Document gDX5NmpNJNE1vG7Bj7GJo5LwN

FILE NAME: National Safety Council (NSC) DATE: 1966 DOC#: NSC492 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: NSC Presentation by Cook & Transcript of Discussion ) ) ) ) 0 0 0 5 o ti /liitfhfei/ Safely Sub} cisiuits realize the goal o f a sa meat in which we w o rl____ jday*- It- take knowledge, im dcrstanduig ami conpcrn tion to liavc an efficient, effective safety program. T h a t is why we arc pleased to have ! a part in this session and you arc to be coti- ; emulated in making it possible for all of j those who a re interested in safely to conic together to share ideas and learn w hat p art : they can play in the accomplishment o f nn : effectual program . | We as industrial nurses need to learn to he better prepared to care fo r th e health and safely o f w orkers on the jo b and to be able ; to answer questions about safety a w a y 'fro m : work. As an association, w e're glad to be a f^rticTpnfe(r4 ij^ ^ U woillitvhilc in o jc n i.*r iknajj all that we cat f<> fu lfill ilte purposrf of t.ur oigatii/afi.. 'f i n . w e can tin by taking jiurl hi meetings su< h as Cfits with oilier nnlionaJ associations who have sim ilar goals and purposes. Sin ce health and safety arc so closely related, you cauiwt have a good Ircatlli program without a good sa fe ty program . One complements the other, fo r a healthy productive worker must have :> 5:1 fc w ork environment. By wot king together, k recognize salVi) Itozurds and coojK-nilmg to 'elim inate them, w e can m ake the cm*iri>utcut o f the Ainei iemt iudustrial worker tlie mosl hcallhy. safe, and productive plate iu the woi UL e WHAT HEALTH, SAFETY AND PLANT PERSONNEL s SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DUSTS, FUMES, MISTS, t l GASES. VAPORS, AND NOISE i t. By W ARREN A. COOK ij Professor of Industrial H ealth, D epartm ent of Industrial Health, School of P ublic H ealth , T h e U niversity of Michigan, i Ann Harbor, Mich. l J * Aquick answer to what sltould Ik: known lit January, lOfifi, a worker in (lalif*uta by health, safety, and plant personnel atm ut w as brazing metal parts, using a silver hatardous m aterials used in tlie plant is-- solder. A fte r some two hours of w ork, lie - everything I Practically, the ex ten t o f the 1>cgan to fee! b:ul and the next day ex I knowledge m ust necessarily fall som ewhat ^ short o f this Utopian goal. T h e re a re a perienced some tightness o f the chest, va* coughing, and felt that he luid been exposed cumber o f categories of inform ation which to too imich welding fume. A s the condition ; sltould be known. I propose to explore a w orsened, he culled a physician and they t number o f these. Perhaps the most critically needed infortua- i ikw is tliat concerning m aterials which may Lcause serious illness o r death w ithout the f worker realizing that he is being subjected ' to a dangerous atmosphere. A n exam ple of ' such material is one which ltas resulted in only some 20 deaths ns reported in the agreed that he must have jicrmittcd lumsclf to be exposed to excessive welding fume H e w as treated symptomatically. Chr (he fourth morning aflcr the cx|wsitic he was found dead in bed. VViiluu a sltort time a fte r tliis, a second worker on die same jub be cam e affected. By litis time, it w as known that the silver solder contained over 20 per /fUerature over the last fifty years, and only cent cadmium and that the condition w.ts r. three reported eases since 1956. C ertainly, actually due to excessive cx|K>surc In cad- ' such a material sltould not deserve too g reat nuum fume. Following the report o f |Ju`< :. emphasis among the myriad o f substances fatal and nccoiujcmying tnmfaUd rase. 10 which compete fo r a place in tlie overall additional eases wcie rcpm lcd to the Cah- i-knowledge of health, safely, and plant per- foruia Bureau of Occupational H ealth, tim e ; vmnel. But let tis consider w hat the actual of these fatal. A detailed account of the < fads may he. ciicum stanccs of tlie Ivm iiiiti.il vases is I* 1960 National - *y Cowjress Lc published soon by D r. H ector P . B lcjcr <jf die California D e tr im e n t in the Journal of Occupational Medicine. H ere we have, an example of a m aterial uhiclt dues not immediately become exces sively irritating; one concerning which we liav-c not had too many published reports of (liUicuUy. Very jwissihly, the reason for this was dial eases may have occurred hut, bciug sporadic, (hey have nut been recognized nor published. Sine* a welder o r a w orker engaged in traring operations may have been using solders over the years containing no cad* ro'mm. and then such a solder is required fo r (lie next day's work, it is vital (hat not only lie hralfh am] safely |jcrstjiii)<j Ind also (JiC f(rctnan in charge of the operation should Lc well informed concerning the hazards Iron cadmium oxide ftune. Another example of hazardous materials io this category is chlorinated naphthalene. This waxy material Is melted in p rd cr to impregnate wire or cable insulation o r elec trical condensers. Tle va|x>r from tliis syn thetic wax condenses in the air above the iiiclnuj; |M as a fume. O n In-iiif; iitfiulcri iu excessive amounts it may cause serious and even fatal liver damage. Among the earlier fatal eases :is result of such an cxjKJsiirc, one w orker died w ith a tE;gnosis of yellow atrophy o f the liver. A t that time there liad-hccn no suclt experience vith this material and it w as thought that the fact that this w orker was a rather heavy drinker may have led to his dentil. A second worker continued tltc operation. W hen lie developed a liver condition which also term i nated fatally, but with no history of alcoholic beverage complication, investigations were in sulated which definitely implicated this harm less looking and non-irritating synthetic w ax us the producer of t liesc iiver conditions. As further categories of knowledge con cerning hazardous materials, we should in clude those materials ncltndly in use in a plutK, lugcthcr with those which may be contemplated for early future use. l'ossibly the best and earliest source of inform ation concerning such materials is through the purchasing agent. Accordingly, t is strongly recommended tliat a close Unison be set tip between the purchasing agrnl and the health and safely personnel so licit early iufuruia- lion will he provided conccrmitg materials in use and those which arc to be ordered. T hese m aterials may best he discussed ia allegories related to their physical and physi ological properties. Am ong the m ost important categories arc the dusts time produce tile jcnmocofiiosci. In the m ajor industries involving exposure to silica dust, there (cuds to be a good knowl edge o f the fact that too much of these dusts will cause a lung condition which may be disabling. W