PEL and REL are acronyms used by the safety industry to define Permissible Exposure Limits (OSHA term) and Recommended Exposure Limits (NIOSH term).

In 1974, NIOSH joined OSHA in developing a series of occupational health standards for substances with existing PELs. OSHA sets enforceable permissible exposure limits (PELs) to protect workers against the health effects of exposure to hazardous substances. PELs are regulatory limits on the amount or concentration of a substance in the air. They may also contain a skin designation. OSHA PELs are based on an 8-hour time weighted average (TWA) exposure. Together NIOSH and OSHA set limits for 380 hazardous chemicals.

OSHA currently has about 500 permissible exposure limits (29 CFR part1910.1000), while NIOSH has about 700 RELs. NIOSH is able to evaluate them while OSHA PEL limits has not be updated since late 1960’s.

Acting under the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 USC Chapter 15) and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 USC Chapter 22), NIOSH develops and periodically revises recommended exposure limits (RELs) for hazardous substances or conditions in the workplace. NIOSH also recommends appropriate preventive measures to reduce or eliminate the adverse health and safety effects of these hazards.

The NIOSH Web site features many different types of databases and information collections. The most popular databases include the International Chemical Safety Cards, NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, and NIOSHTIC-2.

Chemical Databases:

· Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH)
Provides the immediately dangerous to life or health air concentration values (IDLHs) for substances and the criteria and information sources that have been used to determine these values.

· International Chemical Safety Cards (WHO/IPCS/ILO)
ICSC cards summarize essential health and safety information on chemicals for their use at the “shop floor” level by workers and employers in factories, agriculture, construction and other work places.

· Manual of Analytical Methods (NMAM)
NMAM is a collection of methods for sampling and analysis of contaminants in workplace air, and in the blood and urine of workers who are occupationally exposed.

· NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards (NPG)
The NPG is intended as a source of general industrial hygiene information on several hundred chemicals/classes for workers, employers, and occupational health professionals.

·  The Emergency Response Safety and Health Database (ERSH-DB)
Developed by NIOSH for the emergency response community, The ERSH-DB contains accurate and concise information on high-priority chemical, biological and radiological agents that could be encountered by personnel responding to a terrorist event.

·Occupational Safety and Health Guidelines for Chemical Hazards
Summarizes information on permissible exposure limits, chemical and physical properties, and health hazards. It provides recommendations for medical surveillance, respiratory protection, and personal protection and sanitation practices for specific chemicals that have Federal occupational safety and health regulations.

· OSHA 1988 Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)
PELs are OSHA comments from the January 19, 1989 Final Rule on Air Contaminants Project extracted from 54FR2332 et. seq. This rule was remanded by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the limits are not currently in force.

·Specific Medical Test Published in the Literature for OSHA Regulated Substances (MEDTEST)
The MEDTEST database lists the specific medical tests published in the literature for OSHA regulated substances. Updates of OSHA mandated tests (July 1, 2000) and NIOSH/OSHA recommendations are included.

NIOSH Update: Aging Workers at Higher Risk of Death, Severe Injury, Conference Report Suggests Ways to Keep Workers Healthy and Productive

Policy Shifts on Work Environment, Health Promotion, Continued Research Needed to Maintain Healthy U.S. Workforce

A report of conference presentations and discussions among participants from the National Academies of Science, universities and research institutions, and representatives of professional associations, industry and labor, recommends attention to workplace environments to maintain “work ability” as workers age, along with legislative fixes and research to fill in knowledge gaps for keeping workers healthy and productive.

According to researchers using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, older workers are more severely injured and die with greater frequency from work-related injuries than younger workers. Older workers also have longer recovery periods than younger workers. These findings raise health care delivery and economic issues for the nation, as more workers are choosing to delay retirement due to collapsed 401(k) plans and savings. BLS uses workers age 55 and older in its calculations, although the rates rise sharply for those workers over age 65. Other agencies and organizations define the term as age 50 or 55 and up. The Department of Labor uses age 40 as a starting point for “older worker.”

