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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
today announced that industries using styrene have adopted a voluntary
compliance program to protect their employees. About 90,000 workers, including
those who make boats, tubs and showers, are potentially exposed to styrene, an
air contaminant that has a narcotic effect.
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and
Health Joseph A. Dear said, "These industries should be commended for stepping
forward and demonstrating their willingness to serve as our partner in
guaranteeing better health protection for their workers."
The program will voluntarily lower styrene exposure limits
to the levels set by OSHA in its January, 1989, rule on permissible exposure
limits (PELs) for air contaminants. The limits were later vacated by court
order. The 1989 limits for styrene will give better protection than the 1971
limits that OSHA has been forced to use because of the court action.
The program also will include industry-wide communication,
training and voluntary efforts to determine employer compliance with the more
protective 1989 limits.
The 1989 rule said that styrene concentrations in
workplace air should not exceed 50 ppm (parts per million) for an 8-hour
time-weighted average (TWA). The short-term exposure limit (for 15 minutes) was
established at 100 ppm. The substance was to be regulated on the basis of
avoidance of narcotic effects upon workers.
However, in July 1992, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Eleventh Circuit invalidated the entire rule, which had established PELs for
164 substances not previously regulated by OSHA and revised the PELs for 212
others, including styrene.
Although the PEL for styrene was not one of the
approximately 15 limits ultimately challenged by various plaintiffs, the court
vacated the styrene PEL along with all the others.
OSHA responded to the court ruling by publishing a revised
table of PELs that reinstated 1971 levels. For styrene, the standard reverted
back to the previous levels of 100 ppm TWA, 200 ppm ceiling, and a 600 ppm
5-minute peak.
The styrene industry includes styrene monomer
manufacturers, polymer producers and downstream users of styrene in the
reinforced plastics industry.
Based on information the industry provided to OSHA for the
1989 rulemaking, the final (1989) rule on styrene was viewed by industry as
fair and equitable.
In a Jan. 29, 1996, letter to Dear, John B. Jenks,
chairman of the Society of the Plastic Industry, Inc.'s Styrene Information
& Research Center, and nine other industry officials declared willingness
to comply with the lower limits. They expressed disappointment in the court's
decision to vacate the styrene portion of the standard both OSHA and industry
had worked so hard to produce.
The voluntary compliance program calls for the use of
engineering controls where feasible, or work practices or respiratory
protection to achieve the voluntary limits.
"Most of the styrene monomer manufacturers and polymer
producers can currently achieve the 50 ppm voluntary limit with engineering
controls. However, for the reinforced plastics industry, certain operations are
very difficult to control solely through engineering controls and work
practices. These operations, for example, include open molding and gelcoat
operations using manual lay-up and spray-up processes. Therefore, for those
difficult-to-control operations, respiratory protection may be needed to
achieve the new 50 ppm level," the letter said.
A comprehensive communication effort will be undertaken to
assure that all U.S. facilities producing and using styrene are made aware of
the voluntary compliance program and the responsibility to achieve the new
limits.
Comprehensive training programs will be held regionally,
in areas close to reinforced plastics facilities. The topical content and
program materials assembled for the training will be provided to OSHA for
review.
Employers are to assess compliance with the voluntary
standard. In July, 1996, and July, 1997, that data will be compiled and made
available to OSHA. The purpose is to demonstrate progress in achieving the
voluntary limit, and to indicate the extent of work that remains to be done. It
will be presented in summarized form, and individual companies will not be
identified.
Semiannual reports will be made to OSHA on the progress of
implementing the plan. OSHA will make the reports and training materials
available to affected employee organizations.
The goal is to comply with the lower limits by July,
1997.
Others signing the letter to Dear were Betsy M. Shirley,
executive director of the Styrene Information & Research Center; Kevin
Sullivan, chairman, and Catherine Randazzo, executive director, of the Society
of the Plastic Industry, Inc.'s Composites Institute; Lowell Miles, chairman,
and Melissa Henriksen, executive director, of the Composites Fabricators
Association; Roy Montgomery, chairman, and Jeff Napier, president, of the
National Marine Manufacturers Association; and Mike Smith, chairman, and Bari
Moorefield, executive director of the International Cast Polymer Association.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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