here die dust may conlaiu crys talline free silica, such as is the case with molding sand in the foundry, o r granite dust in a quarry or stone cutting shop, it is wdl understood that the greater the j*crccnlagc of free silica in (lie dusl the lower lilt dint m neentration should he iu o rder to avoid tiic development o f silicosis. It Is known that w orkers sliould be given ]criodic X-ray exam ination, ami tliat (he extent of the dust exposure should be determined by a ir anal yses, w ith coiUrol measures such as will be discussed later iu this session. Less knowledgeable, as a rule, are health and safety prrsnuncl concerning such ex posures In IJuinc ojierariuiis whiTc crystalline free silica may In: used rather incidentally in an o(tcnt(iou at a plant not normally con sidered to lie a dusty industry. A n example would l*e the use <if silica dour as a filler in a m ixture o r as inert m aterial rn a variety of products. Aslicstns lias been much in the daily news papers over Ute hist year o r two, not to much because nf il< arlinn in miKinjT'ao Lt^iosis, Kid p* a ranpprft. l-nniyp as niCSOlhdiOPa which lias been found am ong workers with asbestos in fa r greater incidence than among tho^gcueral population. T alc and soapstone powders arc used such industries as rubber goods manufactur ing, and m ay introduce appreciable amounts o f such dusts uto the air. W ltcrcas most dusts m ade up of silicates arc escsulkiBy inert and, as sinli, as much as 50 tirillioa particles (>cr cubic f"ol of a ir may be con sidered acceptable, these two miucnils hare been found to produce disabling pncumocooiosis iu lesser concentrations with (lie result th at no m ine than 20 million particles per cubic foot o f air is considered within sale limits. 0005HH lWm/ridrio/ Sajety Sits '* x'-': This, however, is r S ^ w ftS c'^ u S y -hi-y1 C sc ^ ::m d . -^x_ fr it th at m u cii o f the h-i^ connection with tuie ^toiler. $ o t in- arri* .w a\ w hen m a itu /a c in re i ; frequently, *these ft/U fltf^T io1 1agreed to unit Itcryllium in lo have sonic qu artz cotent; this may be their phosphors in June 19-19. T h is m etal has as much a s 20 p er cent. Application o f a many desirable pnqicrlics and is finding in formula given iu th e Threshold L im it Kalu< creasing use iu a diversity of t(*eralous lu list of the A m erican Conference o f Govern all plants w here high tcui|K:ralm c resistance mental Im lu d rin l H ygienists to a talc or metals o r ceram ics m ay Ik*. used, the ticalih capstone dust with 20 |ht crut quartz limits ami safety JmTsoihh-) should Int a lc it to the the exposure to only 10 million (articles |*-r iiiirorim llou o f tliis uialc-iiaL A s an iinfna- cubic fo o t of air. Conscqticnlly, whet such lioii of relative hazards, the cxjhjsiuc to materials arc being used, it is essentia! lo beryllium should be kept tcialmul a luuulicdtli lave the additional hit o f knowledge as lo of that considered permissible fo r lead. percentage of crystalline free silica. Jt would seem licit every body is well in Som ew hat the same sttciAtton. occurs-"iti connection with a dusty material made up of diaU iim ifoiu earth, a form o f amorphous silica. T h e n atural tnalcrial has Iccu found to cause a disabling silicosis when the e x posure exceeds 20 million particles jer cubic foot However, where the dtatomaccons earth is subjected to a calcining operation, some of tliis amorphous free silica changes over to the crystalline form known as cristobalite. Depending upon whether the diatomaccous earth is calcined with o r without a flux, the ]K*rcculagc o f the cristolctlitc may be in th e o rd er o f 20 per cent u r JO per cent, the latter w ith the flux calcining. A p plying tle A CGI If form ula, these caichi! dtatomaccons carries sIkmIJ be kept either to 10 millitqi (articles |kx cubic foul o r to seven million, in order to avoid lung injury. In the category of melis, we would cx1-cct Hint all health anti safety (tcrsomic! are familiar with lead as au ocaqalroiuri lutzard and t l a t (roper precautions arc taken to prevent excessive exposure. In spite of this genera! knowledge, lend poisoning eases con tinue to occur in industry, not only in the industries that liave produced the greatest number of cases over past years. A fter a report n the literature dint lead paUoiiing eases w ere occurring iu plastic m anufacturing in Italy and a subsequent report of such cases in this industry in France, a group of lend poisoning rases occurred in a plastic manufacturing opcmliuu tu this country. Possibly if a chsc relationship bad Iktii maintained between the purchasing dc|tartnicut and the hc;d(h and safety (crsouiicl, die exposure might have been brought under control without occurrence of cases. formed concerning raibou moooxnlc, the gas which is responsible for m ore c.\|>suns (ban any other, :m>| al*** the g a s tcspotiriMc for the gicutest itimilrtT o f cases o f fatal nsfibyxiaUim. lu areas where there is an active possibility of csc:qc o f gases contain ing cnrlmii m onoxide, th cic Icm Is io be an incrcnsiug use o f muUi(Kiut carim u m on oxide alarm s. Such icsCiNatmMs have lccii ptacod in a num ber of blast furnace plants where carl ni monoxide cnurrulralim is of the gas arc in the order o f 26 o r 27 (ter cen t Fortunately, fo r most fuel g a s pitrjo<cs natural g;is is eimiioj; iulo ittrt rarin g t s t ami (his, o f course, contains no nrittH i nioiKixnlc Furtherm ore, where in earlier years supple mentary gas supplies lutvc been piovuh-d Ihrmigh water-gas or po d iu v r-g as installa tions. these a r c Unlay Itring replaced by liquified (ctrolciim g as with no carlnm m on oxide coutcfiL It Is, of course, important always lo keep tit m uni th at im |-rf(vt r u n - busttou o f natural g as o r I . l 't i will pKMime a sufficient am ount o f carU m itnwioxnlc to cause asphyxiation. Cases of carbon mon oxide asphyxiation have ocairred over the years on Monday mornings where o d d sys tems arc being heated with natural gas. lin e , the impingement of the buriiing gas on t o l d surfaces interferes w ith com plete cunltiMum with markedly greater am ounts o f r:uhoti monoxide ill the products of comiHidton. Am ong ||*c gases which m ight well he listed willi tluifc vvhh'li mai* ciiim * u dealli is h)drigeu sulfide. Tin* wi a i - o f JiJ*c<a{iou o f hyd/vgr/i sidfirlc hi .n .< eupied area occurred iu i'oza Kira. M rsm .. where lil>cr:*ii<n of fm h n g n t sulfide at .i g*.K and oil field caused 22 deaths and sew i.d liinnlri'd rases cd suit" nil M`v-iiiy t>* i* - Beryllium is well known as a pioduccr quire luspit.di/a(i<m. W heievei h\dwu-j of serious ami fatal occupational disease sulfide is beiui; l u n u r c i l ii*tn jcluh-iiui ) ) huiusirial S a fely l 1966 National S a fe ty Congress of elim inating a fire hazard and. lit aJJ,tl0^ vania hits passed a law, tm prci'odcnled iu the limit ms fur fixe hum s o r inm c p*i !