“The issue of healthy aging is critically important as the U.S. economy is revitalized. As we go forward in time, the demand for workers will grow but fewer workers will be entering the workforce and a larger proportion of the workforce will be older. This is a simple reality of demographics,” said National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Director John Howard, M.D. “Having a healthy, productive workforce will help sustain economic growth in the decades ahead. We must take steps now to help all workers stay safe and healthy at work as they age. We must also take steps to address the special needs of older workers who, more and more, will be staying on the job past traditional retirement age.”

The conference, held Feb. 17-18, 2009, at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md., paid particular attention to workers in physically demanding jobs, such as construction and health care. Health care cost-containment has meant longer work hours and increased stress among health care workers, which has led to a shortage of nurses. Thirty-nine percent of RNs were 45 years or older in 2002.

Construction workers already suffer the highest number of fatalities in any U.S. industry.  But the death rate among construction workers 55 years and older was nearly 80% higher than that of construction workers under 35 in 2007. And like the rest of the workforce, the average age of a construction worker is rising; it was 40.4 in 2008, which is 4.4 years older than in 1985. The average retirement age among construction workers is 61.

“Our nation loses an average of four construction workers every workday to a job-related incident – and that’s been consistent for more than a decade,” said Pete Stafford, executive director of CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training, one of the conference’s co-sponsors. “As we start to rebuild our nation’s crumbling infrastructure and venture into green jobs, we want to make sure jobsites do not become a source of pain and death for older workers who have so much to contribute, especially in mentoring younger workers.”

Howard believes the conference confirms and expands on a 2004 report from the National Academies of Science that recognized the deteriorating conditions facing an aging workforce, to the detriment of workers, their families, and businesses. “Health and Safety Needs of Older Workers” made clear recommendations to increase research efforts toward preventing work-related injury, illness and fatality among aging workers.   These recommendations have yet to be adopted.

“The discussions and recommendations from the conference point to steps that can be taken to address needs identified in the 2004 report  that were never acted upon,” said Jordan Barab, acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for  the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). “As those discussions make clear, a sustainable workforce will be a critical component of a secure and prosperous 21st century economy. The work we do now is an investment in a stronger workforce for tomorrow.”

The Healthy Aging for Workers conference was funded through grants from NIOSH and CPWR. The Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics and the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health were conference sponsors. Additional co-sponsors were AARP, OSHA, the American Public Health Association, the Veterans Administration, and the University of Maryland Work and Health Research Center.

The full conference report and presentations from national and international researchers on occupational health and safety issues can be found on the Society for Occupational and Environmental Health’s Web site.

First aid in the era of biohazards

by Lisa J. Burns, Q.S.S.P.

10 best practices to keep responders safe

Everyone sees the need for trained responders, first-aid kits and automated external defibrillators at the workplace. But what about the simple cut that bleeds enough to require a gauze bandage? Does the responder — or just a nearby helpful employee — see the need to wear disposable gloves? Bloodborne pathogens and other biohazards command little attention from most people, yet can cause critical illnesses and sometimes eventual death.

Defining the danger
Bloodborne pathogens are microorganisms (bacteria or viruses) carried in the blood that can be transmitted and cause disease in other people. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are two examples that are addressed by the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen standard 29 CFR 1910.1030. Malaria and syphilis also are caused by bloodborne pathogens. Other body fluids also may transmit these and other diseases.

Infectious disease such as the H1N1 flu virus is a workplace concern that employers must address.

Transmission
Unbroken skin generally acts as a barrier to bloodborne pathogens. However, microorganisms can enter through any damaged or broken skin such as acne, sunburn, blisters, open sores, cuts or abrasions. They also may be transmitted through mucous membranes, including those of the eyes, nose or mouth.

Infectious diseases such as the H1N1 flu virus are primarily transmitted through airborne body fluids emitted with coughs and sneezes, and breathed in by others in the immediate vicinity. They also are transmitted when a hand used to cover the mouth then touches faucets, doorknobs and other surfaces from which it is later picked up by others.

