The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced the beginning of the public comment period on the 27 chemicals listed below. These chemicals will be discussed at the next meeting of the Proposition 65 Carcinogen Identification Committee (CIC). The CIC is the state’s qualified experts on carcinogenicity for purposes of the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65). The CIC’s next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, September 21 and 22, 2010, when the CIC will provide OEHHA with advice on the prioritization of these chemicals for possible preparation of hazard identification materials. At a later date, OEHHA will select chemicals for preparation of hazard identification materials and announce those decisions in a separate notice. No listing decisions will be made for these chemicals at the September 21 and 22 meetings.
OEHHA has screened several hundred chemicals in the OEHHA tracking database for evidence of cancer hazard as well as potential human exposure in California.
OEHHA applied both a human and animal data screen to roughly 75% of the candidate chemicals in the tracking database. These screens were discussed at the November 17, 2007 and November 5, 2008 meetings of the CIC. OEHHA conducted a preliminary toxicological evaluation for the chemicals that passed the two screens. Based on this preliminary evaluation, OEHHA identified the 27 chemicals listed below for committee discussion, advice, and possible preparation of hazard identification materials for consideration at future CIC meetings. The 27 chemicals are:
The CIC meeting will be held in the Sierra Hearing Room at the Cal/EPA Headquarters building, 1001 I Street in Sacramento, California. The meeting will begin each day at 10:00 a.m. and will last until 5:00 p.m. on September 21, and until all business is conducted or until 5:00 p.m. on September 22. The agenda for the two-day meeting will be provided in a future public notice published in advance of the meeting.
Copies of the summaries of available scientific information on the chemicals and related attachments are available from OEHHA or may be requested by calling 916-445-6900.
Advertising Opportunities Available
Environmental Resource Center is making a limited number of advertising positions available in the Safety Tip of the Week™, the Environmental Tip of the Week™, and the Reg of the Day™.
Antimicrobial Pesticide-Related Illnesses Among Workers in Healthcare Facilities
According to NIOSH, occupational exposures to antimicrobial pesticides are known to cause adverse health effects. CDC analyzed 2002-2007 data from pesticide poisoning surveillance programs in California, Louisiana, Michigan, and Texas—the only four states that regularly collect data on antimicrobial pesticide-related illness.
Imperial Sugar to Pay over $6 Million for Safety Violations
OSHA announced it has resolved litigation with Imperial Sugar Co., stemming from the February 2008 explosion at its Port Wentworth, Georgia, plant and subsequently discovered safety and health violations at the company’s Gramercy, Louisiana, facility.
“The 2008 explosion took the lives of 14 people and seriously injured dozens of others. Clearly, health and safety must become this company’s top priority,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “This agreement requires Imperial Sugar to make extensive changes to its safety practices, and it underscores the importance of proactively addressing workplace safety and health hazards.”
In the agreement, submitted to Judge Covette Rooney of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, Imperial Sugar will pay $4,050,000 in penalties for the 124 violations found at its Port Wentworth plant after the explosion, plus an additional $2 million for the 97 violations found in March 2008 after an inspection of its only other facility, located in Gramercy. The citations alleged, among other safety and health hazards, that the company failed to properly address combustible dust hazards.
As part of the settlement, Imperial Sugar agrees that it has corrected all deficiencies at both of its plants or will correct those deficiencies according to a set schedule. Preventative maintenance and housekeeping programs have been established, and Imperial Sugar will identify and map locations where combustible dust may be present at its plants. The company also will conduct regular internal safety inspections and employee training, and hire an independent expert at each plant to ensure that there are adequate avenues of communication on worker safety and health issues within the company.
Furthermore, Imperial Sugar has hired and agrees to continue to employ a full-time certified safety professional for the Georgia plant. The company will retain outside consultants to conduct safety audits for a three-year period and evaluate Imperial’s programs relating to managing combustible dust hazards, such as housekeeping, preventative maintenance, and protective equipment for workers. OSHA will approve all safety, health, and organizational experts retained by the company.
OSHA will receive current and accurate injury logs whenever requested, and OSHA will be allowed to enter the facility and conduct inspections based on those logs without objection from the company. OSHA will also regularly monitor progress and compliance with the agreement and will continue to conduct regular inspections of the facility.
OSHA Assistant Secretary Concerned Some Oil Spill Workers not Receiving Proper Training
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels issued the following statement regarding training for Gulf Coast oil spill clean-up:
Employees hired to be supervisors in the onshore and marine cleanup are required to receive extensive training. A rigorous 40-hour program is required under OSHA’s Hazardous Waste Operation and Emergency Response Standard.