> an d made into elemental su lfu r an em er has the advantages o f low toxicity together United States, th a t lw o o f these -- bcla- coiiWmplatvd. gency plan should be set up m the cycm of with good solvent properties and a "p o rn a- naphthylamiuc ami benzidine--m ay not be T h e United Slates A ir Ihwcc extend- i rupture of hydrogen sulfide hoes with pos ,ion rate d o se to that of carbon tetra produced o r used in that slate. Som e years range over which octnvrhaud drtcrm iu.it sible escape of large volumes of tins gas chloride. ago, on the basis o f anim al experim entation, U was believed that many of the high boiling a rc made from 300 ti> 4*100cycles j**i s*. ..j A n octave-band level of 85 dccflcl> i> o* H ydrogen sulfide is formed wherever there is decomposition of .materials conta.tung sul- It is to lie noted th at the hazard of a oils from catalytic crackin g operations in sulcicd that a t which Uiutagc risk is m inim i ,, r under reducing coud.Uous. and cascs oE solvent depends on o th er properties Hum U oil refineries w ere severe p roducers o f skin hut the point at whirl pcr*uuO : p... multiple fatalities, from two to five, have threshold lim it value, perhaps m ost proim- cancer. Kxtensive conlrol m easures w ere in lion is recommended. If :m <K'fnvc*l*aa<l l\ occurred. W herever m aterials cout.ammg ucnt being the vapor pressure aiid corra- stituted in many o f the refineries to avoid readies 95 decibels, it is cnnstdcicd lh s u h u r are being handled, all w orkers shou d pmoinl dtilniagt beovielningsupchoinat. slIitghitsly totoxic solved contact w ith such oils. O v er th e 3'ca rs, ob servation li:is been continued o f w orkers damage risk is great mu! personal car ju (CCtioil is tnamintmy. I'Jiguicrruig hper bori^ef^ed ofalthiist gthaes. rIatpisdlrlnytddaspbheyesimnplmeBr- as m ethylene chloride w ith Us l with some cxjiosurc lo these oils an d iu a 'm easures should be dcv'clojird w h o e v e r pc sized tliat a t the higher concentrations the limit value of S00 parts per million h a recent publication it was reported th a t the siblc when octave-band levels exceed I sense of smell docs n ot provide the warning caused fatal poisoning w here its g reat vo hazard to humans from th is^ o n rc c discs.aiot `dccil els. to which one is accustomed on exposure to lilily has resulted in build-up o i concentra timis higher th an this vidtic. Solvents with appear to lc as severe a s initially contem A hearing conservation p to g tn itt >1umi the low er conccmratious o f hydrogen sulfidt low vapor pressures and high botlm g I "* plated include not only noise m easurem ents ai W o rk ers should know ahead o f time tlcat. it often m ay be sa fely u sed w ith open su rfa w Ionizing radiations o f various types arc Evaluation but also audiom etric testing one* o f th e n should collapse In some con a t room tcm iicraturcs but, if the operatKX increasingly common tliroughout in d u stry to* w orkers before being placed iu cxrc<M\ fined area w here hydrogen sulfide coulil lie involves healing 0 solvent, then t h e r e day. Alpha, beta, and gam iua radiations a r c noise areas and {crbxtic testin g t h e r m ite the cause, the fellow w orkers should not enter alw ays the possibility th at even the high the most frequent, but neutron exposure m ay 1`crsoual protection adm ittedly lias a p b r the confined area to rescue the victim without boiling point solvent m ay be vaporized suffi also be a factor. "W here sources o f these but noise control measures should be ii gas m ask protection. T h e usual precautions ciently to exceed acceptable concentrations types o f energy a re present, com petent health stilnted wherever possible. o f providing watchers outside the confined In past years, th e use o f petroleum solvcnlr physicists slKMild survey th e installations * T h e licalth and safety personnel shou. I 5!= area, provision of a proper harness w t rope attached for rescue from the outside has indicated a low o rd e r of toxicity net with appropriate instrum ents and m ake su re that adequate precautions arc observed. avail themselves of (lie resources imw av.it able for obtaining uiionualiou on these ha 1 if required, and availability of adequate these could 1* expected to be made P aliphatic hydrocarbons. Today, tl^ re 's m o d A final category tbat is not a m aterial, ardous materials. A number o f these ;tic t 1 voennttihleatihoyndrtooggeetnhesrulwfiditeh cgornacbenstarmatpiolen cwhtelchkms increased p robability o f presence o f armnals baruetasa wvhiberraetioint , isis nethcaest saorfy ntooisues. eI na n pleatcn*t ibse tloistbeed ebmy plhaatesirzesdpetalkiaetrs(hine tthhrisesshcosl-dJofhis.t* value docs not tell the whole sto ry of il the a re a should, of course, always be the hshyoduroldcatribconkseptfroinm mpinetdrotlleiuamt th5e uarrcocm^ Ux! vated voice a t a distance o f a foot o r so, practice. . . hydrocarbon co n ten t m ay cliangc w ith to or to shout in order to c arry on a conversa hazard of the m aterial hut nil faUis mu A category o l haiardous m aterials w ludi same supplier fro m tim e to tu n e and cos tion, it desirable to m ake a clicck o f noise a s vajHM* pressure, loijcratiirc, h-gn-r. includes m any substances found in practi stant vigilance is necessary to make siu atcusitics with a sound level m eter. W h ere confinement, extent o f exposure, am i ilm . cally all plants is that of the solvents. A com that tlte w orker w ho m ay be exposed the overall intensity exceeds 85 decibels, it tion of exposure arc factors lo lc givi plete list of all solvents used in the plant o ut injury to a couple of hundred part b to be recommended tliat tlic sound level consideration as well. should be maintained. W here per million o f the petroleum liydrocarlw meter readings be supplemented w ith read Only by being as completely uifoiim*! . solvent m ixes are utilized, every efiort should containing c d y aliphatic >*<*<*" ings of intensities at sound p ressu re levels, P^srihlc on aspects o f a T m lc rU l rclau be made to ilclcrmmc the constituency o l liave his health seriously injured on mlm certainly iu the 300-GUG, 600 to 1200, an d the to th<? |Kissiliilhy o f J u j n r y ra n ih c ie he these o r. in any event, w hether solvents w ith duction o f arom atics. Benzene is. o i com * 1200 through 2400 cycles p er second bands. wholly siirrr;sfnt program in nvoitliiie U*< threshold lim it values of less titan 1O0 parts the most toxic one o f these ordinarily founi Tlte American Academy o f O phthalm ology m itright occiipatiunnl diseases and n k .i i per million arc included. in petroleum hydrocarbons. and Otolaryngology recommends tliat th e mm-ision uf a worknum i aln>?.