Document mBqJ1LJaZVXLML9mw9ZLEj5dk

FILE NAME: Avondale (AVD) DATE: 197& DOC#: AVD DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION:ZDZ^D^^ZZ ZDZDZ SHIPBUILCEAS COUNCIL CF AMERICA 17:'3 t< STRE;ET N. W, WASHINGTON, O.C. 20006 2021338-7722 Feb-ruary-18, 1971 TO: ACCIDENT PREVENTION COMMITTEE SUBJECT: Draft Manual on Handling of Insulation Materials Enclosed is self-explanatory correspondence from Duncan 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-roent Bethlehem Steel Corporation 25 Broadway New York, New York 10004 Mr. Howard is a member of the Shipyard Manual Committee representing the Shipbuilders Council of America. I would also appreciate your making a copy available to Shipbuilders Council. cc: Edwin Hartzman J. M. Conley, Jr. Thomas J. Defoe John A. Byington W. B. Powell -;~ E. P. Ruddy Secretary PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT I E SBCA 5030 j MOUNT SINAI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE of Tht City Univtrsity of Ntw York FIFTH AYllNUB AND 100TH STRl!HTNE!W YORK, N.Y. 10029 Otparlrntnl of Comm1mily '-ftdiciNt February .9, ..97p:. To: From: . Subject: Members of Shipyard Manual Duncan A. Ho 1ada y \ Roug~ Draft of Manual for Committee Shipyards Mr. Reitze and l have composed a rough draft of a manual of recommended practices for handling insulation materials in shipbuilding, ship ,repair and shipbreaking. This is enclosed f"or your edification, comments and suggestions. This draft was prepared with the expectation that the committee members 11 ' \'VUUIU t CCll..11 ,- 1 ICCI , Cl I..VIII\.JUl:llUII r LU CAfJOllu, - Ir o,.H,J ~ - i..v, t - 1 - .&.. uc11.:...... , - - VI ... - , .... 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 obtcJined from Mr. Man- gold und Hr. Ay, but would clppreciate any m.Jtcriul which you mziy have and suggestions 9n what would be desirable to include. Particularly needed (in our opinion) are discussions of general dilution venti1ation and substitute materials. Each of you should have suggestions on these or o'ther topics, and you are urged to contribute. We would appreciate your comments by March 1, 1971. After these are received, we will rewrite the manuaf, snd you a copy and arrange a meeting at which we hope to a r rive at a f i na 1 form. Sincerely, al!cla/4_ ~~<ttDuncan A. Holaday cJ Research Associate Professor .... Recommended Practices for Handling Insulation Materials in Ship~uilding, Ship Repair and Shipbreaking I. Introduction A. Biological effects of asbestos (succinct summary) B. Tradesmen who are exposed to insulation dusts (1) 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 in su Iat ion mater ia 1s (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 . ' j I I. Control of Asbestos-containing dusts by use of substitute mater ia 1s A. Fi berg.lass fo_r blanket and pad fi 11 ing B. Pipe covering and block with reduced asbestos content C. Use of materials treated with dust suppressant 11 I. - Reduction of dust bt changes in work methods A. Minimizing hand cutting at the job sites and use of down-draft, exhaust-ventilated tables 8, Premixing asbestos mortardockside D. Wetting asbestos cloth. and fillers before pad and b 1an ke t fabrication E. rhe use of drop cloths at job sites F. Collectio~ and containment of wastes as they are produced G. Clean-up at end of job or end of shift, using vacuum cleaners H, Conducting all possible insulation work in the shop rDthcr th~n on shipbo~rd 1. Packaging of fabricated parts for transport from shop to ship ., :). ... IV. Reduction of dusts by use of local exhaust ventilation A. Ventilation of large power tools ( 1) Band saws (2) Ga_ng saws B. Ventilation 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 Vi. C.ontrni of n11mhArs P.XnQc:;P.c'i A, Schedu1 ing 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. VI I. .., Personal Protective Equipment A. Respirators give circumstances in which each type should be used ( l ) Particulate :filtering (a) Reu sa b1e (b) Disposable J ' , ' I VI I A (continued) . .(2) Air-supp 1 i ed {a) Air-line {b) Self-powered B. Protective clothing VI I I . Education of workers Constant training and updating of information IX. Medical supervision . X. Summury A. Measures involving little cost which can immediately be adopted B. Those measures involving more costly engineering and capital funds. 