B. Chesson, Alcoa World Alumina Australia, Perth, Australia.
Benchmarking the techniques and approaches of other organisations is a popular way of bridging gaps and improving performance. Guidance exists in the form of external and internal standards, regulations, codes of practice, publications by professional institutions, and similar. However, there are clear shortfalls in terms of tools and processes needed to identify areas of opportunity and to overcome barriers to the efficient transfer of ideas and techniques from one enterprise to another.
This study has sought to develop and test new tools and processes to make benchmarking activity and the transfer of technology, ideas, and approaches more efficient and meaningful. It has drawn heavily from state-of-the-art management theory and has sought to establish the linkage between the people factor, the workplace environment factor, and the organisation of work factor as they contribute to OHS performance. The field-work component of the study was conducted at eight mining and mineral processing sites within Western Australia. Facility processes and practices were examined with regard to chemical safety. This was chosen partly because chemical-induced injury and disease is a significant OHS problem and partly because of its complexity and degree of difficulty.
Also tested was the assumption that if the materials developed during the study can be applied successfully in the area of hazardous materials, then other less complex areas under the OHS umbrella could be approached with confidence.
There is potential for the tools and processes developed and evaluated in this work to be used widely in the transfer of best practice. Study outcomes and the new materials that have been generated will assist with the selection of benchmarking partners and will help to identify “pockets of excellence” for focused attention. This will encourage and assist organisations to take steps towards identifying and implementing industry best practice in the element of interest.
J. Gromiec, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland.
The rubber industry was listed by IARC among exposure circumstances classified as carcinogenic to humans; of the several hundred substances identified in the work environment of rubber factories, at least 35 are confirmed or suspected carcinogens. The aim of this study was to identify components of vulcanization fumes, determine and compare occupational exposure in different branches of the rubber industry, and calculate the risk of cancer based on the results of the measurements. Personal air samples were collected at the following processes: tyre production and rebuilding, production and repair of rubber conveyor belts, and manufacture of rubber footwear, covering all technological operations. The range of determined chemical compounds included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HPLC), aldehydes (HPLC), N-nitrosoamines (GC-FPD), and other hydrocarbons and organic compounds (GC-MSD). In the collected air samples, aliphatic and unsaturated hydrocarbons from C6 to C12 (components of extraction naphta), BTX and other aromatic hydrocarbons from C6 to C10, phtalates, adipates, ketones, and some hetorocyclic compounds were found but the concentrations were very low. The highest concentrations of formaldehyde (up to 0.13 mg/m3), acetaldehyde (0.27 mg/m3), and butyric aldehyde (0.06 mg/m3) were determined in tyre production and production of rubber conveyor belts. N-Nitrosoamines concentrations were below 0.25 µg/m3 in all air samples collected. Concentrations of benzo/a/pyrene were low and concentrations of cyclohexane soluble fraction of coal tar volatiles ranged from 0.04 to 0.70 mg/m3. Based on results of measurements of PAHs and formaldehyde, the risk of cancer was calculated. The values calculated for the highest determined air concentrations of carcinogens were below 5 × 10-6, indicating relatively low risk of cancer and considerable improvement of working conditions in the rubber industry. Low when compared to historical data, occupational exposure levels may be also due to permanent progress in instrumental methods of analysis, resulting in better specificity and selectivity.
A. Howe, Health & Safety Laboratory, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
A number of European and International standards on health and safety in welding have been published in recent years and work on several more is nearing completion. These standards have been prepared jointly by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the European Committee for Standardization or, as it is better known, the Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN). The standards development work has been led by CEN/TC 121/SC 9 with excellent technical input from experts within Europe. However, international involvement in the development of the standards has been disappointingly low, probably due to lack of awareness of the work. An initiative is therefore needed to try to remedy this situation and the objectives of this presentation are therefore (1) to increase international awareness of already published standards and obtain feedback that will be of use when they are revised, and (2) to solicit comments from the wider industrial hygiene community on standards that are currently under development, with the aim of ensuring that they are of global relevance, and minimizing the chance of negative voting when the drafts are circulated for enquiry. The presentation is particularly timely because work is expected to start next year on revision of one of the standards that is of special interest to industrial hygienists, namely EN ISO 10882, “Health and safety in welding and allied processes—Sampling of airborne particles and gases in the operator’s breathing zone.” It will provide a valuable opportunity to obtain input from present and future users of the standard.