|>liiv , ..t W ilh the extensive publicity given to tlte .i Utiyfirfl; o f carbon tttriChor*QC| intensity in each o f these bands should not TlJhice unuunmiubcerr uo *f compounds Hurt > rt lait exceed 85 decibels where a steady noise cou- d neive lo the opttuuuu well bcing' ~of i( worker. ' severe health hazards o f . 5,CVwCr wI dl d^ sl m^ t itmi" t'eevveerrvyliKKiiduyy knows th at tins {,,ratebd!aIdndcthr.e oprrosdkuinctiaopnpeoafr ctaoncbeer oonf fftt iUtiS. Diaauc, oi -***>-- -- - . H o w ever tlie*experience lias been repeated iCncr ereaassee.. EEppiiddeemm iioollooggiiccaall eevvt.ddeeri..eeee ppoor.ntj m m y fimes in which a l,iEUIy toscie solvsent clearly to th e chrom ium compounds as can has been substituted by one of less of lung cancer. Ju s t how low the ex p needs to be to prevent this develop bduest iaratbsloemfeo rlagteoroddasteoltvheentmPoTMrePtcorxUiccs soolrveonwt, am ong m o re susceptible people is cm reni ; price, h as been brought back into the p'fU not know n. So f a r there seems to be I without the health ami safely personnel be evidence th a t a M .m cic.t exposure occu a t chromium plating operations to produ 0 0 5 iH ) ] ^ j ing aw are of its re-iulruduclUn. this condition. Certain dye intermediates Increasingly, methyl ctilnroform is being sufTicicntly cncctivc m the production t ! recognized as a desirable substitute for car bladder tum ors that the S tate of l eam{ ( bon tetrachloride as it includes the attributes ' ' -'-f'.-r./1 1966 National Safety Congress self and his fellows, who uses his his knowl edge, tools,- and safety equipment to the best of his ability. It may be however, that we are attacking symptoms rather than causes, We have, as I have said, begun to explore the nature and true cause of industrial accidents since it is apparent that legislation, regulations, and good intentions do not in themselves solve the dilemma of rising accidents. They do, however, provide us with a legal, and we hope precise, framework to operate within. With our study, we hope not only to define the industrial accident and the role of the chief participants, but to be able in some measure to anticipate the future and legislate, not only for this period, but in anticipation of the developments of the new industrial climate. I might say that we, as every prevention body is, are working to wards the day when we can no longer be employed. W e are assured by many economic planners that the advent of sophisticated technology (automation, if you will), will relegate the industrial workers to pushing buttons and performing monitoring func tions for three hours a day. Our chief aim at the moment is to keep workers alive and kicking until that day arrives. However, I might note that since less than two per cent of our industry is fully automated, I feel no immediate need for a job re-training course. Our department has continual exchanges of ideas, statistics and operation descrip tions with our other provinces and other countries. We have just recently completed the first of two ministers' safety conferences where representatives of trade unions man agement, and government have come to gether to re-examine ideas generated by in dividual research. W e have, as well, been host and key participant at the recent Inter national Labour Organization Manpower Conference, which discussed in some detail the international aspects of safety education and preventive techniques. All of us then--government, management, and employees--share the responsibility for industrial safety. As government becomes more adept at defining it legislatively and management more adept in recognizing it as a method of enhancing the balance sheet and employees leam to use the safety me chanisms provided for their own protection, we may yet find formulas that work better than our current situation-by-situation ap proach. Frankly, I cannot give you omni scient answers, but I know that if we, to gether, carefully select our questions and behave honestly and with proper concern in the area of our responsibilities, we will arrive at solutions that lessen and may eventually stop industrial accident and death. DISCUSSION PERIOD -- WHAT'S BUGGING YOU? Delegates who attended the labor sessions were asked to submit written questions con cerning safety problems within their areas of operation, or questions that were gen erated by the safety sessions that they at tended during die Congress week. These written questions were reviewed and an swered by a panel of safety experts. Presiding Officer: John R. Kumpel, Safety and Compensation Representative,- United Rubber Workers, Akron, Ohio. Moderator: Jacob Gold, Safety Engineer, Bureau of Labor Standards, U.S. Depart ment of Labor, Washington, D. C. 3H Panel Members: Alan F. Burch, Director of Safety, International Union of Operating Engineers, Washington, D. C.; John L. Dowling, Director, Safety and Health Divi sion, United Steel W orkers of America (Canada), Toronto, Canada; Charles T. Greene, Director, Industrial Safety, District of Columbia Minimum Wage and Industrial Safety Board, Washington, D. C ; Floyd Van Atta, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Office of Occupational Safety, Bureau of Labor Stand ards, U.S. Department of Labor, Washing ton, D. C .; Victor E. Whitehouse, Safety Director, International Brotherhood of Elec trical W orkers, Washington, D. C. Labor Sessions Moderator: Are penalties provided for violation of safety codes in the various juris dictions actually sufficient to act as a deter rent to the violation of Codes? M r. Greene: 1 would say no; they are not sufficient. The amount a company has to pay fo r a safety code violation is. not enough to act as a deterrent. However, publicity is more of a deterrent than any fine that could be imposed. O f course, the only way to have adequate publicity is to impose a fine that is out of the ordinary. W e had a contractor that was fined $300 for a violation, which was the maximum fine that could be imposed. Later, the con- , tractor indicated that the fine was nothing compared to the adverse publicity from the newspapers, and that he would have much rather paid a $3,000 fine than experience the publicity. Moderator: In the province of Ontario, where the circumstances constitute an of fense against the Industrial Safety Act and this offense occurs consistently, every per son or employer who fails to comply with the provisions of the regulation, or the di rections of an inspector, or the conditions of an approval permit is subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 for each day of the violation or to imprisonment for not more than 12 months for each day of in fraction. Dr. Van A tta: In school I was taught that it is. not the nature of the penalty but the certainty that the penalty will be im posed that encourages compliance. Our main problem in this country is not the penalty but the