Electrocution and Shock Hazards in Shipyard Employment  

Electrocution and Shock Hazards in Shipyard Employment

The Safety Alert provides useful tips and reminders about what potentially hazardous situations to look for; and also lists instructions on preventing and eliminating electrical safety and shock hazards. In addition, the Alert illustrates examples of dangerous situations.

This Safety Alert is a product of the Alliances that OSHA signed with the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers, the American Shipbuilding Association, the National Shipbuilding Research Program, and the Shipbuilders Council of America.

OSHA Resources on Combustible Dust  

http://www.osha.gov/dsg/combustibledust/index.html

Any combustible material (and some materials normally considered noncombustible) can burn rapidly when in a finely divided form. If such a dust is suspended in air in the right concentration, it can become explosive. The force from such an explosion can cause employee deaths, injuries, and destruction of entire buildings. Such incidents have killed scores of employees and injured hundreds over the past few decades.

Materials that may form combustible dust include metals (such as aluminum and magnesium), wood, coal, plastics, biosolids, sugar, paper, soap, dried blood, and certain textiles. In many accidents, employers and employees were unaware that a hazard even existed.

A combustible dust explosion hazard may exist in a variety of industries, including: food (e.g., candy, sugar, spice, starch, flour, feed), grain, tobacco, plastics, wood, paper, pulp, rubber, furniture, textiles, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, dyes, coal, metals (e.g., aluminum, chromium, iron, magnesium, and zinc), and fossil fuel power generation.

Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders: Guidelines for Shipyards  

PDF Version         Online Version

OSHA has recently released Ergonomics for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders: Guidelines for Shipyards, an industry-specific guidance document that provides practical recommendations to help employers and employees reduce the number and severity of musculoskeletal disorders in the workplace.

The guidelines emphasize various solutions that have been effectively implemented by shipyards across the country to decrease work-related musculoskeletal disorders. An "Implementing Solutions" section offers examples of ergonomic solutions that may be used to control exposure to ergonomics-related risk factors in shipyards.

OSHA Maritime Outreach Training Program  

http://www.osha.gov/dcsp/ote/outreach/maritime/index.html

OSHA has developed an OSHA Outreach Training Program for the Maritime industry. This new program builds on OSHA's successful Outreach Training Program platform to extend safety and health training to employees and employers in the maritime industry.

Through the program, individuals who complete a one-week OSHA Maritime trainer course are authorized to teach 10-hour or 30-hour safety and health hazard recognition and prevention classes in Shipyard Employment (including ship repairing, shipbuilding, and shipbreaking), Marine Terminals, and Longshoring. Authorized trainers can receive OSHA course completion cards for their students. The Maritime 10- and 30-hour student cards will expire in five years.

The Maritime Outreach Training Program is voluntary. OSHA does not require participation in this program.

OSHA Establishes a New National Emphasis Program on Silica  

On February 1st, OSHA announced a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) to target worksites where employees are at risk for developing silicosis.

"Exposure to silica threatens nearly two million American employees annually," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. "Under this program, OSHA will work diligently to maximize the protection of employees and eliminate workplace exposures to silica-related hazards."

The NEP compliance directive builds on policies and procedures instituted in the 1996 Special Emphasis Program and includes an updated list of industries commonly known to have overexposures to silica; detailed information on potential hazards linked to silica and about current research regarding silica exposure hazards; guidance on calculating the Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) for dust containing respirable crystalline silica in the construction and maritime industries; and guidance on conducting silica-related inspections.

Two additional elements included in the directive are an evaluation procedure for recording reductions of employee exposures to silica, as well as information on outreach programs, partnerships and alliances with employers to share resources and training to reduce employee exposures.

Silicosis is a disabling, nonreversible and sometimes fatal lung disease caused by breathing in a large amount of crystalline silica. Visit www.osha.gov for more information on hazard recognition and possible solutions to silica exposure.

OSHA Publishes Instruction on Hexavalent Chromium Standards  

OSHA Jan. 24 published an instruction (.pdf file) on enforcement procedures for its hexavalent chromium standards that went into effect in 2006.