K. Kennedy, L. Conroy, R. Cohen, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL; V. Mukhin, Institute of Medico-Ecological Problems of the Donbass and Coal Industry, Donetsk, Ukraine.
The connection between exposure to coal dust and the development of occupational lung disease has long been established. Ukrainian coal miners represent a large population especially at risk because they mine anthracite coal that is contained in small seams, which results in considerably high silica content coal dust generation. Occupational dust exposures were measured at three Ukrainian anthracite coal mines. A total of 81 respirable dust and quartz measurements were taken using modified Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) guidelines during both active longwall mining and tunnel preparation (development). A total of 81 matched total particulate samples were also taken using a standard Ukrainian dust sampling method involving short-term high-volume air collection.
Respirable dust concentrations ranged from 0.58 mg/m3 to 109 mg/m3 with a geometric mean of 5.27 mg/m3 during mining, and from 0.58 mg/m3 to 31.6 mg/m3 with a geometric mean of 2.12 mg/m3 during development. Quartz concentrations ranged from14 µg/m3 to 1317 µg/m3 with a geometric mean of 75.7 µg/m3 during mining, and from 17 µg/m3 to 1029 µg/m3 with a geometric mean of 103 µg/m3 during development. The data show 75% of all respirable dust samples and 37% of all quartz samples exceeded the MSHA permissible exposure limits. Almost all samples (98%) exceeded the Ukrainian maximum allowable concentration for total particulates.
The respirable dust and total particulate concentrations were significantly higher during mining than development. No significant differences between mining and development quartz concentrations were observed. The correlation between the MSHA sampling method and the Ukrainian method was poor. The high levels of respirable dust and quartz measured at the three study mines indicate that this population is at increased risk for occupationally-related diseases and that controls should be implemented to help reduce this risk.
D. Nelson, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.
A country visit to Nepal was conducted in coordination with and under a subgrant provided by the Foundation for Environmental Security and Sustainability to develop a baseline health and population assessment in a country experiencing conflict. Research tools included interviews with experts from national ministries and departments, local and international agencies, and extensive literature search.
Health and population indicators in Nepal have improved in recent decades; however, they still lag far behind international standards. A cycle of interlinked influencing factors begins with poverty, poor health conditions, inequality of caste/ethnic groups, history of centralization and weakness of national government, and difficult geography. Failure of a fledging democracy to fulfill expectations of service delivery in rural areas created fertile ground for development of insurgency. Ensuing violence led to decreased donor investment, cutback in services to rural areas, and increased migration. Migrants return with HIV/AIDS, malaria, etc. A concurrent shift from communicable to chronic diseases and an oncoming youth bulge require more and different kinds of health, educational, and other services. Increased demands on the health care system occur at a time when the government is less able or willing to provide such services. The resulting perception that the government provides better services to the urban areas creates a positive feedback loop leading to increased tensions.
The resulting neglect of occupational health and safety is reflected in the lack of government programs, and the working conditions observed in Kathmandu. Population and health issues, including occupational health, cannot be separated from historical economic, political, geographic, and socio-cultural factors in Nepal. These factors have facilitated a conflict situation, which in turn has worsened health care delivery to citizens. Occupational health and safety programs will likely remain a low priority until the economic and political problems are solved. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
J. Starck, E. Toppila, Finnish Institute of Occupational Healh, Helsinki, Finland; P. Kuronen, Finnish Air Force, Helsinki, Finland; R. Pääkkönen, Finnish Institute of Occupational Healh, Tampere, Finland; M. Sorri, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.
Noise is a risk factor in military aviation. Even though our earlier studies have shown that the risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) among military pilots is small and the monitoring of their hearing is effective, we still need to develop methods of assessing the risk of NIHL more effectively at both the general and individual level. In addition, a considerable number of other risk factors like elevated blood pressure, cholesterol, use of painkillers, smoking, and exposure to vibration are considered to contribute to the development of hearing impairment. This study investigates the risk of hearing impairment among Finnish Air Force pilots using noise exposure data and other contributing risk factors for hearing impairment. The sound exposure was measured from the ear canal under the flight helmet. The major source of exposure was the radio communication. The sound levels varied between 86 and 100 dB(A), depending on the airplane. The hearing loss (HL) was low at all frequencies. At 4 kHz the mean HL was 12 dB ± 20 dB. Hearing among Finnish military pilots was better than predicted by the ISO 1999 (1990) model. This risk was also compared with that of industrial workers, whose risk followed the ISO 1999 (1990) prediction. The industrial workers had a larger number of contributing risk factors than the pilots. The hearing of pilots corresponded to approximately the 80th percentile of the ISO model, being 9 to 13 dB better than the 50th percentile, which was the best predictor for industrial population. The study shows the importance of the contributing risk factors in the aetiology of NIHL. The smaller number of risk factors may be related to the better physical condtition of the pilots.
