OSHA Respirator Safety Video

This Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Respirator Safety Video is a very good introductory video on respirator donning and doffing.  Probably will add this to our training classes since it is a very good entry level and refresher video.  The video is available in spanish, too.

Related articles

• OSHA Log Form 300A Posting Due February 1, 2011. (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• N95 Respirators and Surgical Masks (cdc.gov)
• Importance of Personal Protective Equipment (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• OSHA Construction Safety Video: OSHA Fall Protection Standards (ehssafetynews.wordpress.com)

Condo Covered In Asbestos Dust in Virginia Beach, VA



Asbestos Pipe Insulation in a Crawl Space

 This news report and video from WAVY-TV10 In Virginia Beach, VA illustrates the importance of knowing what materials contain asbestos before performing any work in an area where the materials are suspected of containing asbestos.  A Virginia Beach family moves out of their condo after building maintenance activities may have caused the release of asbestos.  After the owners of the condo discovered that building maintenance activites had left a fine dust behind, they had the dust tested and the laboratory tests indicated the dust was asbestos dust.  It would be interesting to determine the procedures used since sampling dust is still a controversial issue in the asbestos industry.  The collection of the dust should follow the American Society of Testing Material (ASTM) Standard D5755-09 or D5756-02(2008).  However, what do you compare the results to?  The neither ASTM standard set a level for safety.  There is currently no standard under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for a safe level of asbestos dust.  Some laboratories will give you guidelines, again these are not standards or regulations.  In addition, there are few published studies on what would be a safe level.  Is there a safe level or is the presence of any asbestos dust mean that the area is contaminated and hence it is a danger.  Most asbestos inspectors probably would say that any asbestos dust makes the area unsafe and hence the area is contaminated.  Meaning some type of removal/cleanup is necessary.  Which brings up the next question how clean is clean and can you clean porous items?  According to New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL) Industrial Code Rule 56 (ICR56), the asbestos regulation governing NYS, porous items would need to be cleaned and disposed of as asbestos containing materials.  Asbestos dust sampling is one of the most difficult issues to deal with in the asbestos industry, I don't envy the Virginia Beach condo association trying to deal with this issue.

Related articles

• In a Town Called Asbestos, a Plan to Restart the Industry That Made It Prosperous (nytimes.com)
• How is asbestos dangous (wiki.answers.com)
• Come clean on asbestos in classroom (mirror.co.uk)
• Que. group slams asbestos exports (cbc.ca)
• Teachers may strike over asbestos find (news.theage.com.au)
• Asbestos Controversy in Troy New York. (futureenv.blogspot.com)

NIOSH Seeking Comments On The Draft Recommendations For Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance

Image via WikipediaThe National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) today invited public comment on a draft document titled, "Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance."  This document was developed by a consortium of federal agencies, state health departments, and volunteer organizations, headed by the NIOSH with the goal of proposing a more comprehensive and systematic approach to worker safety and health for all emergency responders.

The set of guidelines and recommendations described in the document is the result of the collaborative efforts of the workgroup.  When final, it is expected that this document will serve as an interagency resource that is intended for review and possible publication by the National Response Team. 

"The gaps in our ability to ensure the safety and health of all workers involved in large scale and complex emergency responses have been documented through our responses to the World Trade Center disaster, Hurricane Katrina, and most recently, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill," said NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D.  "This document is the result of our shared learning from these events and our combined commitment to protect those workers who respond in times of need."

This draft document proposes a new framework for ensuring responder safety and health by monitoring and conducting surveillance of their health and safety during the entire cycle of emergency response, including the pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment phases of a response.  The proposed system is referred to as the "Emergency Responder Health Monitoring and Surveillance (ERHMS)" system, and includes a guidance section describing the principles involved in ensuring optimal responder safety and health, as well as tools which can be utilized to help facilitate the execution of these principles during an actual response.

The draft document is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docket/review/docket223/ for written public comment until April 4, 2011.

Related articles

• NIOSH's Role in the Deepwater Horizon Response (cdc.gov)
• NIOSH Seeks Input on Direct Reading Exposure Assessment Methods (D.R.E.A.M.) Workshop (cdc.gov)
• The Business Case for Safety and Health (cdc.gov)
• Making the Business Case for Prevention through Design (cdc.gov)

Save The Date For PACNY's 15th Annual Environmental Conference

Image via Wikipedia

Table-level view of Live Poker at Turning Stone.

The Professional Abatement Contractors of New York (PACNY) has announced a save the date of March 10th & 11th, 2011 at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, NY for their 15th Annual Environmental Conference.  Visit their website at: http://www.pacny.org/conferences.asp for conference and sponsorship information.  This annual event is always a pleasure to start the year off.  See our previous posts regarding our attendance at past events.  We look forward to seeing you there.
2010 Environmental Conference
2009 Environmental Conference
2008 Environmental Conference

EPA & GE Agree On Next Phase of Hudson River PCB Cleanup



Image via Wikipedia

Dredging Boat in Bangladesh

On December 17, 2010, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented General Electric (GE) with the requirements for the next phase of the cleanup of the Hudson River.  The second phase of the cleanup should begin in May 2011.  This second phase would require GE to remove far more contaminated sediment from the river before sealing or "capping" any remaining polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).  On December 23, 2010, EPA commended GE for agreeing to conduct the second and final phase of the Hudson River cleanup .
In the first phase of the cleanup, nearly 37% of the area was capped due to the continued presence of contamination, despite multiple dredging passes that removed the great majority of the PCBs.  Capping in 15% percent of the area was unavoidable because of physical barriers in the river, leaving 22% percent capped in areas without these barriers.  While fish and other aquatic life are not exposed to the contamination in the capped areas, the EPA has determined that it is necessary in Phase 2 to set a stringent limit on what percentage of the total project area can be capped if dredging does not meet the cleanup goals.  This limit will be set at 11% of the total project area, not counting those areas where capping is unavoidable.  This limit represents a significant improvement from Phase 1 and will require GE to employ considerably more rigorous dredging procedures.

Dredging during the second phase will go deeper into the sediment and, by relying on better information and lessons learned during the first phase, will remove more contaminated sediment in fewer passes.  Phase two will require GE to remove an estimated 95 percent or more of PCBs from the areas designated for dredging.

Related articles

• GE Hudson Cleanup Must Release Fewer Toxins, EPA Says (businessweek.com)
• Green: River Advocates Fret That PCBs Will Linger in Hudson (green.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Rules Tightened for GE's Hudson River Cleanup (online.wsj.com)
• EPA Issues New PCB Hudson River Dredging Rules For GE (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• E.P.A. Sets Tighter Rules for Hudson River Cleanup (nytimes.com)
• Timesunion.com: PCB rules tighten for GE (timesunion.com)
• Time for GE to Cut the Spin, Commit to a Full Cleanup of Its Toxic PCBs from the Hudson River (switchboard.nrdc.org)

Big Businesses Causing More Problems For The Economy.




Like water flows, a business' cash must also flow steady & strong

 The New York Times article "Big-Business Deadbeats" highlights one of the biggest problems with the economy that, as far as I am concerned, is not reported about enough.

The article discusses how Cisco Systems announced..."effective March 31, 2010, Cisco announced to its small business suppliers that as a rule Cisco would wait sixty days after receipt of an invoice — or net 60, in business jargon — before cutting a check. The reason Cisco gave for this new policy was not that it was hard up: the company has nearly $39 billion of cash on its balance sheet, and in the third quarter of 2010 alone it spent $2.7 billion to repurchase its own shares. Rather, the corporation explained that it had been “benchmarking against our technology peers” and found a precedent for “new payment terms.” In other words: Everyone is doing it, so we are too."

