Document qkYbMyBDOx02wj4zxB6JrpnXM

FILE NAME Manville JMA DATE 1977-1980 DOC JMA281 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Memos - M Mexico 1977-1980 Manville Internal Correspondence To H. B. Moreno - 3-03 Date June 10 1977 From W. B. Reitze - 1-06 Copies Subject VISIT TO ALMERIA MEISA AND ASBESTOS DE MEXICO As can be seen from the attached Almeria and MEISA have a number of problems which must I do not view the solution to cult I do however believe be corrected as soon as possible any of these problems as diffithat they must be corrected if we are to maintain a healthy workplace I view the situation at Asbestos de Mexico as grave We have . some 900 to 1200 employees at considerable risk Environmental control efforts as well as housekeeping efforts at the very best must be considered rudimentary In most cases there are no such programs at Asbestos de Mexico I realize that we are a minority stockholder 40 and that we do not have the operating responsibility for Asbestos de Mexico however I believe that our continued participation in this venture without insisting upon a general overall cleanup is immoral if not criminal With our past knowledge of environmental con- ditions as they relate to health drawn from our domestic activities plus the fact that the Mexican Social Security Administration informed us that almost third of our popu- lation has asbestos disease we cannot plead ignorance In spite of the above strong language which describes the plant as it is I feel that with effort on all our parts that is International Health Safety and Environment and above all the Mexican representatives we can bring Asbestos de Mexico to M standards It most certainly will take a lot of wuoprk on all our parts but if we are unwilling to spend that time effort and money to do this then we should consider giving up the operation I might add that to give up an tion of this size and potential would not be in our best interests Therefore my strong recommendation would be operato begin a massive educational campaign followed by appropriate expenditures at the plant to clean up Please feel free to call upon HS and myself for any phase of the cleanup Wa W. B. Reitze mudirates Hank lime tile way Mefkan mudirates to VISIT TO MEXICAN OPERATIONS ALMERIA AND ASBESTOS DE MEXICO MEISA On Monday June 6 I met with Carlos Montoto and Sergio Gomez Chavez We discussed the MEISA operation in detail and toured the operation Montoto is There are well aware a number of areas that need attention Carlos of all the areas that need attention but I will enumerate them for the record We have quite a asbestos braiders braiding both chrysotile and crocidolite that have no dust control equipment connected with the operation condition Some which is of the twisting done with the yarns in a moistened does tend to reduce the dust Some consideration should be given to equipping the braiding operation with dust control equipment or other dust suppressant methods to supplement the wet twisting asbestos The feeding operation for the service sheet line appears to be in need of additional hooding At present there appears to be insufficient air to contain the dust It is difficult to determine whether this is all due to the operation's hooding or whether the baghouse is of insufficient capacity to handle the load In the mill board line the asbestos charging operation at the beater is not hooded or vented and one would have to surmise that this pro- duces the same conditions that were produced at Manville and Waukegan . , before control devices were installed The operated trim saw in mill board has insufficient ventilation to control the dust Generally speaking environmental conditions in the plant as viewed from visual inspection indicate that while there are a number of problems in addition magnitude and should to the above the problems not take a great amount of are not of major funds to correct MEISA participates in the required government physical examination program which consists of bringing a physician to the plant twice a year to conduct a rather cursory medical examination which includes inspection of the eyes ears teeth a stethoscope examination of the chest and a check to see if all major limbs are present This examination does not include any chest rays nor pulmonary function testing If any adverse effects are uncovered with this casual examination Social Security may be requested to bring the trailer to the plant site and take the small 6 by 6 TB rays This has not been , done at MEISA My recommendations would be as follows 1. An immediate assessment of what the costs would be to correct at least the mentioned dusty spots and that work should commence as soon as possible thereafter MEISA continued 2. I will within of the arrange for an industrial hygiene survey to be completed the next three months This would include the monitoring asbestos stations the noise the solvent levels and any other potentially troublesome areas This industrial hygiene survey will accomplish several things We will be able to iden- tify further potentially troublesome areas protected and we do not spend any money for so that the men are corrective actions needlessly Since the current physical examination program is totally inadequate I would recommend that a physician be selected and the employees possessing the greatest longevity be given this