In order to meet the certifications of this 40-hour training, a combination of classroom and hands-on, applicable experience is required. This includes instruction on the makeup and risks associated with the hazardous material(s) involved, and experience with the equipment needed for the work, safety gear and local environment.
We have received reports that some are offering this training in significantly less than 40 hours, showing video presentations and offering only limited instruction. This training cannot be shortened to anything less than 40 hours. However, such training alone does not meet the full course requirements.
OSHA also recommends that the trainer-to-student ratio for this type of training be one trainer for every 30 students in the class.
If a worker feels the training he or she received by a private company or organization does not meet the HAZWOPER training requirements, he or she may contact the closest OSHA area office to file a complaint or call 800-321-OSHA (6742) for more information.”
Research Recommendations for Selected IARC-Classified Agents
. A recent peer-reviewed article from researchers at NIOSH, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the American Cancer Society, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the National Cancer Institute summarizes recommendations for twenty of these agents and addresses some overarching topics pertaining to several agents or categories of agents.
California to Modify Cadmium Proposition 65 Listing
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is proposing to add a qualifier “oral” to a specific regulatory level having no observable effect for cadmium and amend Title 27, California Code of Regulations, Section 25805.
The maximum allowable dose level of 4.1 micrograms per day for cadmium was first adopted in Title 27, California Code of Regulations, Section 25805, on August 19, 2002. The level was derived based on a risk assessment document entitled, “Proposition 65 Maximum Allowable Dose Level (MADL) for Reproductive Toxicity for Cadmium (Oral Route) (May 2001),” which is part of the rulemaking file. The level was inadvertently adopted without the qualifier “(oral).” OEHHA is proposing to add the qualifying term, “oral” to the level to clarify that the adopted MADL of 4.1 micrograms per day for cadmium was and continues to be specific for the oral route of exposure.
OSHA Cites Enbridge G&P Following Worker Fatality from Release of Hydrogen Sulfide
OSHA cited Enbridge G&P (East Texas) LP with two alleged willful and five alleged serious violations following a chemical release at the company’s Bryans Mill plant in Douglasville, which resulted in a worker’s death. OSHA has assessed penalties totaling $152,100.
“Employees working around hazardous materials must be assured of a safe and healthful environment,” said Stephen Boyd, OSHA’s area director in Dallas, Texas. “If this employer had developed and implemented safe work practices, as required by OSHA standards, it is possible this tragic incident could have been avoided.”
OSHA began its investigation on January 10 following the fatality that occurred when four workers were replacing a faulty valve on the waste heat boiler in the sulfur plant. One employee died and another was left in critical condition when hydrogen sulfide was released from the boiler.
The willful violations were issued for failing to develop and implement safe work practices for workers who process equipment or piping or who are exposed to airborne concentrations of hydrogen sulfide in excess of 50 ppm, and for failing to provide workers with the required personal protective equipment. In this case, the company did not provide respirators. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing, or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
Alleged serious violations include failing to review current operating procedures; failing to inform contract workers of the known potential fire, explosion, or toxic release hazards related to the contractor’s work; and failing to use flame resistant clothing when breaking lines, valves, and/or opening equipment. A serious violation is one in which there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Xpect Discounts Fined $140,700 for Repeat and Serious Violations
OSHA cited Marc Glassman Inc., doing business as Xpect Discounts, for alleged repeat and serious safety hazards identified during OSHA inspections at four locations in North Haven, East Haven, and Derby, Connecticut. The Cleveland, Ohio-based retailer faces a total of $140,700 in proposed fines.
“Our inspections found that the employer did not assess workplace hazards at these locations to determine what types of personal protective equipment its workers would need, failed to provide adequate forklift operator training and allowed defective forklifts to stay in service, exposing employees to crushing or struck-by hazards. The employer also failed to maintain or certify illness and injury logs, which are a critical tool in identifying underlying workplace hazards,” said Robert Kowalski, OSHA’s area director in Bridgeport. “The sizable fines proposed here reflect the gravity and recurring nature of these hazards.”
The citations chiefly address Xpect Discounts’ failure to conduct workplace hazard assessments at its North Haven warehouse and North Haven and East Haven retail stores; inadequate personal protective equipment at both North Haven locations; defective powered industrial trucks at the North Haven warehouse and East Haven store; inadequate forklift operator training at the North Haven and East Haven stores; electrical hazards and lack of an emergency eyewash and fire extinguisher training at the North Haven warehouse; and incomplete or uncertified injury and illness logs at all four locations.