As a small business owner myself, the issue of payment terms and how it efffects our cash flow cannot be emphasized enough.  In the consulting business the time it takes to get paid is the hardest part of being in business.  You perform a service and then have to wait 45 to 60 to 120 days to be paid for that service.  During that period of time you had to pay your employees, if you got good terms you may have had to pay your suppliers and the overhead (phones, office space, etc.) is owed every month on the dot.  How do you pay for all of these things without payment from the client?  Which brings me to the second biggest problem with the economy - the lack of small business loans to handle this cash flow crunch.  The big banks got a bail-out but they were not forced to maintain the credit lines to the small business owners that were running their business on these credit lines.  Many of these credit lines were closed and shut down forcing businesses to use non-traditional sources as their credit lines (credit cards with high interest rates, etc.).  I am not an economist, but in running my business if I don't have the flexibility to smoothen out the cash flow problems I face, then I can not hire someone even if I need to hire someone.  If the government wants small businesses to start hiring again, then they need to address the lack of small business loans that are available for small businesses.  They need to force banks to reduce the standards they are setting to get a loan.  In addition, the government wherever possible should reduce the time period it takes to pay their suppliers, consultants, providers, etc.  Reducing this time period would increase the cash flow to small businesses helping these businesses better handle the current economy and possibly allow them to start hiring.

Related articles

• Big-Business Deadbeats (economix.blogs.nytimes.com)
• You're the Boss: This Week in Small Business: Hu, Health Care and Why We're (Still) Not Hiring (boss.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Meet the Cash Kings of Oil (fool.com)
• Obama's Entrepreneur Problem (thedailybeast.com)
• "Net 60" is the increasingly common standard in big business (robbiz1978.blogspot.com)

OSHA Website Focuses On Green Job Hazards

Wind Farm in California

The Occupational Safety and Health Adminisitration (OSHA) standards cover many of the hazards in green industries and employers must use the necessary controls to protect workers.  The green industry is being defined broadly as an industry that helps to improve the environment.  The jobs created by this green industry (typically called green jobs) also create opportunities to help revitalize the economy and get people back to work.  Examples of the different green industries include:

• Wind Energy
• Solar Energy
• Geo-thermal
• Biofuels
• Recycling
• Green Roofs
• Hydrogen Fuels
• Weather Insulating/Sealing

Green jobs do not necessarily mean that they are safe jobs. Workers in the green industries may face hazards that are commonly known in workplaces -- such as falls, confined spaces, electrical, fire, and other similar hazards.  These hazards may be new to many workers who are moving into the fast-growing green industries.  Additionally, workers may be exposed to new hazards which may not have been previously identified.  An example of this are workers in the solar energy industry may be exposed to Cadmium Telluride, a known carcinogen, if adequate controls are not implemented.  The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) requires employers to comply with safety and health regulations promulgated by OSHA.  In addition, the OSH Act’s General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1), requires employers to provide their employees with a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.  In the absence of an OSHA standard, OSHA can enforce the General Duty Clause. 

One of the key concept for all industries, but especially those that are just beginning to grow, is "Prevention through Design (PtD)" – designing the process/equipment in a way that eliminates hazards to the workers who use them.  The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has a web page discussing this concept, visit it at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/PTD/.  The basic premise of this is to address occupational safety and health needs in the design process (having occupational safety and health professionals working with design engineers) to prevent or minimize the work-related hazards and risks associated with the construction, manufacture, use, maintenance, and disposal of facilities, materials, and equipment.  If the design eliminates the hazard before what is being designed is built, then the hazards may never be created.  Visit OSHA's website at http://www.osha.gov/dep/greenjobs/index.html to better understand the job hazards in each of the different green industries.

Related articles

• OSHA Reminds Employers Of The Hazards Associated With Ice And Snow Cleanup (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• US Department of Labor's OSHA Withdraws Proposed Interpretation on Occupational Noise (ehssafetynews.wordpress.com)
• OSHA Acts To Protect Residential Roofing Workers (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• AIHA Survey Indicates Issues That Concern Industrial Hygiene Profession (futureenv.blogspot.com)
• OSHA to Roll Out 5 New Rules & Ergonomic Won't Be One of Them (ehssafetynews.wordpress.com)
• "I want those workers to be as safe as those shrimp" - What we still don't know about Deepwater Horizon response health impacts [The Pump Handle] (scienceblogs.com)
• California green job growth outstrips tired old brown economy (grist.org)
• NIOSH Science Blog - "Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs"
• OSHA Log Form 300A Posting Due February 1, 2011. (futureenv.blogspot.com)