exami- nation It is my understanding that there are seven persons who were hired prior to 1964 and the balance of the total 30 hourly people were hired after 1970. Considering the small number of people involved this should not pose an expensive venture Regardless of the expense we must be aware of what our actual health picture is at this location As soon as Bill Paul our new Corporate Medical Director comes on board I will ask that he and Drs Wright and Kotin meet together to aid in the selec- tion of a physician Since below I am not quite sure the level of Carlos that the plant supervisory Montoto are fully aware of employees the entire asbestos and health problem I intend to furnish Carlos with brochures and other material so that he can begin talks with supervisory personnel to make them aware of the asbestos and health problem - ee tae Almeria On Wednesday June 8 accompanied by Carlos Montoto I visited the DE mine and mill and met with Rigoberto Gonzales The mining opera- tion appears to have few problems Because of the high moisture con- tent at present dust during the scraping and loading operations ap- pears to be minimal A dust problem does exist when the scrap from . oF the mill is returned to the mine as waste The mill operation presents a few problems the greatest of which is the stack emissions The plant manager informed me that over two tons of fines go out the stack every day The plume from the plant is visible for many miles and creates not only a problem for the surrounding village but also an plant workplace problem We are under fire by the Mexican government to correct this problem of stack emissions I believe that this should be done as soon as possible This correction will certainly lessen the plant condition but other steps must be taken to reduce worker exposure to free crystalline silica The packer stations expose the workers to considerable amount of visible dust and the many leaks in the material conveying systems also contribute to the workplace burden Here again our plant meets the requirements of the Mexican govern- ment Social Security Administration in that all employees are given an examination twice a year and the book is kept indicating that the employees are apt and Security Administration not apt In addition at Almeria the comes in once a year with their trailer takes the small 6 by " rays On top of this a program was Social and in- at stituted the mine several years ago where the employees are sent _ into Guadalajara to a clinic and the fullsize chest rays are taken and evaluated by a radiologist The plant informed me that to date only one individual has been identified as having pneumoconiosis It is also my understanding in talking to the plant that the man is well aware of his condition The plant manager selected the larger rays of back with most me of the older workers at Dr. Wright is currently the plant and I brought evaluating these films these This should give us a better idea of where we stand regarding the health picture of our Almeria employees During our visit we asbestos fiber which witnessed the is to be used unloading of a boxcar of opened in Fibra blending opera- tion The condition of the car regarding broken bags and loose asbestos was one of the poorest I have witnessed in many years It could not be determined immediately where the shipment came from whether it was old stock from the Lompoc closeout or whether the material was shipped from the Fresno fiber opening contractor but in any case it arrived in poor condition The facts are being checked and an answer will be forthcoming The actual site where the Fibra is blended was inspected and this operation is totally unaceptable As it now exists a man must climb up a foot ladder with the asbestos sack on his head rest it on the narrow edge of a mixer and shake the contents into the mixer It then goes to a bag- ging station with totally inadequate ventilation It would be my recommendation that this station not be used any more until such time as the planned new equipment is installed It was my under- standing that we were discontinuing the manufacture and sale of Fibra in our foreign markets I am not sure whether this is Almeria continued a reversal in policy any such reversal and I would very much like to be aware of My recommendations would be as follows 1 That the correction of the stack emissions be accomplished as soon as the work can be accomplished and certainly by the end of the next fiscal year It is my understanding that the two tons per day now going up the stack is a marketable commodity and could be used to at least offset the operational costs of the new dust control equipment I will within arrange for an the next three industrial hygiene survey to be months so that we may determine greater accuracy the exposure of our workers made with Depending upon the review of rays by Dr. Wright I will request Dr. Bill Paul to follow up on the medical program Some consideration must be given to a central vacuuming system at Almeria This would improve housekeeping tre- mendously and also reduce the overall dust burden in the plant I would also recommend that some consideration be given to an air wash system for the bags so that when they are shipped out the generous coating of dust that now goes with them could be removed Asbestos de Mexico On the morning of Tuesday June 7 I visited the