OSHA first-aid regulations
Emergency medical services and first aid that general industry employers must provide are described in OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.151. The standard recommends kits and supplies that are compliant with the minimum guidelines established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in Z308.1-2009. It also incorporates other standards and measures by reference, such as 29 CFR 1910.1030, which deals with bloodborne pathogens.

OSHA’s 29 CFR 1910.1030 standard requires limiting employee exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials. It specifies that training and personal protective equipment must be provided for employees who can be “reasonably anticipated” to face possible contact with blood or other potentially infectious materials on the job.

The standard, issued in 1991, was updated in 2001 in response to the Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, and can be found at http://www.osha.gov, along with FAQs and various letters of interpretation issued over the years since then.

Best practices
Following the best PPE practices recommended below will help keep first responders safe from bloodborne pathogens and other infectious material.

1. “Universal precautions.” Treat every situation as potentially dangerous. OSHA’s universal precautions require that all human blood or other potentially infectious materials be considered hazardous.

2. Hand protection. Before donning gloves, cover any cuts or sores on your own hands with a bandage. Inspect the gloves and if the material is thin, doubleglove to provide another layer of protection. Do not use torn or punctured gloves, no matter how miniscule the damage might be. When removing used gloves, pull them off from the cuff, turning them inside out so the outside of the gloves do not touch your bare skin. Dispose of them in a designated biohazard bag. Immediately scrub your hands thoroughly, including under nails — and any other potentially contaminated skin — with nonabrasive soap and running water at hand-washing facilities that employers must provide in readily accessible areas.

3. Eye and face protection. While providing first aid or other medical assistance as well as working in labs or while cleaning up a spill, there may be a risk of splashing or vaporization of contaminated fluids. Use goggles to protect against transmission of pathogens through your eye membranes. Use a face shield in addition to goggles to protect against splashes to your nose and mouth.

4. Body protection. In some cases, you may need to wear aprons or body shields to protect your clothing and keep blood or other contaminated fluids from soaking through to your skin. Wear shoe covers to avoid contamination of your footwear.

5. Clean up. For clean-up of blood or other body fluids from sick or injured employees, use gloves and, depending on the situation, some or all of the above-mentioned PPE. In addition, you should have available a small shovel and scraper, appropriate absorbent materials, biohazard bags, ties, germicidal towelettes — and for large areas, a mop or sponge and bucket with a solution of 1/4 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water. Some manufacturers supply complete biohazard clean-up kits that contain all the necessary supplies, including special absorbent materials that deodorize as well as bind the hazardous body substances together.

6. Deposit waste. Once clean-up is complete, deposit the waste material first in a labeled, red biohazard bag and tie it tightly. Use germicidal towelettes or bleach solution to clean the contaminated area. Then put the first bag into a second biohazard bag, and add the used towelettes or sponges, your shoe covers, gown, face mask with eye shield and, lastly gloves in the same bag, and seal it with a tie. Discard the red bag in an appropriate container for infected solid waste as required by local regulations.

7. Sharps. For any broken glass or other sharp material, use a broom with shovel or dustpan, and deposit them in appropriate boxes. Never touch them with your gloved or ungloved hands and do not put them in a biohazard bag.

8. Decontamination. Finally, wipe your hands with antiseptic hand wipes that provide rapid bactericidal action and allow them to air dry. Next, go to the nearest handwashing area and wash your hands and all potentially exposed skin thoroughly with non-abrasive soap and running water.

9. Equipment decontamination. A person trained in the appropriate procedures must decontaminate and sterilize all non-disposable equipment and tools used, such as mops, buckets and re-usable gloves, as soon as possible.

No complacency
Factory or construction site, chemical, plastics or food and beverage processing plant — no matter what the workplace — there should be no toleration of complacency when there is potential for exposure to bloodborne pathogens and other infectious disease. The effects of exposure may not be immediate, but there is a definite potential for serious illness and eventual death.

