Document g4En1Le8O09ywYpV7Ggev4Y3

INTER-COMPANY AND OFFICE CORRESPONDENCE K. L. Macv, .)r. SUBJECT: Safety Issue FROM: Located at. Date. P. Graham Leominster, Mass. February 8, 1983 / There is a safety issue involving the EPA Department I would like you to investigate. The issue in question is in regard to maint enance personnel being allowed to work on monomer bearing equip ment, after it is deemed safe by the use of a portable meter, without any respiratory equipment. As an obvious compromise, this clause was put into the procedure for maintenance on mono mer bearing equipment. Respiratory equipment (airline) should be worn if there is a significant chance of personnel exposure to Vinyl Chloride. I have received a great deal of feedback from the techs concern ing this whole area. I believe our procedures need updating with a stronger emphasis on minimizing unprotected personnel ex posure. What has been done is to put the EPA Tech in the posit ion of deciding if a particular piece of equipment is safe to work on. It may be safe when checked, but five minutes from then it could be a different story. There is only one true way to protect maintenance men working on VCM containing equipment, and that is to enforce adequate respir atory equipment use until the job is completed. SPC/kml cc: D. L. Young R. A. Slocumb EPA Coordinator BOR 000075