Asbestos de Mexico operation and met with Francisco Poncho Aviles Plant Manager and Francisco Glennie Employee Relations Manager My guide on the plant tour was Poncho Aviles Environmentally this plant is among the worst I have visited and apparently is similar to the descriptions and photographs that I have reviewed of some of our own operations in the States 25 or 30 years ago There is a large population 800 hourly workers and some 400 office or supervisory workers that we have at risk approximaterly 900 people The charging stations in the AC pipe line have totally inadequate or nonexisting dust control equipment The same can be said of the flat or corrugated board lines While most of the asbestos used in production is chrysotile Calaveras CA a con- siderable amount of crocidolite and amosite is used There are pipe lathes and millers in the finishing department without any dust control equipment at all Visibly the dust at the charging stations and the finishing line is very apparent In a number of cases the raw fiber on the floor is to the shoe top and the level The storage areas contain many broken bags of asbestos no attempt is made to repair the bags or in any way contain fiber In one storage warehouse an area approximately 20 by 30 contained a pile of blue fiber from broken bags approxi- mately 4 high In order to use this fiber in the mixing operations it is necessary for men to use scoop shovels and sacks to rebag it. Plant cleanup is accomplished by brooms The scrap grinding operation has intolerable amounts of dust and noise and used bag handling is done in the most casual way In several cases piles of paper and plastic bags Workers then gather these bags 10 to bundle 15 and high sell were noticed them The house- keeping program appears to be rudimentary if at all in existence _ Waste water from the AC pipe operations is discharged into a low lying area intervals which This must be retrenched and cleanout is done by an cleaned outside out at frequent contractor I witnessed 10 individuals with shovels digging in the trenches and throwing the dusty asbestos waste from the up into large heaps is very apparent that dried sludge ponds the plant management is totally unaware of the asbestos and health problem The large silica grinding operation produces vast dust as well as noise Poncho Aviles pointed out equipment is totally inadequate to accomplish the being used for Mr. Aviles also indicated that a been awarded to Western Control Engineering for a quantities of to me that their task that it is contract has complete evalu- ation of the environmental needs of the operation In my conversations with Francisco Glennie he indicated to me that the Mexican Social Security Administration has passed the word to him that approximately 30 of the hourly employees have some asbestos disease He further expressed a desire for information which could be used in their recently established Asbestos de Mexico continued training department He has hired a safety engineer to assist him as well as a man to train both new employees as well as up- date the older men Throughout the plant respirators were very much in evidence All that I saw appeared to be brand new respirators that could not have been out of the box for more than a few hours before I arrived on the scene Mr. Glennie also informed me that a physical examination program is in the initial stages of development This would supplement the required government examination which for our purposes appears to be practically worthless Mr. Ricardo Cabrera called me while he was in Mr. Glennie's office and chatted briefly about the environmental problems and much later in the evening I had a chance to briefly meet with Mr. Cabrera at the motel in Guadalajara At this meeting he informed me that he will be in Denver for the next four or five weeks Recommendations 1. Since I feel a big part of the problem is due to an almost complete lack of understanding of the asbestos and health problem among the top management at Asbestos de Mexico my first recommendation would be to meet with them personally and furnish them with any and all available materials we have that would aid the hazards of them in updating their asbestos The initial plant management on session might well be held when Ricardo Cabrera visits us later in the month ' 2 Mr. Cabrera also informed me that by the end of June he should have in his hand a copy of the report from the consulting firm which would outline all the steps that would be necessary to make the plant environmentally safe If it is not possible to accomplish all of these programs at once we might well be able to discuss with Mr. Cabrera some priority classification 3 Immediate steps must be taken to improve the housekeeping at Asbestos de Mexico Vacuum systems should be installed regu- lar maintenance of baghouses should be undertaken instruction should be given in work large amounts of dust gram could well provide practices that do not create unusually An upgrading of the housekeeping proa 30 or more reduction in the existing horrendous conditions at the plant 4 An immediate follow on their projected medical surveillance program should be undertaken and as soon as the program is off the ground a visit by Dr. Bill Paul would be in order to assess the program and further clarify the 30 occupational disease report from the Mexican Social