Lisa J. Burns, Q.S.S.P. Lisa is associate product manager-personal protection- Americas at North by Honeywell. She is a member of the International Safety Equipment Association and a Qualified Safety Sales Professional. Lisa can be reached at (401) 275-2608 or by e-mail at Lisa.J.Burns@Honeywell.com.

AUGUST 19, 2009

CDC is releasing new guidance that recommends actions that non-healthcare employers should take now to decrease the spread of seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu in the workplace and to help maintain business continuity during the 2009–2010 flu season. The guidance includes additional strategies to use if flu conditions become more severe and some new recommendations regarding when a worker who is ill with influenza may return to work. The guidance in this document may change as additional information about the severity of the 2009-2010 influenza season and the impact of 2009 H1N1 influenza become known. Please check www.flu.gov periodically for updated guidance

Introduction

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with input from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has developed updated guidance for employers of all sizes to use as they develop or review and update plans to respond to 2009 H1N1 influenza now and during the upcoming fall and winter influenza season. Businesses and employers, in general, play a key role in protecting employees’ health and safety, as well as in limiting the negative impact of influenza outbreaks on the individual, the community, and the nation’s economy. Employers who have developed pandemic plans should review and revise their plans in light of the current 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak to take into account the extent and severity of disease in their community as outlined in this guidance.

Planning for Fall and Winter Influenza Season

Businesses may have already been impacted by the spring and summer outbreaks of 2009 H1N1 influenza affecting their employees. CDC anticipates that more communities may be affected than were in the spring/summer 2009, and/or more severely affected reflecting wider transmission and possibly greater impact. In addition, seasonal influenza viruses may cause illness at the same time as 2009 H1N1 this fall and winter. In response to the anticipated spread of 2009 H1N1 influenza, the CDC has revised its recommendations to assist businesses and other employers of all sizes.

The severity of illness that 2009 H1N1 influenza flu will cause (including hospitalizations and deaths) or the amount of illness that may occur as a result of seasonal influenza during the 2009–2010 influenza season cannot be predicted with a high degree of certainty. Therefore, employers should plan to be able to respond in a flexible way to varying levels of severity and be prepared to refine their pandemic influenza response plans if a potentially more serious outbreak of influenza evolves during the fall and winter. More people and communities are likely to be affected as influenza is more widely transmitted. The CDC and its partners will continuously monitor national and international data on the severity of illness caused by influenza, will disseminate the results of these ongoing surveillance and will make additional recommendations as needed.

FOR THE COMPLETE GUIDE GO TO http://www.flu.gov/plan/workplaceplanning/guidance.html

The WorkLife Initiative is the NIOSH response to the 2004 Steps to a Healthier US Workforce Symposium. That Symposium, organized by NIOSH with over 20 co-sponsors and 50 supporters, reviewed the science, economics, and current practices coordinating health protection and health promotion to improve the health of workers. Symposium participants called on NIOSH to continue to show leadership in promoting research, policy, and practice in these areas.

The first major NIOSH action in the Initiative was to issue a RFA to establish Centers of Excellence. The awards for the two new Centers for Excellence to Promote a Healthier Workforce were announced in late 2006. Each Center will receive $1 million for five years through a cooperative agreement to establish trans-disciplinary research, education, and translation programs to facilitate the integration of health protection and promotion in the workplace. The grant recipients are Dr. Laura Punnett for the Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace, at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and Dr. James Merchant for the Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence at the University of Iowa. The Center at the University of Massachusetts Lowell will evaluate several models for integrating health promotion with occupational ergonomic and mental health interventions with a strong emphasis on worker involvement. The University of Iowa Center will investigate the effects of different integrated health protection and health promotion programs tailored to meet the needs of three different work environments. NIOSH will work with these Centers and our other partners to improve the worklife of workers through implementation of this important Worklife Initiative.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched CDC-TV, a new online video resource on a variety of health, safety and preparedness topics.