fact that most of the people who are violating regulations will not be penal ized regardless of what the law says. This is probably because we do not have enough inspectors to cover the areas. Moderator: There are far too many acci dents involving high voltages which cause burns, electrocutions, and falls from high places. These accidents occur to electricians, linemen, and other craftsmen above the age of 60 who do hazardous work. Few of these old timers will admit the weakening of their grip, failing eyesight, weak heart conditions, or a tendency to experience dizziness. I don't believe that a compulsory medical ex amination Is the answer, but there must be some solution. Perhaps workers oyer 60 should be prohibited from working in high places and assigned to other challenging work. M r. Whitehouse: A man 60 years old is not really the criterion. W e in the Inter national Brotherhood of Electrical W orkers have many examples of men 25 to 30 years of age who have a heart condition, are epileptic, or suffer some other problem. It is true that some of the IB EW locals have agreements with the contracted company which require a man of 50 and over who shows evidence of gaining weight or suf fering from some health problem be trans ferred to a less hazardous job. On the m atter of physical examinations, the men within the local union can schedule periodi cal examinations with their own personal physicians. M r. Burch: I am opposed to pre-employ ment physical examinations as a condition of employment, but I am not against physical examinations. I think the point in this question is an important one and that is that we must be our brother's keeper. Most unions have negotiated health and welfare plans, and these should include at least an nual physical examinations. O f course, there is nothing stopping an individual from seek ing his own personal doctor periodically; in fact he will probably discuss his job more freely and the type of work that he per form s with his doctor. After the personal doctor advises the individual about Iris physi cal ability in relation to performing his job, it is up to the worker to decide whether he will continue or n o t In other words, we should inform ourselves about our own physi cal condition and how it applies to our job. M r. Greene: In this case, there is a ques tion of one person being a hazard to other persons on the job. I know of two or three instances, where physical condition of a worker caused injuries to others. In another instance, a chronic drunk was directly re sponsible for the severe injury of three other persons. Both management and labor knew of this man's illness, but neither related it to his responsible job. I am in agreement that compulsory examinations are not the answer, but there is a joint labor-manage ment responsibility to get together and decide when a person may be a hazard to other workers because of his health. Moderator: Do you think that unions and management should work together in writing or changing a safety rule book? 39 1966 National Safety Congress M r. JVhitehouse: For years I have been preaching for joint labor-management safety committees to do this very tiling. They should sit down and work out the procedures that are to be followed so that it becomes the responsibility of both labor and man agement to see that they are enforced. In the past two years the IB E W and various managements have established over 800 joint labor-management safety commit tees. I am very strongly in favor of these committees establishing ground rules. This is a definite advantage for management We have had cases in some of our locals where the union member was brought before the executive board and informed that the union agreed to these rules and regulations and he, as a member of the union, must comply. M r. Dowling: W e deal with the Ontario Federation of Labor and favor its support of joint labor-management methods of rule and regulation writing, but I would like to add that once these rules and regulations are adopted they should be put into the working man's language. They should be de . veloped in such a way that the working man knows what they are and he under stands them dearly. In Canada, we print these rules and regulations in French for our French workers. The union also has an obligation to see that these rules are ex plained. Moderator: A number of years ago Re public Steel Corporation wanted to commu nicate to all of its employees a better un derstanding of the economic problems of the company and how they affect the work ers. They went to Brookings Institute for advice, then developed a play with 13 char acters such as a fanner, business man, stock holder, manager, etc. The employees were assigned various parts and participated in the play a t various locations all over the country. The principle idea was that par ticipation would improve understanding and respect. The company paid thousands of dollars for that idea, and it is believed that the same results can be obtained if the union 3s allowed to participate in developing safety rules. An example of such cooperation is the Carborundum Company's joint safety work with the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers Union. This relationship is work 40 ing extremely well and practically every one that I know of has worked very successfully. Moderator: Do you think safety programs should be in the labor contract? Dr. Van A t ta: Certainly! A contract has to do with conditions of employment, and one of the major conditions of employment is your continued life. I t seems to me that labor groups, in general, have been most remiss in that conditions of employment have not been included under safety. How ever, this is certainly no excuse for this to continue. Mr. Greene: The contractors in the Dis trict of Columbia must comply with the regulations Of our department. One of the problems with safety by reference is that most of the workers, and some of the man agement, do not have any idea o f what these regulations are. They don't, understand them. If safety is in the contract, the work ers ought to have enough information so .that they can know whether the regulations, are being complied with or not. If they are not, tire workers can act accordingly. If their wages under the contract were not being paid, they would do something about it immediately. I believe that a union should act immediately if there is a hazard ous situation that needs correcting in accord ance with accepted codes and regulations. However, if people do not understand the regulations they do not know when the regulations are violated. The answer, of course, is training. W ithout training, the regulations will be unimplemented. Dr. Van A tta: I have read a significant amount of contracts which were signed by people who thought they had