Security Administration - Am nO RNe PE ee Re pe ae ee en ye W. Farrell - Mexico City , : July 26 1978 . W. R. Paul M.D. 1-06 Fila a CHEST ROENTGENOGRAM - ALMERIA ; . Enclosed please find Dr. Wright's and my readings of delay ; the Almeria rays I apologize for the in . i getting these to you ; i If acceptable to you we will arrange for Rod Gomes a : to return the rays to you . i 3 bah as eceihs Se plu Enc (5 artes ry eer UM Manville Internal Correspondence b W. Farrell - Mexico City ; From W. R. Paul M.D. 1-06 Bill ; Copes File a Subject RAYS REQUIRED - ALMERIA Date May 2 1980 Due to the cancellation of Bill Reitze's trip to Mexico : please send the rays requested directly to me Thanks verse yo Prey Pate plf - - Manville Manville el mee ee em eee a ee nm ee, ce 8 eee rene ~slg Ager * \- Correspondencia Cor espondencia Corespondencia Correspondencia - CorrespondCorespondeencia ncia Interna Interna Para de Copla Referencia R. Gonz^lezAlmer^>a W. Farrell JMM W. R. Paul M. D. 1-06 Denver B. Reitze 1-06 Denver NEW RAYS REQUIRED Fecha 25 April 1980 . ; . . . oF f . . ; 2 3 ; i 4 4 . Rigo , rays Would you please arrange for new chest to be taken of the following workers between now and 9 May so as to be able to deliver all of them personally to Bill Reitze when he visits your plant on 12 May : 1 Oliverio Rubio 2 Pilar Garc^>a 3 Nicol^sSandoval 4. Gregorio P^'rez 5. Abundio Cervacio Flores 6 Salvador Avina Segura 7. Juan Laureano Vel^zquez 8. Jos^'F^'lixSevilla De, oo . . : i 7S oe * P being Please impress upon the person making the rays that many have been ' impossible to read and interpret in the past due to their Fuzzy caused by physical movement of the individual at the moment they were taken and therefore he should be sure the subject holds complete still . Dr. Bill Paul particularly asked for the new rays of these people when I spoke with him on the telephone this morning . Thanks very much for your cooperation -- --,, , 4 wat mee 4 W. Farrell ok | Reitzo - 4 . L > o 4 7 = r a. a alia BM Manville Internal Correspondence To R. Gonzales - Almeria Date September 2 1980 From W. R. Paul M.D. 1-06 ( be hi moN Copies G. Read 3-14 Subject RAY PROGRAM ALMERIA The following five people should be followed up in Te December or January with repeat rays forward these to me for my review Please . 1 Oliverio Rubio Castro 2 Nicholas Sandoval . 3 Abundio Servacio Flores 4 Pilar Garcia Espino 5 Roberto Castillo Rios ~~ WRP AD: alen ame a e we e nee Meee sath OLIVERIO RUBIO CASTRO OLIVERIO OLIVERIO AUBIO ~ PILAR GARCIA ESPINO NICOLAS SANDOVAL LIMONES SALVADOR AVI^ A SEGURA 3. FELIX GAMBOA GAMBOA JUAN SEVILLA ORTIZ ABUNDIO VELAZQUEZ VELAZQUEZ W. FARRELL FARRELL Soich 2877 yt I577 This phy Javrelt Borden Read's Read's manySoich 2877 brought were brought brought to HSKEHSKE . These were These of pert ee sjellow marked the are the ones oright's request with wich Ky ABUNDIO SERVACIO FLORES ' PILAR GARCIA ESPINO NICOLAS SANDOVAL LIMONES OLIVERIO RUBIO CASTRO GERMAN ARREDLA CORONA LORENZO MEZA CANTOR NOE RUBIO SUAREZ EZEQUIEL CANTOR RAMIREZ . ILDEFONSO RAMIREZ CERVANTES GILBERTO MORA MORA RUBEN PE^ A GOMEZ OSWALDO CASILLAS ORTIZ RAMON RAMOS VALENCIA JACINTO ISIDORO RAMOS veo FRANCISCO FRANCISCO DIAQUINO RAMOS {me JUAN MARES GUTIERREZ J. JESUS ANGUIANO MONTES EFREN HERNANDEZ HDEZ BENITO VICENTE HERNANDEZ ANTONIO PONCE DE LEON URIBE GREGORIO ESCOBAR RODRIGUEZ ANTONIO LAGUNA FLORES wade . JOSE HERNANDEZ VALLE MANUEL DE LOS SANTOS ASCENCIO Neinue ANTONIO ALDRETE MARTINEZ MIGUEL OLMEDO RODRIGUEZ JOSE GONZALEZ GLEZ FELIPE DE JESUS ALFARO AGUILAR Sr me me RET PI Emre AEE SRT OTN ee eee etree sees . ~~ eros ; i j . tei A ie ete ' 2 MARIO ALEJANDRO SEDANO SERRANO RODOLFO ENC150 GOMEZ FERNANDO FLORES CORONA FRANCISCO JAVIER ORTIZ CARRANZA SALVADOR AVI^ A SEGURA RAFAEL CASTRO RODRIGUEZ J. JESUS ESCOBAR RAMI RAMON BARRAGAN FRIAS JOSE ANGEL HERNANDEZ HDEZ JOSE PE^ A GOMEZ } . CAMILO SAYULA PEREZ FRANCISCO JAVIER VALADEZ MARTINEZ : JORGE LOPEZ SANCHEZ J. DOLORES FLORES CASTELLANOS MR C. SPHAR aint cl als RMN, 7 ners TE TIE me ne RAYMUNDO JARAMILLO LOPEZ - ^ JESUS VALLE CABRERA J. GUADALUPE MORALES BONALES JOSE GAMI^ O ORTEGA GREGORIO CRUZ DURAN The KAYS < ... < ... The < ... <... < ... < ...fl -y X 25 VICENTE NOGAL GERTRUDIS fi- ,, THIS FlickyFlicky T PEDRO VALADEZ MARTINEZ 2317 af THIS LUIS GUTIERREZ LOPEZ 2317 2317 ALMERIA 2317 JOSE NIEVES RODRIGUEZ er ALMERIA ALMERIA swum ROSENDO VERONICA LOMELI I pam. LUCIANO OCHOA DIAZ ALMEALMRERIAIA PEDRO BELTRAN ORTIZ FRANCISCO CONTRERAS DIAZ FRANCISCO JAVIER CORONA VERVERA U BONIFACIO RODRIGUEZ ORTIZ ALFONSO MARQUEZ MEDINA RUBEN MORALES BELTRAN MARCELINO SOLANO MEZA OSCAR JIMENEZ URZUA diate ILDEFONSO ILDEFONSO RAMIREZ CERVANTES te itnad tbidte ELIDIO CASTRO BEAS VICENTE OLMEDO HIDALGO u- PALEMON JUAREZ ZAMBRANO i MANUEL RAMIREZ TRUJILLO sebde. RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ MARTINEZ tponse MANUEL GUZMAN RODRIGUEZ Adhie JORGE OCHOA ZAMORA _" LAZARO GRACIANO HERNAND 2 NE RN Ae R QO E, E AF OTE wee we 2 JOSE LUIS DELGADELLO LOPEZ JAVIER EVANGELISTA LOPEZ ANTONIO OLMEDO URE^ A RODOLFO FLORES ESCOBAR PEDRO MENDO RAMOS PABLO TOSTADO VELASCO ARNULFO ARREOLA CORTES ROBERTO CASTILLO RIOS JOSE TRINIDAD AGUILAR SERAFIN TORRES SALDA^ A | ODILON RAMIREZ RAMIREZ RODRIGUEZ ? JUAN DIAZ CAMARENA ; fe JAVIER ESTRADA LEON AUSTREBERTO NU^ EZ FRIAS eshts CARLOS DE LOS SANTOS MAGALLANES any