B. Engstrom, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Turku, Finland.
WITHDRAWN
P. Jones, URS Corporation, Blue Bell, PA.
Consistent health and safety training was needed in our firm of 14,800 employees and 260 locations worldwide. The firm is a merger of a number of smaller companies with safety policies and procedures that were being replaced with a new safety management system. In 2000, we began evaluation of e-learning options for significant portions of the training needs. In 2001, we began implementation with general success but also with a set of problems: commercial products that did not target our types of work, software compatibility, certain employees with limited computer skills, complex recordkeeping, and resistance to change. The approach learned from 3 years of experience and over 60,000 training modules completed include: extensive beta testing is performed of new courses, a training help desk is provided to answer the never-ending questions, an expensive Learning Management System (LMS) was purchased to track both classroom and online classes, the LMS was linked to human resources to ensure reports to operations show only current employees, and the need for regular updating of the modules. Implementation requires early and regular coordination with the IT staff for the system to work smoothly. EHS managers considering e-learning would benefit from our experience, particularly the point that the content of the training is only one component of the implementation and is the easiest to control.
R. Rottersman, C. Simmons, G. Crawford, Boelter & Yates Inc., Park Ridge, IL.
Situation: A process was needed to respond to customer requests for documented compliance with the European Commission’s Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive. This legislation restricts the sale of electronic products in Europe containing certain hazardous substances after January 1, 2006.
Problem: Our client is a medium sized manufacturing company that is not currently registered to the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System. No systems were in place to respond to the customer requests for information on products affected by the RoHS. The company needed to put together a team to develop a process and the necessary documentation to address the customer requests using existing resources.
Resolution: A team of employees from the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS), Sales, Purchasing, Manufacturing, and Engineering Departments developed a process and procedure for documenting tracking requests and responses. The procedure includes a detailed process flowchart with guidance for decision making through every step. The EHS coordinator is the key player in the process and is responsible for tracking the requests and insuring resolution.
Benefit to Others: As more companies conduct business on a global basis, the need to be informed and comply with environmental legislation in other countries and regions of the world becomes critical to the success of businesses. The EHS Department often is the lead on developing the programs, processes, and procedures for compliance. This project and program will assist others by providing a management strategy that has been used to respond to similar requests.
R. Lizotte, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Attleboro, MA; S. Sleeman, Sleeman Hanley & DiNitto Inc., Boston, MA; B. Russell, Systems Approach, West Simsbury, CT.
Looking for a way to cut costs and still provide the value-added benefit of on site EH&S assessments and audits? We were encountered with a situation to reduce costs yet still maintain high level EH&S performance. Our existing system of sending out subject matter experts to help newly obtained or formed organizations understand and implement the myriad of EH&S requirements was becoming a drain on resources while not always providing the expected results. Evaluating and then providing assistance to sites had become more complicated and expensive when you considered that the majority of our manufacturing sites had moved into the international area. Our solution came in the form of a web-based tool called the EHS Knowledgebank (formally Easy Audit Online). The application became our repository for EH&S information that integrated regulatory requirements, audit questions/findings, and action plan management into one tool. It enabled us to gather and track site-specific EH&S information and activities from a number of separate operations around the world on a real-time basis. We will share our detailed experiences in China, and other locales, where we used local EH&S professionals to assist our operations. We will also illustrate how we were able to assess the significance of audit findings by viewing photographs uploaded during the review. The combination of access to our internal standards and local regulatory requirements, supplemented by local EH&S expertise, has helped identify potential issues and saved significant time and resources for the company. With more and more emphasis on process reengineering, we have found the Internet tool, in combination with local EH&S experts, a cost-effective alternative for any company to consider.
Posted May 30, 2004