other construction trades are working in the same areas where insulation is being applied or removed and are thus also potentially exposed to airborne asbestos dust. /j A1though areas >f res pons i bi l it i es wi 11 differ from ,ya rd to yard, one responsible person, perhaps the industrial hy- .g,,}enist or the safety officer, sh~uld meet with thi job superintendent and the job foreman to survey the job before any work is started. The object of this survey would be to. 2 determine what and where the potential dust problems will be. This committee would then recommend p~ocedures to reduce the asbestos dust exposures during the completion of the job. The committee report would be available to the cost estimators as well as those concerned "for the day-to-day work schedule .. Operations which generate large amounts of dust include: I. Rip-out of old insulation 2. Mixing asb~stos mortar 3. Cutting insulation ma'terial either on 'site or in fabrication shops 4. Blocking or hammering on block or pipe covering to sea t ma t e r i a 1. 5. Warehousfng and storage of material' 6. Clean-up and waste handling. Particular efforts shoultj be made to control dust dispersion during these operations to reduce peak exposures and prevent general . cont~mination of the atmosphere of the .,/ work area. . The following sections of this manual discuss in . deta i J p roceuu res which have been used /to reduce atmospheric contamination 9y asbe~tos dust. These.procedures have been assembled from several ~ources with major contrlbutions made by the programs developed at the Puget Sound and Long Beach Nava 1 Shipyards. . . II. control of Asbestos-Containing Dusts by Use of Substitute Materials Substitution of materials containina....' less asbestos fiber or no fiber at all, is becoming more common in ship construction. Before a material is substituted for asbestos, certain points must pe carefully considered. From a health ~oint of view, one must guard against that whi~h has happened in other environmental situations -- where in the haste to rid society of a known pollutant, a substapce whose potential hazards are unknown has been substituted. A second consideration must be: wi 1l the 1iew material .,, meet engineering spec i f i ca t i on s and wi l l i t perform adequately ~0 under conditions of use . . 4 Materials containing reduced amounts of asbestos have been used in the following applicati0ns: A. Fiber glass for blanket and pad. fi 11 ing Amosite blanket covered with asbestos c1oth is a standard material for making valve and flange pads. Sub- stitution of the proper grade of fiber glass as a pad filler not only reduces asbestos dust during fabrication and installation but also tends to lessen the problems during subsequent 11 rip 8 out1'. Asbestos cloth which has . . l.; ~ya:~u~~1:.. use should also be encouraged. B. Pipe covering and block with renuced asbestos content Over the years the manufacturers of calcium silicate materials have been steadily reducing the percentage of asbestos fiber in their material. Serious conside.ration should be given to those products conta;ni ng lower amounts of asbestos fiber. Several British firms have introduced asbestos-free calcium silicate block and pipe covering. To date, however, this material has not been adequately evaluated in the United States to determine how it will perform in use. 5 I t I. Beduction of Dust by Changes in Work Methods In many operations, changes in work practices will ! reduce dust disRersion very significantly. All of the procedures discussed in this section have been utilized and -found to be effective. A. Mixing Asbestos Mortar This operation hasusually been done at the job site. While the time spent in mix1ng is quite short, considerable . dust is produced. A tested method of control is to mix the ~ortar dockside, package the mixed mortar in sev~ral ccntainers for transportation to the job site. Mortar is available packaged in several sizes of plastic bags which have a spout through which water is introduced. Sufficient water is added to moisten the mortar; after premixing, the bag is opened and the remaining water added, The carton in which.bag ls packag~d serves as a mixing box and waste container. Either oi these methods eliminates dust dispersion at the job site. 8. Pre-cutting Qipe coverinq and block in the fabrication s~oj Hand-cutting of pipe covering and block should be kept t< an absolute minimum. Bend sections, pipe cover lengths a0d blocks should be cut in the fabrication shop on exhaust-ventila1 6 equipment. I ,,. I The cut sections are dipped in water, packed in . plastic bags which are then labeled. This procedure insures . I that the cut sections are still damp and relatively dust-free when they a re app 1i ed. \ c. Pre-scoring blocks. Insulation blocks should not be scored at the jo6 site. Blocks which have b~en prescored by the manufacturer can be purchased, or standard blocks can be scored in . the fabricati'on shop using an exhaust-ventilated gang saw. ...I.I. I -, - IIJ..::>UlC.