RAUL ESPARZA FLORES CARLOS DIAZ ORTIZ PEDRO CERVANTES CARRANZA 4 MARIANO ABEL GARCIA MACIEL PORFIRIO PONCE FLORES CAMILO CAJERO VALERIO , J. GUADALUPE NU^ EZ GONZALEZ RAFAEL GONZALEZ TORRES J. JESUS ARREOLA CORONA JOSE LUIS CASILLAS ORTIZ JESUS PRECIADO TOVAR ANDRES MARTINEZ JIMENEZ JIMENEZ J. FELIX SEVILLA ORTIZ <4 . Nee OE PRET TRI EN HT 3 JAVIER RAMIREZ CORTES - excellent excellent MR R. JOHANSON we ee ps ee ny, a peren e breneten woes GREGORIO PEREZ GAMBOA pe BENJAMIN RABALERO BARAJAS artes MARIO PEREZ BECERRA a team he JUAN LAUREANO VELAZQUEZ Sa pate: SABINO ZU^ IGAVELAZQUEZ Remini Re CARLOS BELECHE GONZALEZ 2. eres JOSE TORRES CISNEROS Be -- APOLINAR MEZA OCAMPO IGNACIO ZEPEDA GARCIA PATRICIO MENDOZA SERRANO CLAUDIO GOMEZ REYNAGA = SIGIFREDO CASTRO MARTINEZ RIGOBERTO GONZALEZ ARAMBURO JOSE LOPEZ NU^ EZ JUAN CARLOS PE^ AMAGALLANES FLORENTINO SOLIS HERNANDEZ J. ISABEL BARBOSA ESPARZA REFUGIO HORALES BONALES GUILLERMO LAUREANO VELAZQUEZ JOSE ORTEGA VERONICA J. JESUS BELTRAN ORTIZ RAFAEL PE^ AMAGALLANES JESUS MANUEL GARCIA VILLALOBOS JUAN TORRES AVILA MR W. FARRELL pete SOP pee here EL oS Newoin Al Sa - 2 et teal a, Whew ets. oe eee 1774547 1774547 MANNE cnet APR . - 77/8/97 77/8/97 rene ee ' TO V. R. DA'IL M.Dos 1-15 DENVER Be i DA'IL : . Rp Chr Bs 60452 3-14 DESPIER G. READ 3-14 DENIER : . GONZALEZ ALMERIA anys REINTELEX APRIL THE COPY OF YOUR 20 PER = ON 15 409IL AND THE ORIGINAL 474 WAS RECEIVED HERE LOCATED AT ALMERIA S.A. ON 17 om APRIL IT HAD BEEN SENT ENCLOSED IN A SEALED RAYS 40DRESSED TO CENTRAL DE ENVELOPE CONTAINING GJADALAJARA rea TO ANSWER YOUR DIAGNOSTICO TOLSA GJADALAJARA s ORIGINAL VIESTIAN RAYS OT GREGORIO P5952 ANDIO CERACI^ FLORES AND JOSE FELIK SEVILLA ARE BEING THIS WET evn TO * AND WILL BE SENT TO YOU IA U. AFTER HIS VISIT TO WEITZE MEN HE RETAKEVI RETURNS RETURNS MARALEZ ONALES AND IGNACIO ALMq ZEPFDA 1a12 MAY REPEATS GARCIA VILL NOT BE ON REFUGIO REFUGIO DONE 45 POTH YANE LEFT THE COMPANY I HAVE THOROUGHLY CONTENT OF YOUR HEMO WITH RIGO GONZALEZ ON 19 #STIFYED THE TOTAL YOU A CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL REPORT TODAY APR AND AM SENDING LISTED WITH COMMENTS COMMENTS ON 54CH EMPLOYER V. F4995LL 1778547 1778547 344445T : AL E x te Joqujka'ril e Joqujka'ril DUR AIL 1 a on ne me ee . Cameria Cameria 1. should note . folivises niche Me of cigarettes cigarettes 3. coortch historyon amaches : we PM Manville ce ete me me oe ee Internal Correspondence T Distribtuion below From W. B. Reitze 1-06 Copies Qute March 17 197A Subject INITIAL INDUSTRIAL HYGIENESURVEY HYGIENESURVEY - ALMERIA The attached report dealing with the Almeria location is explanatory I am sure all of us are aware of the conditions and this report comes as no great surprise In at Almeria some cases the cristobalite levels are 10 times the TLV Since engineer- ing stops are being taken to correct the conditions the only proposal that I would make is immediate action to institute ^ very rigid respiratory protective device program By separate oft Bs memo to Bill Farrell I will advise of a program to accomplish La this in a very short period of time Hopefully we will be able to furnish direct help in this matter ; Please keep us advised of the engineering progress We W. B. Reitze Attach Distribution 11. B. Moreno A. L. Cini G. Read W. Farrell A. T. Strochel K. A. Roberts G. L. Swallow 3-03 3-03 3-03 Mexico City 2-13 3-03 1-06 an ey Sa ere m Ce a ee ayeRi. PaRS re, epee noe + -_ tame Manville Internal Correspondence From G.L. Swallow - 1-06 WHQ Copies Ome March 15 1978 Subject INITIAL INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE survey ALMERIA MEXICO nee FEBRUARY 20 1978 nih abten s Attached is the numerical recap and all stations report a ne sentd giving the results of the Almeria Industrial Hygiene Survey conducted the week of February 20 1978. The eee Initial Survey established sampling stations at all oper- a ating dust noise and vapor locations at both the plant and the mine This survey established 20 dust including 3 asbestos 10 noise and 1 vapor station at the Almeria Operation DUST AND FIBER An important note must preclude the presentation of any data relative to dust exposures at the Almeria operation Just prior to our samplin2g4 hours the arca received a large amount of rain which tended to act as a dust suppressant Consequently the nations although they look to in fact be even larger magnitude of the determi- be somewhat large could ; In order to make you aware of the sampling techniques employed in this survey a brief review of the individual methods used is included . QUART AND CRISTOBALITE- Airborne quartz and cristobalite determinations are done to determine the amount of res- pirable particulate in the plant and mine atmosphere Determinations are done on both a personal and a station basis with primary emphasis on the personal sample The present analytical method enables us to qualitate and quantitate for quartz and cristobalite on the same sample which previously was not possible This sampling method gives very specific results relative to each individual contaminant as well as to the individual station FIBER- All fiber determinations at the Almeria operation Involved the use of chrysotile in the fibra flo product line Determinations were done in accordance with the NIOSH National Institute of Occupational Health Procedure CAM 239 Asbestos Fibers in Air