negotiated safety into the contract The standard phrase is "the company will continue to provide safe and healthful places in which to work." This is really just saying that the company will continue its existing bad practices. That is not negotiating safety. It is as worthless as a contract that says the company will con tinue to pay wages. There is meaningful language which can be negotiated into union contracts and nearly all of the international unions can provide this type of language. M r. Burch: I f the union has already -sat down with management and worked out acceptable safety rules, the contract can con tain meaningful language that is also simple > Labor Sessions For example, "both sides agree to adhere, at all times, to the safety rules agreed upon jointly," This keeps unnecessary words out of the contract and has the advantage that everybody knows what is being referred to. I t also skirts the situation where the con- . tract is filled with language aimed at every body's particular grievance. The important thing is to get together and work out the rules and regulations by which you are going to live and then firm them up in a binding agreement so that everybody knows where they stand. Actually the original question -- should safety be negotiated into a union contract? -- has been answered by the National Labor Relations Board. Not too long ago, there was a decision which was upheld after it was appealed, and it will probably be a landmark case in labor relations. The final ruling was that safety was a mandatory subject of col lective bargaining. ' Moderator: To what extent is voltage over 5,000 volts being worked on out of aerial baskets or insulated platforms with rubber gloves and sleeves? M r. WHtehouse: I would like to highlight two things. One, safety. standards for the electrical industry recommend that any volt age over 5,000 be either de-energized, or grounded, or worked by hot stick. Two, aerial baskets are fundamentally a good tool because they place a man in. a good position. However, these baskets should not be con sidered as an insulating or isolating device.. The same rules apply when working voltages from a basket as when working from a pole. There has been a concerted effort on the part of management of many utility com panies to go to 13,200 volts (and one wants to go up to 15,000 volts as a lim it A man can use rubber insulation for up to 20,000 volts; however, if his nose is still exposed, that is where he will make contact Edison Electric Institute made an analysis of accidents over the years and practically all of the contacts over 5,000 volts are not hand contacts. So, the rubber gloves are not enough, and it's not reasonable to expect a man to work completely enclosed in rubber. In the opinion of our organization, 5,000 volts is the limit for working energized lines except via hot stick. Moderator: A major Chicago cab com pany has vehicles which have-the fresh air intake so placed that the exhaust fumes of the car immediately ahead, are taken into the'passenger compartment of-the cab; This could constitute a serious health hazard and we. are wondering what the National Safety Council can do about this situation. Dr. Van A tta : Actually the Council can not do anything about this sort of. condition except publicize the hazard. I t surprised me when I found that this cab company is still taking their fresh air into, the passenger compartment through ducts that are located down low in back of the rediator. This is especially surprising when you realize that all other automobile manufacturers stopped, this practice 6 or 7 years ago because of the number of deaths from carbon monoxide. I can't think of any conceivable excuse for this type of neglect in design which can cause serious injury. I would think that unfavor able publicity and perhaps one or tw o dam age suits against the company for negligent design might have a most salubrious effect. These steps can be taken by the union and should be. (Comment from the floor, by Joseph L. Algina, Safety Director, Seafarers Inter national Union)--The local union that is involved with this cab company is meeting tonight and I will be present^ I will recom mend that this union take- direct action to see that the condition is eliminated. Moderator: How "are safety and health problems handled under Canadian laws? Mr. Dowling: We have an arrangement with the Director and Chief Inspector, In dustrial Safety Branch, Ontario Department of Labour, Toronto, whereby I meet in his office to discuss any problem that involves steel workers. I f there is a violation of the Industrial Safety Act, the initial step rests with the official of tire local union involved. T he local should extend every effort to get the violation corrected. However, if no cor rective measures are taken the report is sent to my office. I forward it to the In dustrial Safety Branch and an inspector is sent to the plant to check into the condition. Subsequently, we get a report from- tire Di rector of the Industrial Safety Branch indi cating whether the complaint was upheld or rejected. The. foundry section of our union has a somewhat more refined method of liaison. The. government inspector for foundries 41 1966 National Safety Congress must contact the local union officials before he visits a plant and must take the local's appointed representative- with him during his tour of the plant In addition, the factory inspectors in the Province of Ontario carry a warrant with them and, if they are opposed by the em ployer, the inspector uses the telephone to call the local magistrate. A policeman is dispatched to the-plant to serve the warrant on the person obstructing the inspection and has the person removed from the premises until the inspection is completed. Moderator: Is there a standard clearing house that records a complete list of radia tion exposures to workers handling radio active materials? ' Dr. Van A ita : Not in the United States; unfortunately. There was a bill introduced in the last Congress, but Congress did not act on i t W e have high hopes that it. will be handled during the next Congress, al though we understand that there is consid erable opposition to this bill from manage ment sources. Moderator: How can we get management to correct unsafe conditions promptly? Mr. Dowling: I can only give you an il lustration of what happened in the city of Hamilton, Ontario. I was conducting semi nars in Hamilton when one of the crane operators in the plant called me at my home. H e informed me that the wheels on the crane had become so worn that the electric shoes that pick up the electricity had dropped to where they were striking stud bolts, caus ing them to fall to the floor below. I called the shop foreman and he admitted that the condition was unsafe. I then phoned the Director of