제 목 : Confined-space Progress is Slow
일 자 : 1998년 02월
제공처 : safety + Health(OSHA Update)
< Confined-space Progress is Slow >
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Employers are making some progress in protecting workers from lack of
oxygen, toxic gases and other hazards of confined spaces, but impor-
tant problems remain, OSHA offcials say.
OSHA cited American Rockwool Inc.'s Nolanville, Texas, insu-
lation-producing plant for lack of training and other willful or serious
violations of the confined-spaces standard.Penalties of $824,6OO were
proposed. Six employees were sickened by life-threatening gases in-
side a cupola furnace before they were rescued.
Even so, Paul Brantley, an OSHA area director in Austin,
Texas, says that safety in confined spaces has improved. A lot of em-
ployers recognize it as a deadly problem,' he says. David Apachino, the
plant's human resources director, declined to comment because the
company has appealed the citation to a Labor Department regional
solicitor.
The United Steelworkers union has been urging OSHA to strengthen
the rescue-squad aspect of the standard so workers don't die trying to
save colleagues.The union also wants employees to be allowed to monitor
testing of the spaces for sufficient oxygen or toxic or flammable sub-
stances. At some point, "we're going to go back to the federal courts"
to push for OSHA action, says Michael Wright, the union's safety
and health director
But Joanne Linhard,a safety consultant at Organization Resources
Counselors, an employers advisory group, says, "The standard doesn't
need much amendment.' Requiring workers to monitor every test-
ing function is inflexible, Linhard says.
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