All told, the inspections resulted in seven repeat citations with $95,200 in proposed fines, 13 serious citations with $38,500 in fines, and 10 other-than-serious citations with $7,000 in fines. The repeat citations stem from similar hazards cited during previous OSHA inspections at the North Haven warehouse and an Xpect facility in Garfield Heights, Ohio.
2009 EU-OSHA Annual Report: Spending on Health and Safety is an Investment Not a Cost
“Spending on workplace health and safety should be seen as an investment and not a cost,” according to the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). With 80% of European managers reporting workplace accidents as the main concern, we cannot afford to make cuts in workplace health and safety.”
The 2009 Annual Report acknowledges that the year was a difficult one throughout Europe, with many economies struggling to emerge from recession, and with unemployment rates rising. EU-OSHA has seen increases in many of the health and safety problems that affect European workers, as they have to absorb the work previously done by workers who have been made redundant, and as they suffer from greater stress. In fact, findings from the recent ESENER survey show that 52% of managers in Europe think that time pressure contributes to psychosocial risks in their company. Other influencing factors are job insecurity (26%) and long working hours (21%).
Workers are also facing the growing risk that long-term absence from work will result in them never getting back into employment. According to Jukka Takala, “the more enlightened employers have been introducing more part-time work and job rotation, to try to avoid redundancies among their workforce while still reducing their wage bills—they realize that retaining their experienced staff is an investment for the next upturn.”
Against the background of economic uncertainty, EU-OSHA has continued to emphasize the importance of health and safety for successful organizations. Main projects in 2009 include:
- The European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER), which provides real-time data from organizations around Europe on the work that they are doing to tackle occupational safety and health risks, and especially psychosocial risks.
- The two-day summit that brought to a close EU-OSHA’s campaign on Risk Assessment (which is the cornerstone of health and safety management). EU-OSHA’s two-year Healthy Workplaces Campaigns are now the largest of their kind in the world.
- A pan-European opinion poll on occupational safety and health, aiming to find out what European workers think about their working conditions.
- A Europe-wide photography competition to promote health and safety at work, which received over 1,600 entries.
- EU-OSHA’s support for the Healthy Workplaces Film Award at the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film.
Looking ahead, much of the Agency’s work will be focused on organizing the Healthy Workplaces Campaign on Safe Maintenance, which will continue into 2011.
Job Exposure Database for the Utilities Industry
NIOSH and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) held a workshop in February to plan the development of a job exposure database for the utilities industry. The NIOSH-developed Integrated Hazard Exposure Database will serve as the foundation for the proposed industry-specific database. The combination of an EPRI project ) and the NIOSH work helps implement the National Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities Agenda in the utilities industry. Contact the NORA Coordinator for more information.
OSHA Files Worker Safety Complaint against USPS
OSHA filed a complaint against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for electrical work safety violations. The complaint, which asks the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to order USPS to correct electrical violations at 350 facilities, marks the first time the department has sought enterprise-wide relief as a remedy.
The request for enterprise-wide relief is based upon the discovery of numerous, similar electrical work safety violations in the course of investigations conducted by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration of USPS mail processing and distribution facilities across the country. These violations increase the risk of injury from electrical shock, including electrocution. While this complaint arises from violations discovered in the Providence, Rhode Island, facility, the requested remedy would apply to all 350 USPS processing and distribution centers, all of which contain similar equipment.
“When the same safety violation is discovered in multiple locations of an organization, we need an enterprise-wide remedy to protect workers from the hazard,” said Solicitor of Labor M. Patricia Smith. “The Department of Labor will seek other opportunities to utilize this remedy.”
OSHA’s inspections have revealed numerous violations of similar worker safety standards at USPS facilities throughout the nation. The complaint alleges that USPS’s actions demonstrate an enterprise-wide policy that resulted in ongoing systemic electrical work safety violations. USPS failed to adequately train workers in recognizing electrical hazards and how to work safely around such hazards, and did not provide workers with the appropriate tools and personal protective equipment to avoid injury or death while working around and on electrical equipment. The complaint also seeks $558,000 for the eight willful and four serious violations discovered in Rhode Island.
“Even though it was aware of the hazards, USPS failed to institute the necessary measures to protect its workers,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Dr. David Michaels. “The complaint filed today seeks to put a stop to this irresponsible behavior.”
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