Occupational Safety & Health Reporter - OSHA Head Says Rescue Workers' Safety


Volume 31 Number 37 Thursday, September 20, 2001	Page 853
ISSN 1522-4082
News

Labor Department OSHA Head Says Rescue Workers' Safety In New York, Pentagon 'Number One Priority'

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is "desperately trying to ensure" that rescue workers are properly protected as they endeavor to deal with the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and the Pentagon, according to John Henshaw, the agency head.

"We have lost too many lives," Henshaw told BNA Sept. 18. "We intend to lose no more." Protection of rescue workers is the agency's "number one priority," he said.

Henshaw, who traveled to the New York City disaster area Sept. 14, said continued testing of buildings in areas surrounding the World Trade Center where public access is "not controlled" shows a small percentage of asbestos levels, an average range of 2.1 percent to 3.2 percent, slightly above the 1 percent trigger for what OSHA said defines "asbestos material."

Testing in the restricted "warm zone"--the controlled part of the damaged area--has not found concentrations of asbestos over OSHA threshold standards of 0.1 fiber per cubic centimeter and a 30-minute short-term exposure limit of 1 fiber per cc, Henshaw said. None of the test results indicates contamination "approaching those levels," he said. OSHA has not and does not intend to characterize exposures in the "hot zone," given the continuous variations in the conditions of the rubble, the OSHA administrator said.

Asbestos is the principal air-level contaminant OSHA has been focusing on in recent testing in the New York City financial district. However, lead also has been detected in tests performed at "ground zero," Henshaw said. He suggested the levels could be linked to the torches being used to cut through steel. "Silica levels are believed low," he said, although the sample results are not yet available.

"There wasn't that much asbestos" in the World Trade Center, Henshaw said. "Most had been removed" prior to the building's destruction, although there is some "encapsulated" asbestos for fire protection on I-beams in the lower levels of the building.

OSHA also is advising the rescue workers at the Pentagon on concerns surrounding possible asbestos exposure that could threaten rescue operations as well as other workers.

Two-Pronged Approach

OSHA is taking a two-pronged approach to the damaged areas at both sites, Henshaw said. In addition to "characterizing exposures," the agency is helping to distribute respirators and educating rescue workers about the need for "half-face respiratory protection."

Henshaw commended respirator manufacturers, such as MSA of Pittsburgh, for their prompt response to requests for protective equipment. He also praised the American Industrial Hygiene Association and American Society of Safety Engineers for establishing safety and health hotlines to assist businesses seeking to reopen their facilities.

OSHA, which is working in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency, played a role in the decision to reopen New York City's financial district, Henshaw said. Air samples taken by agency staff Sept. 13 from buildings within the district turned up negative for asbestos.

EPA said in a statement that despite findings of various asbestos levels in bulk debris and dust on the ground, there is no significant health risk to the general public. The agency has deployed vacuum trucks to remove as much of the dust and debris as possible from the areas tested. The agency will be moving six continuous air monitoring stations in the area, "five near ground zero and one on Canal St.," EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said Sept. 14.

OSHA also has been working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and New York City's office of emergency management, Henshaw said.

AIHA's toll-free safety and health hotline is (703) 849-888 and ASSE's is (847) 699-2929.

By Deborah Billings

Reproduced with permission from
Occupational Safety & Health Reporter, Vol. 31, No. 37,
p. 853 (Sept. 20, 2001).