the Ontario Industrial Safety Branch and he sent an inspector within 35 minutes. The inspector was in the plant for 10 minutes. H e shut down the entire plant. Management was then obligated to bring in a contractor to replace the crane wheels. The plant was shut down for two shifts. Mr. Greene: We have a way of getting things done'also; however, it is sometimes rather late. When we receive a complaint we send an inspector to the location. Usually the condition existed for some time before we receive the complaint. I t has bothered the worker, and he has probably complained ' to various people but he doesn't contact us until the condition gets serious. Mr. Gold; I think it must be apparent that the answer to this question depends in a large measure on the geographic area in which the plant is located. Some states have fine laws which will take care of these things if you push. them. However, other states are quite lax and backward, _ Mr. Kumpel: If you believe you are work ing in a hazardous situation and feel morally certain that you are right in your belief, then you should refuse to work on such operations until they can be examined by proper and qualified authorities to determine if the conditions need correcting. Mr, Burch: I endorse what John says, but I would like to add that union strength varies geographically. A lot will depend upon the knowledge and guts of the local business agents. Moderator: W hat are the effects o f as bestos dust? i / Dr. Van Atta: B re a th in g excessive amounts of asbestos dust over a period of 25 to 35 years, depending upon the amount and the person, will result in shortness of breath, circulatory and heart problems, and the person will probably die of heart failure. In addition, you will probably get no as sistance from workmen's compensation, if you are under most jurisdictions. That is the classical picture of asbestosis. But, in the last few- years, we are discovering that asbestos is a rather prolific producer of a variety of cancers of the lung and sur rounding tissues. Asbestos is a skinny little crystal, like a needle, and it works into the tissues and promotes cancers. One variety is appearing in rather sub stantial numbers among asbestos workers-- it has always been there, but now it is be ginning to be diagnosed. This is a subject about which we don't know nearly as much as we thought we did 20 years ago. I might say that excessive amounts of asbestos dust is only enough to constitute a slight haze in the air. The situations in which asbestos is used are highly deserving of competent professional assessment. Moderator: H o w ca n unions get su ck professional assessment in cases where they feel the plant hygienist or medical per sonnel are not competent? A2 Labor Sessions Dr. Van A tta: There are several highly qualified physicians in the country who will act as consultants. Also, some state labor Now we come to the really important role of the international union safety depart ment and that is top management support. departments have personnel who can moni This is very important; however, it is also tor asbestos operations and render opinions. essential that the man on the job support (Comment from the floor)--Dr. Van Atta, you mentioned you can't get compensation for asbestos disabilities in most jurisdictions. The law has changed in most jurisdic tions in the country during the last few years so th at you may be able to sue the construction company, the architects, and en gineers who built the plant without proper ventilation. This can be considered for full recovery for the wrongful death of a work er or fo r injuries. This is a very important the safety activities. Too many local unions still offer only lip service to accident pre vention. Until local union leadership pushes accident prevention, the man on the job will continue to be unconcerned.. . Mr. Whitehouse: Let ns not overlook die fact that many international labor organiza tions do not have a safety director o r safety department. For them, the first thing they can do is establish such a department and staff. new area of protection for workers, not (Comment from the floor, by Joseph Leo only to get damages where there has been nard)---The Longshoremen's union installed disability but to prevent the continuation accident prevention activities in the Interna of the condition in the future. tional Union office and made it mandatory Moderator: W hat services or aid should that each local should have a safety pro be given or offered to local unions from the gram. That was four years ago. To this day, safety staff of an international union? I have to carry a bat when I visit the various locals in order to get these fellows moving. M r, Burch: The safety director should I do not believe that the International Union develop training programs, or at least out office can do much until the local unions lines, for use by local union safety personnel. are willing to accept it and support i t In H e should supply materials (posters, decals, addition, the rank and file members must technical data, etc.) and act as a research provide support to their local union officers, consultant.in safety and health matters. H e should answer questions received via letter Mr. Kwnpel: Our International Union has or telephone. He should gather statistics, conducted many safety and compensation which requires the cooperation of local clinics throughout the United States and unions. Canada over the past 23 years. W e have The international union safety director, fairly good success in attracting local union should represent his union members and people to attend these clinics for three or the trade union movement as a whole, on four days at a time. the various committees that write standards Moderator: Does the District of Columbia and codes which will effect the work of the have the right to make it's own safety codes union's members. The United States of through it's appointed commissioners, or are America Standards Institute, the Society of. the safely rules of the District enacted by Automotive Engineers, and the Society of the Congress of the United States? Mechanical Engineers are examples of or M r. Greene: ' The District, through it's ganizations that have these types of com Minimum W age and Industrial Safety mittees. Board, has the right to make safety codes. Previously, participation by union rep They handle all of the investigations and resentatives has been minimal and we are conduct the hearings necessary to develop doing our best to change this situation. This these codes. This privilege comes from Con is one of the most important activities that gressional legislation. safety personnel of international labor or Moderator: How do we sell safety to our ganizations can undertake. There are plenty union members? of openings but labor