\.fll'j c - ~- .::ic&ilIu 1 J I e- .::- i Some pipe assemblies are quite intricate and are trouble- some to lag while in place. A satisfactory method of doing these jobs, parti.cularly during ship repai.r, is to remove th:! assembly in conveniently sized sections, transport them to the shop. Here the old insulation is removed, any necessary repair performed and the completed section re-lagged. Not only is dust dispersion reduced, but it is much more convenient to re-la~ the section in the shop than when it is in place shipboard . .., 7 . Hand-cutting at iob sites I Some hand-cutting at job sites is unavoidable. Dust dispersion can be reduced to a minimum by doing all sawing on a downdraft table. The-design of such a table is shown in Fig. - . air-mover. A small industrial vacuum cleaner serves as an A plastic bag under the table contains the larger dusts and wastes. F. Fabrication of pads and blaQkets Where possible, pad filling and asbestos ,.. 1,..,. t-h 'I,,,. ..., .... ,. -~C" ,h..-.,...I...l. ",.;' be done in laterally ventilated hoods. In all cases both the filler and the asbestos cloth should be dampened before use.. See Figs. G. Housekeeping and Cl ean-uo Area and atmospheric contamination with asbestos dst can be reduced greut1y by meticulous attention to the control of dust and larger wastes. Drop cloths should be placed on the deck under each working area to prevent spread of wastes . ..,, Scrap should be dropped into plastic bags as it is produced . 8 rather than on the deck to be picked up later. I Work areas should be vacuumed at the lunch break and end of the. shift. I In all.possible 'instances, the workmen should be responsible for cleaning their own areas. Where work rules prohibit this, the clean-up men should be under the supervision and control of \ the insulation foreman to insure p_roper attention to this very importanf matter. IV. Reduction of Ousts by Use of Local Exhaust Ventilation A. Ventilation of large power tools Band Saws The extensive use of band saws both in dockside fabrication shops and on larger ships (aircraft carriers) in the vessel itself, make emissions from band saws a major source of asbestos dust. Control devices for such saws have been known for years and are relatively simple devices. Conventional low velocity, high volume systems using a negative pressure bag house are usually more practical in a fixed installation ~abrication shop. _, IV A (continued) Ber.ause some degree of portability is desirable in a temporary shipboard fabrication area, a high velocity, low volume unit is. desirable. (Fig. _ _ } .. This type of unit can a}so be designed to control dust emissions from table saws and gang saws. Because of its portability, high velocity units can also be used to perform various housekeeping tasks on job sites. ...D, \ I , t - V t:;I I LI I d I. I U t I -r UI I_ - A 11<...JI'-' High velocity, low volume collection systems adequate1y h~ndle most small power tools. Saber saws for cutting pipe __ ' coverir.g and. rotary saws for cutting asbestos cement board are wel 1 control.led with these systems. (Fig. ) V. 10 .. VI Control of Number of Workmen Exposed A. Scheduling of insulation work Standard jndustrial hygiene ;1ractices call for isolating operations which contaminate the atmosphere with toxic materia1~ Areas where insulation work is being- done should be-isolated by plastic curtains or other means. Whenever possible, work shoulc be scheduled to minimize the numbers of other tradesmen in the area. Ship construction operations are more readily scheduled ...,than .:.:-e ship reapir or ship-breaking jobs. 1-towever, every I I l effort should be made to keep the number of men exposed at a minimum. In particular, rip-out of old insulati9n should ~-lways be isolated and if necessary performed on an off-shift. Trained workmen supplied with prop~r protective equipment should always be used for rip-out work. VI I. Perc;;cnal Protect__ive Equipment ln addition to-dust-suppression and dust control pro- cedures, personal protective equipment is often necessary to reduce exposure and limit the ~pread of contamination. The equipment described below Is used 1n control\ progr~ms. Pr' otective ~lathing Protective clothing is required to prevent carrying asbest?s oust into locker rooms thus exposing other workmen and eventually i rto insulation workers' homes. A satis- factory type of protective clothing consists of resin impreg- nated paper coveralls. These are _inexpensive, readily dis- posable, and eliminate laundering . and pilferage problems. They are worn .for one shift, then removed and . ~placed in plastic bags for disposal with other asbestos-con- taining wastes. These coveralls provide sufficient protectlon '') for all but extre~e conditions. 