The premiere series on CDC-TV is “Health Matters.” The first segment of the series, “Break the Silence: Stop the Violence,” addresses the topic of teen dating violence. In this video, parents and teens discuss the problem of dating violence and how to prevent it.

The library of available videos through CDC-TV will expand to include single-topic presentations as well as series for children, parents and public health professionals. Most are short and all include captioning for the hearing-impaired.
The videos are part of CDC’s efforts to increase access to information that can help people prevent illness and injury. “Online video is one of the best tools we have to reach a large number of people and help them make informed health decisions by providing accurate health information,” said Jay Bernhardt, Ph.D., director of CDC’s National Center for Health Marketing. “CDC-TV marks an exciting new chapter in our continuing efforts to provide CDC’s health information to the public when, where, and how they want it.”

The videos are available at http://www.cdc.gov/CDCtv.

Last April, The Compliance Resource Center reported that NIOSH, OSHA and NHCA (National Hearing Conservation Assoication), recently signed and agreement  to help prevent work-related hearing loss.
Now researchers at NIOSH’s Pittsburgh Research Laboratory have developed QuickFitWeb, an online tool to allow users to check their hearing protection in a minute or less. The site notes that ear muffs, ear plugs, and other hearing protection devices can reduce the risk of hearing loss, but only if the wearer gets a good fit and wears them properly. The NIOSH sound player tool allows users to perform a quick test of whether they are getting at least a minimal 15 decibel (dB) level of protection.

The test sounds are bands of random noise with a center frequency of 1000 Hz. This is the same type of sound used in standard hearing protector ratings including the “American National Standard Methods for Measuring the Real-Ear Attenuation of Hearing Protectors” (ANSI S12.6). Both tracks are the same, but the second track is 15 decibels (dB) louder than the first. Most hearing protectors will block or “attenuate” sound by more than 15 dB if they are the right size and shape to fit the ears and are worn correctly. A sound that is barely audible at a worker’s threshold of hearing without hearing protection should be inaudible though hearing protection even if it’s boosted by 15 dB.

To use the tool, visit www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/topics/hearingloss/quickfitweb.htm.

An arc flash can happen without warning and occurs much too fast for you to react.

The heat released during an arc flash can reach as high as 35,000 degrees Fahrenheit — hotter than the surface of the sun. Large arc flashes can cause an explosion noise loud enough to cause hearing loss and injuries from being thrown back from the electrical explosion.

To better address this issue, the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) has teamed with NIOSH and the Centers for Disease Control to distribute Arc Flash Awareness, a DVD training course, available in both English and Spanish. The DVD includes basic information about arc flash awareness and contains the first hand accounts of three electrical workers who were severely injured in arc flash accidents.

Surprisingly, it has just been in recent years that the term “arc flash” has garnered much attention. Many companies have started to raise awareness about the problem. Some companies, however, do not think that arc flash is a serious concern because they have not yet had an arc flash incident.

An arc flash can result from the spontaneous failure of equipment during normal operation or from accidentally bridging two live electrical contacts with a conducting object, like a metal screwdriver or wrench. Other causes may include the improper use of electrical multimeters, poor housekeeping that allows the buildup of conductive dust, or severe corrosion that allows connections to break.

How large is the problem?
– According to CapSchell, Inc., a Chicago-based research and consulting firm that specializes in workplace injury prevention, there are five to 10 arc flash explosions every day in the United States.
– The final cost to employers and their insurers for a single, serious injury can approach $10 million. (CapSchell)
– 2,000 workers are admitted annually to burn centers for extended injury treatments caused by arc flash, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
– A recent study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) determined 17,101 injuries were caused by electric arc flash burns between 1992 though 2001.

With statistics like this, companies cannot afford to ignore electrical safety issues surrounding accidental electrocution from arc flash explosions.

For more information on Arc Flash or to order a copy of the Arc Flash Awareness DVD visit the ESFI Library on the ESFI’s website, http://www.electrical-safety.org/ or call ESFI at 703-841-3229.