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FILE NAME Quigley QUIG DATE 1972 June 22 DOC QUIG033 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Memo Final Asbestos Standard Issued PfizePr fizer OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH REPORT . CORPORATE SAFETY OFFICE % NO 32 * DISTRIBUTION OSHA CONTACTS JUNE 22 1972 FINAL ASBESTOS STANDARD ISSUED An emergency standard limiting exposure of employees to asbestos dust was described in Pfizer Occupational Safety & Health Report No. 20 of February 15 1972. A final standard full text in appendix of this report limiting employee exposure to asbestos dust to two fibers not longer than five micrometers per cubic centimeter of air on a weighted average was announced on June 7 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and will become effective July 1 1976 The present permissible concentration remain in effect until July 1 1976. concentrations in excess of 10 fibers of In at five fibers per cubic centimeter will addition any time the new standard prohibits . any The new standard takes effect July 7 of this year The standard was adopted after consideration of recommendations from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health the OSHA Advisory Committee on Asbestos Dust and comments submitted by mail and during four days of public hearings Provisions The primary means of compliance required are feasible technological controls and appropriate work practices including of rotation employees The use of personal protective equipment such as respirators to effect compliance was dismissed because of the burdensome and discomforting aspects of devices The following compliance requirements also are contained in the standard ; ~ Hand must tools that may produce be equipped with local or release asbestos exhaust ventilation fibers in systems excess of the limits As much as possible asbestos reduces the usefulness of must be handled the product and worked in the wet state unless No asbestos cement mortar coating grout plaster or similar material con- taining asbestos can be removed from shipping bags or other containers without either being wetted enclosed or ventilated Where respirators are permitted they must be selected from among the types approved by the Bureau of Mines or NIOSH but no employee may be assigned task requiring a respirator if a physician determines it would affect his functioning or health to a job 09 0989 The employer must provide and require the use of special protective clothing change rooms and two separate lockers from the employee's street and work clothes and exercise care in laundering and any other handling of contaminated , clothing pe External work areas must be kept free of excessive accumulations of asbestos fibers and waste must be collected in sealed impermeable bags or other such containers ; Other Requirements Under the standard employers are required to establish monitoring systems to assure that employee exposure is below the limits Monitoring must be done six months and employees or their representatives are guaranteed the the measurements and have access to records of them at least right to every observe Warning signs are provided for where asbestos concentrations may exceed the limits Labels warning of possible adverse health effects must be affixed to all raw materials mixtures scrap waste debris or other product containing asbestos fibers or to their containers No label is required where the fibers have been modified by a bonding agent binder or other coating that prevents release of above- limit concentrations Records of personal or environmental monitoring must be maintained by the employer for at least three years and be available upon request to OSHA or NIOSH Any former or current employees are guaranteed reasonable access to records of their personal exposure to airborne asbestos Employees found to have been exposed to excessive concentrations must be informed within five days after the findings and told what corrective actions are being taken Employers must provide or make available at their cost comprehensive medical examinations including chest ray and pulmonary tests within 30 days of an employee's first employment in a job involving asbestos exposure and within 30 before or after termination of a worker's employment By January 31 1973 days employers must make available annual medical examinations for employees in asbestos exposure areas Records of medical examinations made under the standard must be maintained for 20 years and must be open to inspection and copying by the Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA the director of NIOSH authorized physicians or medical consultants of either agency and upon request of an employee or former employee to his physician Doctors who conduct examinations under the standard must furnish the employer with all information required by the regulation and any other medical data related to occupational exposure to asbestos fibers In addition to manufacturing and other industries the standard covers workers in construction ship repairing shipbuilding shipbreaking and longshoring References BNA OSHR Volume 2 No. 2 June 15 1972 page 19 Job Safety & Health Report No. 13 Volume 2 page 121 37FR February 18 1972 page 3645 Occupational Exposure to Asbestos NIOSH - HSM72-10267 Asbestos Air Pollution Control Illinois Institute for Environmental National Technical Information Service PB205-208 Quality 15 09 0990 LIST C ~ GENERAL DISTRIBUTION LIST ADAMS AGRICULTURE ATLANTA D.C. BARRETTS BROOKLYN BURLINGAME D.C. CANAAN CHICAGO D.C. CLIFTON D.C. COTY DALLAS D.C. EASTON EAST ST LOUIS EIGHTY EMERYVILLE GIBSONBURG GREENSBORO GREENSBORO GROTON & G. C. J. R. D. W. D. C. D. R. S. J. F. D. C. D. C. C. J. H. P. T. W. S. R. J. J. R. C. F. E. Carson Plaas Almquist Chandler Hoffman Hays Pozzi Cavolick Currin Walker Campbell James Kerins Camp Herzog Russell Taylor Archer Whitcomb Skoog . Roche GROTON RES INTERNATIONAL| LUCERNE VALLEY MAYWOOD VIRO MILWAUKEE NEW YORK OFFICE OLD BRIDGE PARSIPPANY PFIZER DIAG GROTON PFIZER DIAG MAYWOOD PORTLAND D.C. POTOSI PUERTO RICO SANTA ANA D.C. SHOSHONE SLATINGTON TERRE HAUTE VICTORVILLE WALLINGFORD C. T. Kagel R. J. Murdock E. Geffroy R. W. Norton V. Zibas Dayhuff T. Rowan Major Schaeffer P. Boremski V. Alsberge Strid T. A. B. Corcoran Mendoza Browni V. A. Rasmussen Groth C. W. B. Everly Collins Emley COPY F. R. C. H. R. J. K. J. P. P. A. B. M. R. E. F. 0. E. F. L. A. R. W. J. H. T. W. R. J. R. E. D. S. W. W. C. O. W. E. A. F. a) P. A. Adams Allen Bailey Barr Bartels Benning Bloom Booth Bouchard Brooks Cavadi Chase Clark Compton Cundiff DuBois Duflocq Ellis Ensminger Flandreau Freeman Gambill Greig Guercio . Rogers C. T. H. F. E. F. W. Haffey W Hammer Harger J. R. Hawk H. C. E. S. Huber H. Hughes C. A. Hutz W. J. W. J. V. Jenkins Kehoe C. S. B. M. S. Kohlenberg S. Lekowski C. Lidsky G. Long R. Lowe D. C. Lum F. L. MacDonald J. Marino * R. T. E.W. W. T. J. H. Masters McBride McBride McCreery * McCoy* McGuire McKenna Metcalfe Farley * . * With copy of the text W. Mitchell Munnelly F. Murphy Nelson O'Leary O'Leary . G. Oleson Paige Munkelt * Penicnak Petitt M. Pinney Rabbett RadjRaldjl Schmitz Schmitz W. Scott Smith Sosman R. Tevebaugh R. Thacker A. Travis S. Veith W. V. Vines D. Webster W. Wilkinson G. Ziegler June 22 1972 16 09 0991