1. I nt ro duct ion \ ROUGH DRAFT 2/ 8/71 ... Inhalation of asbestos fibers has caused serious injury to workmen. Many studies have found that cases of asbestosis, I lung cancer a~d ~leural and peritoneal mesothelioma.occur following exposure to ~irbo~ne asbestos. To prevent these serious effects, it is necessary to reduce exposure to asbestos dust to the lowest feasible level. Exposures to high concentra- tions, even those of only a few minutes duration, should be avoided. Handling insulating materials during ship construction, ship repair and ship.hreaking operations can expose many people and steamfitters may have to remove insulation during their work and ripMout 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 - - Al though areas >f respons i bi 1it i es wi 11 differ from ,ya rd to yard, one responsible person, perhaps the industrial hyg}enist or the safety officer, should 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 cornmittee report would be avai1abl"e to the cost estimators as well as those concerned for the day-to-day work schedule .. Operations which generate large amounts of dust include: 1. Rip-out of old insulation 2. Mixing asb~stos mortar 3. Cutting insulation material either on site or in fabrication shops 4. Blocking or hammering on block or pipe covering to seat material. 5. Warehousing and storage of material' 6. Clean-up and waste handling. Particular efforts should be made to control dust dispersion during these operations to reduce peak exposures and prevent general . contamination of the atmosphere of the ./ wo r k a r ea . ... . The following sections of this manual discuss in de ta i 1 p roceuu res which have been used ;to reduce atmospheric contamination py asbe~tos dust. These procedures have been assembled from several sources with major contributions 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 subs ti tuteci' for asbestos, certain points must be carefully considered. From a health .point of view, one must guard against that which has happened in other environmental situations -- where in the haste to rid society of a known pollutant, a substance whose potential hazards are unknown has been substituted. A second consideration must be: will the new material ., meet engineering specifications and will it perform adequately . -) 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 fi1ling Amosite blanket covered with asbestos cloth 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~out11 .- i,...,.,.... __ - '-"' '-'I I ,.... __ .,...,...._..J V I '-"._ '- V .._., ~ L-. 'f'I I ti,., a ~ Asbestos cloth which has _. I Ull'-' I I.~ use should also be encouraged . B. Pipe covering and block with re~uced 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 containing 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 Uni'ted States to determine how it will perform in use. 5 111. Reduction of Dust by Changes in Work Methods In many operations, changes in work practices will I reduce dust dis~ersion very significantly. All of the procedures discussed in this section have been utilized and found to be effective. A. Mixing Asbestos Mort~r This oeratio~ -hasusually been done at the job site. While the time spent in mixlng 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 containers 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 is packaged serves as a mixing box and wcJstc container. Ei the r of these methods eliminates dust dispersion at the job site. .,, B, Pre-cutting pipe coverino and block in the fabrication shoo Hand-cutting of pipe covering and block should be kept to an absolute minimum. Bend sections, pipe cover lengths a0d blocks should be cut in the fabrication shop on exhaust-venti1at 6 equipment. I I .r 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 are applied. \ C. Pr~-scoring blocks. Insulation blocks should not be scored at the jo6 site, Blocks which have been pre-scored by the manu- facturer can be purchased, or standard blocks can be scored in \ the fabricati'on shop using an exhaust-ventilated gang saw. 1 I IJ.;)U 1 'Col I. "'';J t. '' .. -:; C .::>.:iciilJu 1 I IC.:> 111 '1.,.1'1__-:. s;; $',,,~-,.;.". ,, 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-lag the section in the shop than when it is in place shipboard . ..,, . '':y\ 7 E. ~and-cutting at lob sites I Some hand-cutting at job iites 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. A small industrial vacuum cleaner serves as an air-mover. A plastic bag under the table contains the larger dusts and wastes. F. Fabrication of pads and blankets Where possible, p~d filling and asbestos 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 CJean-uo Area and atmospheric contamination with asbestos dst can be reduced greatly 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. J 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. In al 1. 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 attent-ion to this very important 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 nega t i ve p res s u re bag ho us e a re usu a 1 l y mo re p ra c t i ca l I n a fixed installation 1fabrication shop . .., IV A (cont i nu ed) Ber.ause some degree of portability 1s desirable in _ _ a temporary shipboard fabrication area, a high velocity, low volume unit is desirable. (Fig. ) .. This type of unit can also 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. ... -- - , - r I I , _ ~ I_ - _ ,..f 0, VClll.l ICll.lUII \JI 11<... 