Document b56Mbz3DbYxGZ744q7ap8Oek6

RECEIVED DOW CHEMICAL U.S.A. 0 5 1987 safety dept. August 4, 1987 MAJOR MANAGERS PLANT SUPERINTENDENTS DEPARTMENT HEADS LOUISIANA DIVISION P. O. SOX ISO PLAQUEMINK. LOUISIANA 70788-0160 BOA SSS-SOOO R W COCHRAN SAFETY C LOSS PREV/SEC BLDG 4701T S MM PS DH OSHA INSPECTION AT CELLULOSE PLANT On July 14, an OSHA inspector arrived unexpectedly at Gate 1 and announced he was here as the result of an anonymous complaint against UMC concerning a maintenance job at the Cellulose Plant. The complaint alleged that UMC contractor employees were involved in a job with potential exposure to asbestos fibers, and that this was being done in violation to OSHA asbestos exposure regulations.. The job involved removing a large grinder from one of the process buildings. Transite siding had to be removed from the building walls in order to remove the grinder. Removing transite, which contains bonded asbestos and is not normally expected to present an airborn hazard, nevertheless requires that appropriate precautions be taken and monitoring be done to assure the PEL (permissible exposure level) is not exceeded. Dow employees were handling the transite removal and were taking all the required precautions. The inspection followed the standard OSHA protocol - opening conference, site visit and interviews, and closing conference. The inspector spent about eight hours at Dow spread over two days. Since the transite removal was completed prior to his inspection, he requested that he be allowed to return when more transite was to be removed and perform air monitoring for asbestos fibers. This will be done on August 6. There have been no citations issued against Dow. One "other than serious" citation has been issued against UMC. The basis for the citation was his conclusion that contractor employees were at times working in close proximity to the Dow personnel removing the transite without taking any STO19887 AN OPERATING- UNIT OP THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY