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This summer, OSHA launched a National Emphasis Program (NEP) focused on helping protect workers in the primary metals industries from chemical and physical hazards. A NEP is an initiative by OSHA aimed at raising awareness and safety in a particular area. In this case, the NEP will help identify harmful chemical and physical hazards in establishments producing metal products and reduce or eliminate worker exposures to them.

Primary metals industries are those which extract and refine metals from rocks containing iron, lead, nickel, tin and other elements. Examples include manufactures of:

• Nails
• Insulated wires and cables
• Steel piping
• Copper and aluminum products

Based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, the primary metals industries has long been an area of safety concern. Primary metal industries may expose employees to metal dusts, fumes, carbon monoxide, lead, silica, and other potentially dangerous substances. Additionally, noise exposure and heat hazards are not uncommon in such workplaces. The Primary Metal Industries NEP is aimed at drawing attention to these hazards and, in that way, protecting workers.

Potential Hazards in the Primary Metal Industries

Substances frequently present in the primary metals industry can be dangerous and even life threatening. Many of them have been associated with:

• Irritation or damage to eyes, nose, throat and skin
• Breathing problems
• Chest pain
• Joint pain

The goals of the primary metal industry NEP are to minimize or eliminate exposure to such substances along with reducing physical hazards common in the industry (noise exposure and heat).

Inspections

Expect that OSHA will beef up inspections of facilities that manufacture primary metals and metal products. Should such inspections cause OSHA to issue citations or make recommendations, expect them to conduct follow-up site visits to ensure that proper corrective steps have been put into effect.

It is anticipated that these inspections will focus on:

• Respiratory protection
• Personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Noise and hearing conservation
• Heat stress safety
• Silica and lead hazards and safety
• Hazard communication standard

According to Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels, "Workers who are not properly protected from the hazards of metals refining are at increased risk of serious, potentially deadly health effects. OSHA's new enforcement program will raise awareness of the dangers of exposure to metals and other chemicals, so that employers can correct hazards and comply with OSHA standards."

Key Takeaways for the Primary Metal Industries

Get the OSHA directive for this latest NEP to help your company prepare. Be sure to follow OSHA directives. Expect to see heightened scrutiny and more inspections.

References:

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=19935

http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/Directive_pdf/CPL_03-00-013.pdf

http://blog.msdsonline.com/2011/06/osha-targets-primary-metals-industry-focus-on-injury-and-illness-msds-ppe%E2%80%99s/

http://ehstoday.com/standards/osha/osha-establishes-nep-primary-metal-industries-0603/

This entry was posted on September 22, 2011 at 7:35 PM and has received 170 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Overexposure to lead is one of the most common overexposure dangers found in industry today. Lead exposure is a leading cause of workplace illness. Between 0.5 and 1.5 million workers are exposed to lead in the workplace every year. Lead exposure can cause damage to the nervous system, kidneys, blood forming organs and reproductive system.

Who is at Risk for Lead Exposure?

At greatest risk are employees in lead-related industries including:

• Painters and remodelers
• Battery manufacturers and recyclers
• Automotive radiator manufacturers and repairpeople
• Employess involved in casting and machining lead, brass, bronze, pewter, and white metal
• Metal platers
• Manufacturers of leaded paints, inks, dyes, glazes, or pigments
• Employees who work with leaded paints, inks, dyes, glazes, or pigments
• Lead solderers, such as in the electronics industry
• Employees at gun firing ranges
• Ship builders
• Those working in salvaging and recycling scrap metal
• Manufacturers of ceramics
• Manufacturers of leaded glass or crystal
• Manufacturers of ammunition and explosives
• Employees who compound plastic resins
• Auto body repairpeople
• Stained glass artists

Preventing Lead Exposure

The best way to prevent lead poisoning is to prevent contact with lead. An employer's first line of defense is proper engineering controls, such as a local exhaust ventilation system. Lead exposure can also be controlled by:

• Safety training
• Safe work practices, possibly including the use of a respirator and protective clothing
• Switching to lead-free materials and/or controlling lead at the source

Second-Hand Lead Exposure

Those who are exposed to lead in the workplace can carry lead dust on their clothes or skin and expose family members. Following these simple rules when working with lead can stop this "second-hand" exposure to lead.

• Do not eat, drink or smoke in lead-contaminated work areas
• Wash hands before eating, smoking, or touching the face after doing any work with lead
• Wear protective equipment over clothing whenever working with lead.
• Shower, wash the hair and change into clean clothes (including shoes) before leaving the workplace
• Store street clothes in a separate area from work clothes
• Maintaining a well-balanced diet with proper nutrition can help reduce lead levels

These steps are particularly important, since "take-home lead" can contaminate vehicles and the home and is particularly harmful to small children.

Blood Tests

Those employed in a lead-related industry or work with lead should undergo a blood test. The amount of lead in the blood is measured in micrograms of lead per deciliter of whole blood (µg/dl). This type of measurement provides the blood lead level, or BLL. The typical BLL for U.S. adults is less than 5 µg/dl.

The first blood test establishes what might be considered the baseline. Periodic blood tests thereafter can determine if lead levels are rising. Note that a blood test measures lead levels at the time the test is taken.

Take-Away Messages

Lead exposure is a serious concern, but there are steps that can be taken to prevent it or at least reduce its risk. Of particular concern is second-hand exposure to lead that may endanger an employee's family. Click here to learn more about OSHA's lead standards

References:

http://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3142.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning

http://www.ct.gov/dph/LIB/dph/environmental_health/EOHA/pdf/Work_Lead.pdf

http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_Hurricane_Facts/LeadHazards.pdf

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/lead/

This entry was posted on September 22, 2011 at 6:58 PM and has received 134 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Many drugs are used in the treatment of cancer and other diseases such as HIV. Although most of these drugs have side effects, the benefits outweigh the potential harm. Ironically, these same drugs pose a hazard to the healthcare workers who administer them. Workers exposed to these hazardous drugs may experience the side effects of them with any benefit. Long-term exposure to these materials may cause:

• Respiratory problems
• Reproductive problems
• Skin irritation
• Leukemia and other cancers

The health risk depends on how much exposure a worker has to these drugs and how toxic they are.

These drugs include:

• Antineoplastic cytotoxic medications (suppress cell division and tumor growth)
• Anesthetic agents
• Anti-viral agents
• Other agents identified as hazardous

Exposure can come from any point along the process from manufacture to administering. Some of the ways are:

• Inhalation of dust
• Skin contact
• Skin absorption
• Ingestion, mainly by failing to wash hands
• Injection, needle sticks

According to NIOSH Director John Howard, M.D., "Potent therapy drugs can have great benefit for patients when used in proper regimens, where doses are controlled and risks are minimized. But they can also have serious consequences to the workers who handle, dispense, mix, apply, and dispose of them without proper controls and training?"

David Michaels, Ph.D., MPH, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA says, "Substances that present a potential health hazard to workers must be included in an employer's hazard communication program, and it should be readily available and accessible to all including temporary workers, contractors, and trainees. We encourage employers to address safe drug handling by committing their management staff to taking a leadership role identifying and remediating hazards, offering employee training, and evaluating workplace injury and illness prevention programs for continuous improvement."

Workers can be protected from exposures to hazardous drugs through engineering and administrative controls, and proper protective equipment.

References:

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2004-165/

http://osha.gov/ooc/drug-letter.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2010-167/pdfs/2010-167.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/hazdrug/

http://osha.gov/SLTC/hazardousdrugs/index.html

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/wp-solutions/2009-106/pdfs/2009-106.pdf

http://osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=19566

This entry was posted on July 12, 2011 at 1:56 AM and has received 166 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Toxic metals are a major occupational health hazard since they are commonly used in many types of industrial products and processes. Measures must be taken to protect workers from exposure, as these metals typically accumulate in the body and lead to organ failure and even death.

Below is a very brief listing of the most prevalent toxic metals, their uses and sources of exposure.

Arsenic

Uses:

• Strengthening alloys of copper.
• Semiconductors.
• Lead alloys for lead shots and bullets.
• Glass.

Common sources of exposure:

• Hazardous waste sites.
• Areas with high levels naturally occurring in soil, rocks, and water.

Beryllium

Uses:

• Electronic substrates.
• Alloying, e.g. beryllium copper.
• Window material for X-ray equipment.
• Nuclear applications.
• Gemstones, beryl, aquamarine, morganite, and emerald.

Common sources of exposure:

• Mining.
• Extraction.
• Processing of beryllium alloys.
• Dust from machining the metal or oxide.