This deter- mination visually counts the number of fibers greater SU a Raa tae Seed on ie ee eek tak es aha alt e Mb ANDRAR TRIAL DYGEENE DYGEENE : oRVaY ALECTAA LECTA HEX E^ O FIHKUARY 20 1978 PAGE TWO sme new an ow ll lent et ee er ae 8 at than 5 micronsters in length with a length ratio of 1 or greater in essence those respirable to width thought to be The status of a station over or under established standards is determined by comparison with the OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards These values are shown on the all stations report and indicated as TLV's Threshold Limit Value Prior to an depth discussion of individual station results I would like to draw your attention to the results of station 0-85 GENERAL ROOM SAMPLE BETWEEN KILNS Exposures to cristobalite are at approximately 501 of the TLV in this ambient location at the plant This is an extremely high level of cristobalite exposure in a working area The purpose of this termine the ambient dust concentration poor operating condition of the kilns sample was to decreated by the which includes the leaking seals and the emissions from the stacks This generally high background is present through- out the entire operation All surfaces are heavily covered with material from the stack emissions and the leaking kalns undoubtedly this is evidenced in the results of the occupational exposures The severity of the dust exposures at the Almeria operation is emphasized by the presence of large amounts of cristobalite in the final products Bulk respirable samples indicate 52 to 781 cristobalite content and 01 quartz content Respirable gravimetric samples indicate results averaging about 25 cristobalite and close - to 03 quartz These type of numbers are what would be expected in respirable gravimetric samples STATION 4W FIBRA FLO PACKER OPERATOR The results indicate an exposure to cristobalite exceeding the TLV bya factor of greater than 10 times Fortunately the exposure to asbestos fiber is minimal at this operation due to the low percentage of fiber in the product Sampling at this location involved the mixing bagqing and sewing operations The operation uses an open top mixer fed by an operator climbing a ladder with the bagged material on his shoulder bag filling done manually and lastly sewing of the bags also manually To eliminate the large exposures to cristobalite the following is recommended 1 If at all possible replace the entire operation : with a modern system designed to handle the product 2. If replacement is not possible A. Develop a feed system for the mixer B. Close the mixer to the ambient Air C. Install a packer D. Ventilate entire system Lee TIES RET TR OE HP aL Ae ... ... ...rt 2 aye, : a . SD eee rene Ne ere ace 30) sie) Oe, ae ow me ote INITIAL ALMERIA INDUSTRIAL MEXICO HYGIENE SURVEY ae FEBRUARY 20 1978 PAGE THREE e ee STATION 3D 1 MANUAL PACKER OPERATOR e The results at this station indicate an exposure to cristobalite exceeding the TLV by a factor of about 5 No ventilation control is in existance at this station e The operator manually hits the bag trying to compress the product to enable the proper weight filling this filing procedure creates large clouds of dust The bags are Aa then manually weighed and set aside for the sewing e operation This location should be supplied with ventilation control and packers to help eliminate the large exposures to dust emmen ameep STATIONS 4D & SD 12 PACKER OPERATOR AND TAKE OFF OPERATOR Results at these stations exceed the TLV for cristobalite by a factor of 1. This reduction in exposure is due in part to the presence of process ventilation Note that the exposure to the takeoff operator is consider- ably greater than that to the packer operator The takeoff man physically seem to have a much larger con tact with the bags and tends to throw them onto pallets creating large clouds of dust in the process Although capture velocities averaged 300 fpm which is rela- tively good they were insufficient at the packer oper- fr ation The takeoff operation exposure seems to come from the bags themselves The throwing of the bags to the pallets creates excessive amounts of dust Elimi- nation of these problems may be accomplished by a close inspection of the filling valve on the bags and also a new loading procedure for the palletizing STATION 15 WAREHOUSE LOADER - UNLOADER The results at this station exceed the TLV for cristobalite by a factor of greater than 10. Asbestos in exposure was minimal Again this operation the op- erator has a large amount of contact with the bagged material Loading and unloading of bagged material involves a lot of throwing of the bags This throwing creates large amounts of dust I think the valve on the bags leaks more than should be expected and should be investigated for possible modification or replacement The work routine could also be altered to eliminate the throwing of bagged material Berta tale ee we ee te ge te Ne a ee eo INITIAL INITIAL INDUSTRIAL ALMERTA ALMERTA MEXICO MEXICO FEBRUARY 20 1978 HYGIENE SURVEY PAGE FOUR STATION 5S QUALITY CONTROL OPERATOR These results barely excceded the TLV for cristobablite but still they did exceed the standard The operator's exposure could come from either the plant or the quality control laboratory Considerable amounts of material were noted in the ventilation duct in the laboratory I think the laboratory