Workers Demand Stronger OSHA Safeguards Against Reactive Chemical Explosions, Fires, Toxic Releases

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Workers Demand Stronger OSHA Safeguards Against Reactive Chemical Explosions, Fires, Toxic Releases

The following statement is from PACE International Union:

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, Jun. 9 -/E-Wire/-- Eight international unions, the AFL-CIO and the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO today petitioned the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to amend the OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) standard to strengthen its regulation of reactive chemicals and how they should be stored and handled to prevent explosions, fires and toxic releases in communities across America.

The unions' petition to OSHA comes one day before the agency, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hold a roundtable discussion on June 10 to focus on regulatory alternatives for controlling reactive hazards. Three of the petitioning unionsâPACE, UNITE and the ICWUCâwill be speaking at the roundtable session.

The petitioning unions include the AFL-CIO; Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO; Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union (PACE); Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE); United Steelworkers of America (USWA); International Chemical Workers Union (ICWUC); International Association of Firefighters (IAFF); Communications Workers of America (CWA); International Union, UAW; and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).

The unions have urged OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency to act on reactive chemicals since 1995. They petitioned OSHA for an emergency temporary standard on reactive chemicals after two UNITE members and three supervisors were killed in an April 1995 fire and explosion at Napp Technologies in Lodi, N.J.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) released a major report on Sept. 17, 2002, which pointed out serious deficiencies in the PSM standard. It called reactive chemical incidents a "significant chemical safety problem," and said the incidents have the potential for occurring at a wide range of worksites and "can severely affect workers and the public, as well as cause major economic losses and environmental damage."

Based on a review of limited data available, the CSB identified 167 reactive incidents between 1980 and 2001, resulting in 108 fatalities. Since 1993, when the PSM standard became effective, there have been at least 92 reactive chemical incidents.

The CSB report recommended that OSHA make improvements in the PSM standard to help prevent additional reactive incidents.

The unions' petition asks OSHA to amend the standard in the following ways:

--- Require employers to use recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices for all covered chemical processes;

--- Broaden the definition of what is considered a reactive chemical;

--- Expand the required process safety information provided to employees;

--- Amend the process hazard analysis to include a qualitative risk assessment and an evaluation of reactivity hazards;

--- Broaden the application of the standard to apply to contractors involved in process operations;

--- Amend the management of change provisions to include changes in personnel and deviation from established procedure; and

--- Remove the exemption from PSM coverage of atmospheric storage tanks.

The Oct. 13, 1998 explosion at the former Condea Vista plant in Baltimore, Maryland, illustrates how chemicals not covered under OSHA's Process Safety Management standard can cause dangerous reactions. When an attempt to use nitrogen to clear a reactor and lines of a mixture of aluminum chloride, aluminum and other compounds failed, steam was applied. The steam reacted with the mixture and caused the rapid generation of hydrogen gas. The resulting gas pressure caused the vessel to burst and the hydrogen to ignite. Five workers were injured and the plant was temporarily closed.

"Unfortunately, this incident is representative of the type of reactions which can occur in many facilities not covered under the standard," said Jennifer Woodard, president of the ICWUC/UFCW Local 853C. "We were lucky. We could have lost several workers that evening. Unless OSHA acts, many employers and workers will not know how to plan and prevent these hazards, and workers will have nowhere to turn if employers don't act responsibly."

An electronic press kit is available at http://www.paceunion.org/mediakit.htm.

PACE International Union

Industrial Hygienist,

Safety & Health Dept.,

UNITE Health and Safety Director,

(pager) [REDACTED-PHONE],

PACE Health and Safety Coordinator,

(cell) [REDACTED-PHONE],

USWA Job Safety Trainer,

ICWUC Health & Safety Director,

injured in 1995 Napp Technologies explosion,

injured in 1998 Morton Chemicals explosion in

injured in a March 2000 Phillips Chemical explosion in Pasadena, Tex.,

ICWUC/UFCW Local 853C president,

former Condea Vista plant,

http://www.paceunion.org/mediakit.htm

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