11'-' t::"vnv1 ""'"'-''-J f ..,J High velocity, low volume collection systems adequately h~ndle most small power tools. Saber saws for cutting pipe I __ coverir.g and. rotary saws for cutting asbestos cement board are well control.led with these systems. (Fig. ) V. 10 VI Control of Number of Workmen Exposed . .. . ..... A. Sch e du 1i ng of i ns u l a t i on wo r k Standard jndustrial hygiene ;1ractices call for isolating operations which contaminate the atmosphere with toxic materials Areis where insulation work is being done should be-isolated by plastic curtains or other means. Whenever possible, work should 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, however, every . t . 1 I effort should be made to keep the number of men exposed at a minimum. In particular, rip-out of old insulatic;rn 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. V 11. Per~onal Protective Ecuipment In addition to-dust-suppression and dust control pro- cedures, personal protective equipment is often necessary to reduce exposure and 1imit the ~pread of contamination. The equipment dcsciibed belcw l S U S e u,.J i n 1 ...-.. - ~ - r\ 1 Cvlll..l\JI - ,.._, ,._ .., -" - r jJr\J~IOlll..:i, A. Protective clothing Protective clothing is required to prevent carrying asbestos oust into locker rooms thus exposing other workmen and even tua 11 y i rto . insulation workers 1 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 protection for all but extre~e conditions. 12 B. Resp i ra ~o r y p ro t cc t i ve equ i pm en t Even if dust suppression and du~t control procedures are used, some operations generate so much dust that it is impractical to maintain atmospheric concentrations of asbestos fibers 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 Protec:ion Against Asbestos-Containing Dusts should be referredto for da- . 1. Ai r- supp 1i ed resp i ra to rs -Ex t reme 1y du s t y j obs , s uch a s r i p- ou t of o 1d i ns u 1a - tion where dust concentrations exceed 10 times the TLV, require use of air-supplied respirators which will deliver clean, dust-free air to a facepiece or hood. Two general types a~e available: air-line and self-powered. (a) Airline r~spirators 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 fj 1tered to remove oil and water 1.3 . 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_elf-powered air-line respirators Air-1 ine respirators ~onnected to a compressed \ . air supply impose 1 imitations on movement, and this limitation can be troublesome. Self-powered respirators do not impose such 1imitations, but do add to the equip- ment which .the workman must carry and.require careful . )~ maintenance. Batteries must be recharged a+t~~R--U-&e, tilters replaced and other maintenance done routinely. Workers usually prefer these devices to air-1 ine 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 G~st by the government -agency responsible for testing respirators should be used. Thcs(;; devices are recommenced for protection in those situations where 14 r the atmospheric conc~ntration of asbestos fibers does not exceed 10 times the TLV. Al 1 the recommendations for respi rater fitting, _training of workmen and maintenance, detailed in Z88.3-1971 snould be followed. _,,, (a) Reusable particulate filtering respirators Avariety 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 maintenance is absolutely necessa to replace clogged filters and leaking inhalation or exhalation valves. Un-maintained respirators can be booby traps. {b) Disposable particulate fi 1tering respirators Operation of an adequate respirator maintenance program can be troublesome and, if only a few men are involved, impractical. Disposable respirators are .,> available 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 1onoer than one 15 VI I I. Education and Training No dust control program can be ieffective unless work- men and supervisors understand the hazards ~ssociated with the jobs, the sources of the hazards and the reasons for following . . recommended procedures carefully. Understanding is only ob~ tained by education of personnel and training in correct operating procedures .. For an education and training program to be successful, both management and labor must be concerned and participate. As with all sa-fety programs, it . is essential that first-line supervisors be interested in and cooperate in the work. The harmful effects of neglect of procedures for con- trolling 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 insu1ating t materials and instruction in correct work practices should be .