The instruction establishes uniform inspection and compliance procedures for the hexavalent chromium standards 29 CFR 1910.1026, 29 CFR 1926.1126 and 29 CFR 1915.1026. The standards specify permissible exposure limits for general industry, construction and shipyards.

OSHA Proposes Rule on Shipyard Safety  

OSHA is accepting comment until March 19 on a proposed rule to reduce hazards at shipyards.

The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on General Working Conditions in Shipyard Employment was published in the Dec. 20 Federal Register. The proposed updates include minimum lighting requirements for some worksites, motor vehicle safety and sanitation requirements.

OSHA administrator Edwin G. Foulke Jr. said in a statement the proposed rule would reduce hazards shipyard workers face, including those in confined spaces and from operating heavy equipment.

NIOSH Web Resource on MRSA and Recommended Ways to Prevent Risks of Infections  

A new NIOSH Topic Page, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/mrsa offers recommendations for preventing the spread of MRSA, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, in the workplace. The Topic Page provides practical information on good, basic health practices which workplaces can tailor for their individual needs.

Europe Leads Box Security Research  
by Janet Porter Lloyd's List

European scientists believe they are ahead of their opposite numbers in the US in developing a device that would satisfy Washington's quest to check every container arriving in the country, while also cracking down on cargo theft.

No system can be fully effective until a global standard is agreed, but here too events are moving quickly.

Thales Research Technology (UK) is heading a consortium that hopes to publish its proposal on the standardisation of readers for suitably adapted containers next month, once permission has been given by the European Commission, which is sponsoring and partially financing the project.

The recommendations will then be submitted to the International Organisation for Standardisation for validation.

However, Thales R&T has already produced a small and easily fitted device that is ready to go into production, and which would allow cargo owners and other authorised parties to monitor a container from the moment contents are loaded until the point of delivery.

Michael Naylor, technical manger at Thales R&T, believes this could go a long way towards meeting proposed requirements for screening 100% of US-bound containers with a minimum of disruption and without the need for massive manpower resources.

Instead of scanning a container at various points during a door-to-door delivery - particularly if it is transhipped - the box would only have to be screened once, for example, at the load port.

Following that, regular interrogation of the sensors during the journey would quickly spot anything irregular. Otherwise, the container could be discharged without the need for any further security checks.

The container alert is able to generate warnings if, for example, container doors are opened unexpectedly, there is a break-in through the side walls or roof, a deviation from the planned route, cargo tampering, or if the box has been moved into an unauthorised area.

It is also able to distinguish between different types of motion or noises and send a signal in the case of some unexplained event. At times when the container is known to be in a safe environment, the sensors can remain dormant so as to conserve battery power.

If the container is transitting a high-risk area, the device could be programmed to transmit status reports every few minutes.

Thales R&T, part of the Paris-based multinational defence, aerospace and security systems group Thales, is already discussing trials with some shippers of high value merchandise or perishables.

The company is also in contact with shipping lines and container leasing companies about fitting the container alert device, which could cost as little as €30 apiece and, unlike an electronic seal, is re-usable. Each time, it would be rearmed with a unique number.

Exactly how much is stolen from containers is hard to establish, given the lack of collated data, but one figure cited puts the value at many billions of dollars a year, according to Gary Jordan, a senior engineer at Thales R&T.

Containers are also used by organised crime for smuggling illicit goods across borders and, potentially, by terrorists.

"The container is the weakest point in the supply chain," Mr Jordan told a presentation on the Thales R&T technology, which has been developed in collaboration with a number of other companies and organisations, including HM Revenue Customs and Imperial College in London.

The next step, however, is to agree common standards for a data reader, such as worldwide radio frequencies.

The time taken to be accepted by the ISO would depend very much on the extent of international support for a global standard, but could be reached within a couple of years.

What Thales R&T hopes to unveil next month, if given the green light by Brussels, is a standardised goods data device that would enable trade interests, handlers such as ports or transport companies, and law enforcement agencies, to check on any suspicious activity involving the box and its contents during the entire journey.

The time and location of events like a door opening, large shocks or periods without movement would be recorded, so that responsibilities for such activities can be ascertained.

Once the European Commission has allowed the proposals submitted for its Secure Container Data Device Standardisation project to be published, Thales plans to present its recommended interface to a conference in Dubai in November.