12 B, Respira~ory protective equipment Even if dust suppression and du~t control procedures are used, some operations generate so much dust that it is impractical to maintai~ atmospheric-concentrations or asbestos fi~ers below the Threshold Limit Value (TLV), and respiratory protection must be provided to the workers. A variety of respiratory protective equipment is available from which devices suitable for various situations can be selected. American Nation Standard 288.3-1971, Safety Guide for Respi'ratory Protection ~ Against Asbestos-Containing Dust~ should be referred'to for de- . 1. Air-supplied respi raters -Extremely dusty jobs, such as rip-out of old insula- tion where dust concentrations exceed 10 times the TLV, require use df air-supplied respirators 0hich will deliver clean, dust-free air to a facepiece or hood. Two general types are available: air-1 ine and self-powered. (a) Airline r~spi raters in which air is supplied to a hood give the greatest degree of protection. Air is fed to the hood from a com?ressed airline. The air source must be located in an uncontaminated area and the air must be fi 1tered to remove oil aod water - 13 mists before delivery. Plastic, .disposable hoods are available commercially. Preferably the airline should be fastened to the hood with a quick-disconnect fitting. (b) S~lf-powered air-1 ine respi raters Air-line respirators ~onnected to a compressed \ . air supply impose limitations on movement, and this 1imitation can be trouble~ome. Self-powered respirators do not impose such limitations, but do add to the equip- ment which .the workman must carry and require careful . ~~ maintenance. Batteries must be recharged a+t~a&~, tilters replaced and other maintenance done routinely. Workers usually prefer these devices to air-line respir- / a to rs . 2. Particulate-filtering respirators There are several types of particulate-filtering respirators. Those equipped with a half-mask facepiece are considered most suitable for use by insulators. Only those approved for protection against asbestos c~st by the government . . ~gency responsible for testing r~spirators should be used, Thcs devices are reco~mended for protection in those situations where 14 the atmospheric conc~ntration of asbestos fibers does not exceed 10 times the TLV4 All the recommendations for respirator fitting, _training of workmen and maintenance, detailed in Z88,3-1971 snould be followed. ,./ (a) Reusable particulate filtering respirators A variety of reusable particulate filtering respira- tors are available. Tc insure proper fitting, several different makes should be available from which the worker can select one. No one model resoirator facepiece will fit all faces. Routine maintanance is absolutely necessa to replace clogged filters and leaking inhalation or ex- I halation valves. Un-maintained respirators can be boobv traps. (b) Disposable particulate filtering respirators Operation of an adequate respirator maintenance program can be troublesome and, if only a few ~en are involved, impracti~al. Disposable respirators are avail~ble which are designed to be worn for no longer than one shift and then discarded. Inherently, these devices are not as rugged as a resuable respirator and no attempt should be made to use th~m longer than one 15 VI I I Education and Training No dust control program can be !effective unless work- men and supervisors understand the hazards associated with the jobs, the sources of the h.azards and the rea. sons for following recommended procedures carefully. ~nderstanding is only ob- tained by education of personnel and training in correct operating proceduras. - For an education and training program , to be successful, both management and labor must be concerned and-participate. As with all sa.fety programs 1 it . is essential that first-line supervisors be interested in\and cooperate in the work. The harmful effects of neglect of procedures for controlling asbestos dust are not apparent for many years. Therefore, it is more difficult to c9~vince workmen of the necessity of following rules for working with insulating materials ,than if physical hazards were involved. However, those shipyards which conduct education and training programs report good success. :-'\ Education in hazards associated with use of insulating ''_3 ' t materials and instruction in correct work practices should be . ' - 16 included in apprentice training programs. For the ~ime being. however, training and education must be done at the shipyards. This must be a continuing program and should include not on1y , insulation workers, but others who may occasionally work with L insulation materials.