Cadmium

Uses:

• Alloys for low friction bearings.
• Yellow pigment.
• Television phosphors.
• Batteries.

Common sources of exposure:

• Processing ore.
• Smelting operations.
• Inadvertently welding cadmium containing alloys.

Hexavalent Chromium

Uses:

• Pigments and mordants.
• Chrome plating.
• Stainless steel and other alloys.
• Welding, although not a use for hexavalent chromium, nontoxic trivalent chromium can be chemically converted to the harmful hexavalent form by high temperatures.

Common sources of exposure:

• Dust.
• Contamination.
• Pigments containing chromate.

Hexavalent chromium is a known human carcinogen.

Lead

Uses:

• Batteries.
• Radioactive shielding.
• Weights (for diving, etc).
• Ceramics (coloring).
• Sound dampening (lead sheets in walls).
• Glassware (Lead Crystal).
• Automotive tire balancing (weights on the side of wheels).
• Solder.
• Sculptures.
• Pigments.

Common sources of exposure:

• Occupational exposure.
• Construction work.
• Most smelter operations.
• Radiator repair shops.
• Firing ranges.

Lead is the most prevalent toxic metal hazard.

Mercury

Uses:

• Florescent lighting.
• Pharmaceuticals.
• Fungicides.
• Dental fillings.
• Pigments.
• Electrical switches.

Common sources of exposure:

• Mining, production, and transportation of mercury.
• Gold and silver mining.
• Exposure to mercury vapor.
• Broken florescent lighting.

Employers must provide a safe work environment by conforming to OSHA regulations regarding these substances. It is important to bear in mind that cumulative doses—rather than a single exposure—must be considered. This means that even small exposures will add up to dangerous doses over time.

References:

http://chemistry.about.com/library/blperiodictable.htm

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/metalsheavy/index.html

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/hexchrom/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/200667-uses-of-hexavalent-chromium/

This entry was posted on June 17, 2011 at 10:13 PM and has received 158 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.

Lead poisoning is caused by the accumulation of lead, a heavy metal, in the body. Since lead is not easily dissipated from the body it can accumulate for months or even years. Even small amounts of lead can pose serious health problems since lead is toxic to the bones, heart, intestines, kidneys, and reproductive and nervous systems

Symptoms of lead poisoning include:

• Headache
• Irritability
• Anemia
• Abdominal pain
• Seizures
• Coma
• Death

In adults lead poisoning is usually a result of occupational exposure. Job sites and occupations with high risk for lead exposure include:

• Foundry workers
• Metal recycling plant employees
• Plants producing products which contain lead such as ammunition, ceramic glazes, jet engines, plumbing, certain electronics and medical products and equipment
• Lead miners
• Smelters
• Plumbers and fitters
• Auto mechanics
• Welders
• Glass manufacturers
• Construction workers

However, lead poisoning can affect even individuals who do not work in these environments. Family members may be affected when a person exposed to lead in the workplace brings lead dust home on clothing or skin. Anyone residing or working in an older building may risk exposure, because older construction often contains lead-based paint, lead pipes and lead-contaminated dust. Furthermore, accidental environmental contamination may expose individuals to lead. Such environmental contamination may affect water, air, soil, and even food. Some consumer products, including foreign-made children's toys and furniture, have been determined to contain lead.

Lead poisoning is usually detected via a blood test. Depending on the level of lead found, different treatments may be used. People with serious symptoms may receive chelation therapy in which a drug is administered which binds with the lead allowing the body to excrete it.

In the case of lead poisoning, as with many toxic substances, the old saying rings true: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In most situations you can protect yourself from lead contamination by limiting your exposure to it as much as possible.

• In the home environment, professionals can remove lead paint and pipes from buildings.
• Laws such as those that ban lead paint from consumer products and limit pollution protect everyone.

Individuals who have concerns about lead in the workplace can consult the Occupational Health and Safety Administration or visit their website at OSHA.gov.

References:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lead-poisoning/FL00068

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning

http://www.ct.gov/dph/LIB/dph/environmental_health/EOHA/pdf/Work_Lead.pdf

http://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_Hurricane_Facts/LeadHazards.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lead/

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/lead/

This entry was posted on May 20, 2011 at 6:25 PM and has received 169 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.