hasn't sought rep M r. Gold: I believe that you must estab resentation. When labor does become a part lish, within your members, a desire. You of these committees, it has been my ex have to give them a chance to participate perience that labor representatives are wel in the problems. Let them assist with first i come and offer valuable contributions. aid training and community action. The i 43 1966 National Safety Congress worker must understand how accident pre vention will benefit him, personally. You cannot sell Just once in a while. Ads for new automobiles do not occur once in a while. They re published continuously. The same continuing sales pitch is necessary to keep a union safety program rolling. You have to work at i t (Comment from Bob W ilkins)--I feel certain that the only way accident prevention can be effectively sold to union members and' their families is through effective de monstrations. Demonstrative presentations stick in a persons mind much longer and are more effective in changing habits and atti tudes. Films are one method of demonstrat ing what can be done to avoid accidents or reduce hazards. Of course, this requires more time in preparing safety presentations and oftentimes costs money. I am sure that all of you will agree that Jake Gold does an outstanding job of teach ing accident prevention to people from all walks of life and you will notice that he uses demonstrations wherever possible. W ith reference to the continuing complaint that management cannot get the cooperation of the union or the men when they wish to initiate a certain type of accident pre vention program, the primary reason for this difficulty is the fact that management feels that the safety program is not_ only their responsibility, but that it is their privilege to develop and enforce it as they see fit. These types of procedures often run into difficulty because most people resist some thing that is forced upon them. However, most people are willing to cooperate with practically any project or program if they have some voice in the manner in which the project or program is developed. As an example, if management wants to initiate a safety-spectacle program, it is extremely helpful if they will ask the union to appoint two or three representatives to sit with management and develop the pro gram which will later become mandatory. When this cooperation is enjoyed from be ginning to end, the program will always be a success because both parties feel that the program was developed property and both parties will cooperatively assist in see ing to it that the program is put into effect. Regarding the question of what labor can do about industrial hygiene problems,' I be lieve that if the state labor department or other concerned organizations cannot provide industrial hygiene personnel to study situa tions believed to be hazardous by tire union, then the union should have the opportunity to hire it's own consulting industrial hygien ist to study the situation and give an un biased report This should satisfy th e de sires of the union membership and should assist in avoiding hazardous situations which may be overlooked by management (Comment from the floor by Mr. Philo) --I f you don't mind, I would like to say something in general about a problem we, as lawyers, have in representing .injured people. I have been interested in one very important area of safety and I refer to suits against manufacturers of machinery or safety equipment that result in an injury to a worker. Our position is not aided by the existence of weak standards and weak positions by local and international unions. In particular, I have during the past year presented cases of 37 workers who have lost hands in power presses. I have just spent some time in the Power Press and Forging Section sessions, listening to speak ers on points of operation guarding. It is my opinion that about 50,000 presses in tire United States are guarded by a trap instead of a safety device. These are the pull-back guards. I think it is predictable that a work er who operates a press equipped with these pull-hack devices for 30 years is bound to lose a hand. I represent some clients who have lost both hands. I don't believe that the National Safety Council is ever going to suggest that the pull-back devices are unsafe. This is prob ably because the Power Press and Forgings Section basically represents industry and management. However, the unions can and should do something about this situation. They ought to get these devices banned in every state in the country. The pull-back devices violate the two principles of power press safety. First, every device or guard must have .a fail safe mechanism; second, the worker's hands should never be ^placed between the dies when the machine is run ning. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler will not use these pull-back devices on any o i their thousands of presses. They recognize 44 ? 5 Labor Sessions they are a trap. It is th smaller shops which do not have effective accident preven tion engineering in the plant, where these devices exist I recently talked to a corporate safety director who I thought, should know better. However, his company is being advertised as having pull-back type guards on power presses in several of its plants. The cor porate safety director admitted this was true. H e went on to say that this type of device was used in some plants because the local union insisted on the pull-back devices. I believe that the local union safety per sonnel were undoubtedly good, conscientious safety people but were not safety sophisti cated. This point of operation guarding is a complex problem. Dr. Van A tta : W hat Mr. .Philo says is perfectly true. Fail safe design is partic ularly important when you're talking about power presses. I t is true that there is no failure of a pull-back device which is a safe failure. Every conceiveable failure is a hazardous failure. 1 (Comment from the floor)--I disagree with the idea of including industrial hygiene services in a union contract I am wifh the State Labor Department of Iowa and am director of the industrial inspectors. W e have one of the finest industrial hygiene laboratories in the United States. W hat we really need is support from the unions at the state level when it comes to budget time. The State Bureau of Labor doesn't reecive the support from the unions when it comes time for requesting monies to provide ade quate factory inspection and industrial hy giene survey work. The Manufacturers As sociation are there and they lobby against our budget continuously. Our Safety Com mission is currently operating on a budget of $16,000. W e asked for $39,000. The. point is that the state has the facilities in adequate equipment and laboratories. But we need more support from labor. 45