handling of samples in the dry state should be closely looked at The addition of adequate ventilation control at key operations in the laboratory would help eliminate exposures to toxic materials Note that the exposures at the mine were well within the TLV's I think that again it should be noted that the - conditions at the mine may be somewhat atypical due to the rain previously mentioned The raw diatomaceous earth has a crystalline very low toxicity material this in due to the absence of any turn results in a rather high TLV vor Also please note of the remaining 14 stations not ye specifically mentioned 6 exhibited exposures approaching the TLV NOISE rT As stated before ten noise stations were established at the Almeria operation Four of these ten stations exceeded safe exposure limits Noise sampling takes into consideration the cumulative exposures of an individual throughout his work outine Consequently a station is not judged to be over by a single determination but by a series of determinations taken either at given intervals throughout the work routing or taken continuously At this point our suggestion is to equip and make man- 1w vv datory the wearing of ear protection at stations 1 CRUSHER OPERATOR 3W FIBRA FLO PACKER OPERATOR 3D 2 PACKER OPERATOR AND 1M TRACTOR OPERATOR at the mine SAREE oe eet ES a hat os Ree LL Seat onl tata nPer PS Ril aes ee a et tr ee ee PO INITIAL INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SURVEY ALMERTA MEXICO FEBRUARY 20 1978 as PAGE FIVE a FUME VAPOR ee na The two stations established for for determination of Carbon Monoxide exposure in the warehouse operation indicated that exposures were very minimal less than 51 of TLV resulting in no hazardous exposures st GENERAL REVIEW REVI REVIEE W REW VIEW As an immediate action I suggest that you develop a comprehensive respirator program Several instances noted where operators were wearing handkerchiefs for were respiratory protection The establishment of this this will help in protecting our plant workers until we design and install engineering controls program can I believe the cleaning up of the Almeria best be begun with the stack emissions dueopetroattiheon fc acatn that this source is contaminating the work environment severly The second area of concern should be the Fibra Flo operation The antiquity of the methods used to duce this product is shocking pro- I think lastly and possi- bly the area which may eventually protect more employees is the design and installation of local ventilation to service the major operations within the plant In conclusion I think that the International Division should take a very thorough environmental look at the Almeria Location develop priorities emission Fibra Flo operation Local Ventilation and some type of time table for implementation G.L. Swallow ey awe eee a : an ~ 2 st ee JOHN OF NVELIK NVELIK AL HYG11 E SURVEY _.- JUMBARE LANT _ALMENTA IVISION ANTERGATIONAL ANTERGATIONAL LANT MANAGER ARMADURO TIGOBERTO TIGOBERTO ARMADURO GONZALES DATE MANUFACTURING MANAGER MARCH 1978 SURVEY DATE _FEBRUARY _FEBRUARY 20 1978 PERSONAL SAMPLES 4. These stations represent PERSONAL exposures which EXCEED the OSHA 18_ 210 : STANDARDS 2-40 5D 55_ , : IW 3W 3D IM ; B. SAMPLING STATIONS i Dust Om Asbestos Only er ; Noisc ae Fume Vapor ; TOTALS . ESTABLISHE 20 3 10 l 31 SAMPLED 19 2 , 10 I 30 EXCEED OSHA STDS 6 0 4 0 er 10 2 - AREA SAMPLES A. These stations represent AREAS in which levels of hazardous substances ad or physical agents EXCEED the STANDARDS Bt NONE talest tat as B. SAMPLING STATIONS j . ESTABLISHED - SAMPLED ' EXCEED STANDARDS Dust Asbestos Area Asbestos Colicctor a 4 is) 0 , 9 0 4 Noise j Vapor i 1 0 1 1 0 Ionizing Audit Radiation - - - Ionizing Radiation ' - - Other - - - TOTALS Christo 6 6 0 D.R. D.R. D.R. Christo Industrial Christo / <n ban. Hygiene Supervisor 4 Manager OEC , riginating Field Laboratory . 4 i aca. . F tt INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIAL HIGEGNE HIGEGNE SURVEY ALL STATIONS REPORT DIVERTON DIVERTON INTERNATIONA 0L PLANT ALMERIA SURVEY DATE 2/20/78 OCCUPATIONDUASLT STATION : NUMBER a STATION DESCRIPTION wae 1W ! # Crusher Operator , 2W 2 Crusher Operator 3W Soda Ash Feeder 4W 5 0-10 } Fibra Flo Packer Operator , 1 Packer Operator : . * HAZARD TLV CURRENT SURVEY RESULT ug Quartz & Quartz Crist ...g Quartz % Quartz gCrist % Crist g Quartz % Quartz ug Crist Crist gQuartz % Quartz ug Crist Crist Asbestos Asbestos ...gQuartz % Quartz gCrist % Crist 100.0 5.0 50.0 100.0 1.43 50.0 2.50 100.0 > 1.43 50.0 0.41 100.00 5.00 50.00 0.19 2.0 _ 2.0 100.00 5.00 50.00 0.44 0.0 AG 0.85 mg pw 0.0 ya/t 16.8 = ug 0.38 mg 1.7 g 0.38 mg | 15.1 0 Ag 0.28 mg 28.7 0.28 0.0 2.34 g | mg Ng mg 580.24 m g 2.34 mg ~ 0.1 CC 0.1 C 0.0 0.39 41.0 0.39 g m ...g m Crist = CRISTOBALITE 2 ONO - DID NOT OPERATE { ==>- ABOVE TLV - * , - PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT NOT WORN WHERE REQUINED } TWA - PEAK EXPOSURE TWA = WEIGHTED ere eet NN 0 ne . asides bd _ : Ren Sap , INDUSTRIAL RYGLENE SURVEY ALI STATIONS REPORT DIVISION INTERNATIONAL PLANT __ALMERIA SURVEY DATE 78_ STATION NUMBER STATION ESCRIPTION BAZARD TLV f CURRENT SURVEY RESULT 2D # Packer Take Operator g Quartz % Quartz 100.0 5.0 m F 0.0 g 1.41 M 0-30 # Manual Packer Operator g Crist Fines gQuartz % Quartz 50.0 0.0 10 1 100.0 28.9 g a > 1.67 0.76 m 4V 2 Packer Operator : g Crist % Crist 50.0 228.3 g 0.16 0.76 nig = g gQuartz 100.0 18.0 j 50 2 Packer Take | Operator Ag Crist ...gQuartz 50.0 100.0 57.7 g ; 60.7 Jig 13 > Warehouse Unloader gCrist Ag Quartz * Quartz 50.0 100.0 5.0 102.5 ...g q 0.0 g 0.69 m PG Crist $ Crist Asbestos 50.0 0.05 2.0 210.1 ...g 0.63 m 0.1 CC Crist = CRISTOBALITE CRISTOBALITE DNO - ==> - () WA + DID NOT OPERATE ABOVE TLV PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT PEAK EXPOSURE WEIGHTED AVERAGE NOT WORN wilere : REQUIRED Lege tA + STS Tee an ON ETO SIN I Ve GSN: He ete har rs aan ames + ein. e eoe tes: erate: STATION 90 NUMBER PAGE INDERSTRIAL HYGEKHI HYGEKHI SURVEY ALL STATIONS REPORT PLANT ALMERIA SURVEY DATE 2/20/78 STATION STATION DESCRIPTION DESCRIPTION HAZARD TLV CURRENT SURVEY RESULT 0-2 3S 4S 5S 65 0-75 Warehouse Fork Lift Operator Cleaner Sweeper Operator Maintenance Man - In Shop Hand Quality Control Operator . General General Control Room Sample Room Quality General Room Sample Warehouse ...gQuartz Quartz 100.0 1.0 pg Crist 50.0 x Crist 0.24 DID NOT SAMPLE g Quartz *% Quartz 100.0 0.77 gCrist ...g Quartz * Quartz 50.0 100.0 2.50 Ng Crist x Crist 50.0 0.81 Ng Quartz x Quartz 100.0 5.0 Ng Crist NO Quartz & Quartz 50.0 100.0 0.83 Ng Crist 50.0 17.5 g 0.22 m 43.6 19/143 0.22 M g 19.3 0.17 mg 0.0 g 21.4 ...g 0.98 m 24.5 ...g 0.98 mg 0.0 m 0.09 M 0.0 g 19.3 g 0.20 12/13 0.0 12/13 CRIST = OCRBISATL OBI ALTITEE NO - DID NOT OPERATE => - AROVE FLY - PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT - PEAK EXPOSURE - WEIGHTED NOT WORN WHERE REQUIRED 5 ON orn OER at REET oo. 7  Iowa of u 01 . INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SURVEY ALL STATIONS REPORT DIVISION INTERNATIONAL PLANT ALMERIA OCCUPATIONAL DUST STATION NUMBER _STATION_DESCRIPTION _STATION_DESCRIPTION _STATION_DESCRIPTION 85 ~ General Kilns Room Sample Between 95 Mill Foreman 10S 1M General Room Sample Employee Office 1 Tractor Operator Mine 1M 2 Tractor Operator.Mine HAZARD ...g Quartz $ Quartz g Crist % Crist ...g Quartz g Crist pg Quartz ...g Crist gQuartz & Quartz gCrist gQuartz * Quartz Ag Crist SURVEY DATE 2/20/78 TLV CURRENT SURVEY RESULT 100.0 5.0 50.0 2.22 100.0 50.0 100.0 50.0 100.0 > 2.0 50.0 100.0 5.0 50.0 0.0 19/13 0.93 m 11.7 m 0.93 mg 38.7 g 11.6 14 17.9 g 0.0 g 27.8 ...g .- 0.81 mg ; 0.0 0.0 m g 0.89 m 0.0 M Crist = CRISTOBALITE es DNO = ^ I^ NOT OPERATE = - ABOVE TLV eg * = PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPment not WORN WILENE REQUIRED - PEAK EXPOSURE TWA - WEIGHTED ea, dee N Lee OE OS CATR SIY: awe e Ae LOS ~~: ee ean Se ete, apie - eeenem, a cd Ghee ae meen on PAGE 1 R tHe DIVISION | INTERNATIONAL INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SURVEY ALL STATIONS REPORT PLANT | ALMERIA SURVEY DATE 2/20/78 OCCUPATIONAL DUST STATION NUMBER STATION_DESCRIPTION STATION_DESCRIPTION j 2M Mine Helper #l i \ i $ 3M 4 4M Mine Helper 2 : Mine Foreman , . Oo an Driver Truck oO Contractors # . # Truck Driver Contractors ] HAZARD TLV CURRENT SURVEY RESULT gQuartz X Quartz g Crist ...g Quartz x Quartz pg Crist Hg Quartz x Quartz g Crist gQuartz ^ Quartz pg Crist g Quartz * Quartz g Crist 100.0 2.50 50.0 100.0 0.40 50.0 100.0 0.30 50.0 100.0 5.0 50.0 100.0 0.91 50.0 27.9 m 1.19 m 0.0 30.1 m m 0.14 mg 0.0 g 27.9 ...g 0.09 mg 0.0 11 0.0 g 0.63 m 0.0 19/13 39.2 g 0.42 M 0.0 g Crist = CRISTOBALITE UNO - DID NOT OPERATE toe THA ANOVE TLV PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT PEAK EXPOSURE NEIGNITED NOT WORN WHERE WHERE REQUIRED Baaoned ee cane INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIAL INDUSTRIAL HYGEFDE HYGEFDE SURVEY ALL STATIONS REPORT AIVISION AIVISION INTERNATIONAL 2 PLANT ALMERIA SURVEY DATE 2/20/78 NOISE TATTON TATTON TUMBLR ee tbe swe 1W > 2W STATION DESCRIPTION 1 1 Crusher Operator 1 2 Crusher Operator Fibra Flo Packer Operator # 1 Packer Operator # 1 Packer Take Operator # 2 Packer Operator Warehouse Truck Driver General Room Sample. Warehouse Maintenance Man In Shop Tractor Operator Mine Foreman. HAZARD Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise Noise TLV SURVEY RITMIT DOSTETTR_CALC___ DOSTETTR_CALC___ DOSTET R_CALC_ _ DOSTETTR_CALC___ DOSTETTR_CALC___ RANGE READING THA QUA 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.89 1.0 88 0.35 1.0 85 1.40 2.0 99 ~-- < 1.0 88 ~~ 1.0 86 0.49 1.30 92 0.20 < 1.0 79 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 -- <1.0 79 -- 1.0 88 1.85 1.33 92 0.00 1.0 += satas natefre NO- CS- - DID NOT OPERATE ABOVE TIV PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT NOT WORN WHERE REQUIRED RE 4 Rate Rett A Rat bral Stacia A ed eR OY 18, aE yey st Fe os Seaeattcmmecand . - . San pay DIVISION INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL PAGE PAGE OF 18 INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE SURVEY ALL STATIONS REPORT j ALMERIA PLANT _ ALMERIA SURVEY DATE 2/20/38 j STATION SUMBER ls STAION_DESCRIPTION STATION_DESCRIPTION STATION_DESCRIPTION General Room Sample- - Warehouse Inside HAZARD TLV CURRENT SURVEY RESULT c.o. 50 0.0 PPM 5.0 PPM 0.0 PPM TWA 1.7 PPM j 5 : ; : 25 Warehouse Lift Operator C.O. 50 0.0 PPM : 4 0.0 PPM , 5.0 PPM L TWA 1.7 PPM C.O. Carbon Monoxide NO - DID NOT OPERATE > - * - ABOVE TLV PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT ( - PEAK EXPOSURE THA WEIGIITED NOT WORN WHERE REQUIRED PE OT oe wr rows oa BROS Al osealahleas3 wiA fBeE yaE T ek iS Bw vere wee ree