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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151
Labor Secretary Herman Releases First Rules of Her
Tenure
As many as 1,300 injuries may be avoided and several lives
saved each year in American ports under a sweeping update of safety rules aimed
at protecting workers in longshoring and marine terminal work, Secretary of
Labor Alexis M. Herman announced today.
The new rules, issued by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), are expected to save more than 30,000 lost work days
each year, reducing the expenses employers incur to pay for these injuries by
several million dollars annually.
"These new regulations give us an opportunity to protect
workers against the hazards associated with new technology for cargo-handling,"
Secretary Herman said. "Labor and management in the industry -- including small
employers -- worked with OSHA to develop a solid consensus in support of these
new rules."
Secretary Herman and Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor
for Occupational Safety and Health Gregory R. Watchman will sign the new rules
today during a ceremony in the Department of Labor with representatives of
unions and management in the industry. They are the first worker safety rules
issued since Herman became Secretary of Labor in May.
Watchman noted that OSHA had been using standards for
longshoring that dated back to the 1960's. Conditions in the industry have
changed dramatically since then.
Cargo handling has become more capital intensive and
mechanized in the last 20 years. New technologies include intermodalism,
which describes the transfer of cargo from one mode of transportation to
another, such as from rail to ship; containerization, the use of large
containers for the cargo; and roll-on, roll-off ships, vessels where the
cargo can be driven on or off the vessel on ramps and moved within the vessel
on ramps or elevators.
Although the weight of transported cargo (U.S. exports and
imports) remained unchanged between 1980 and 1990, the amount shipped via
intermodal containers more than doubled.
Changes in cargo transport technology have altered risks
that employees face on the docks and aboard ships. Mechanization has reduced
injuries due to overexertion and lifting, but new risks have arisen, such as
falls from containers stacked as high as 60 feet or being struck by forklifts
and tractor trailers moving containers.
The entire set of longshoring standards has been
modernized. OSHA also amended parallel sections of the standards for marine
terminals to provide regulatory consistency between shipboard and shoreside
operations.
In addition to protecting workers against hazards posed by
new technology, the new regulations also permit OSHA to conform to
international shipping requirements. Ships that call on U.S. ports are
essentially work sites built to international standards. OSHA's former
longshoring rules referenced an International Labor Organization (ILO)
convention adopted in 1932. The new rules reference an ILO convention adopted
in 1979 with requirements that will provide greater protection to workers and
address modern cargo handling methods.
OSHA estimates that the annual additional cost of
compliance will amount to about $3.1 million, but the economic savings due to
injuries that are avoided will be about $7 million annually, resulting in a net
savings of almost $4 million.
Organizations that worked with OSHA on the rules included
the International Longshoremen's Association, the International Longshoremen's
and Warehousemen's Union, the National Maritime Safety Association, American
Association of Port Authorities, the Pacific Maritime Association, the
International Cargo Handling Coordination Association, the International
Maritime Organization, and the International Standards Organization.
OSHA plans an extensive outreach program that includes
development of training materials and training sessions in every major port
that will involve training OSHA and state inspectors, employers, workers, and
Coast Guard personnel.
States with their own OSHA-approved occupational safety and
health programs whose plans cover the issues of maritime safety and health must
revise their existing standard within six months of the publication date of the
final standard or show OSHA why there is no need for such action because an
existing state standard covering this area is already "at least as effective"
as the revised federal standard.
Notice of the final rules will be published shortly in the
Federal Register.
FACT SHEET ON LONGSHORING AND MARINE TERMINAL
FINAL RULES
SUMMARY OF FACTS
- About 3,700 establishments are affected by the longshoring and marine
terminals standards.
- More than 93,000 longshore workers are affected by the standards.
Most of them are employed in the marine cargo handling industry with the
remainder in other industries and establishments such as electric utilities
that unload coal from barges or grain elevators that load grain onto barges.
- About 1.74 billion tons of cargo are handled in the U.S.
annually.
- The value of cargo is almost $900 billion.
- There is an average of 18 fatalities per year during marine cargo
handling activities.
- There are an estimated 7,593 injuries per year, including 5,060
lost-workday cases with an average of 38.9 lost workdays per case.
- Approximately 1,300 injuries and five fatalities are projected to be
avoided by compliance with the existing standards and the provisions of the new
rule.
- Estimated cost to industry: about $3.1 million annually.
- Engineering controls to be phased in to greatly reduce the fall
hazard of working on the tops of containers. Such falls will be almost
completely eliminated through use of positive container securing devices. The
requirement to use such devices ( e.g. semi-automatic twist locks that greatly
reduce the need to go aloft to unsecure and secure containers, and above-deck
cell guides for containers) in conjunction with the use of container gantry
cranes is being phased in over a two-year period. This will allow sufficient
time for the international shipping community to comply.
- During the phase-in period, fall protection systems must be used. In
addition, for ships being unloaded with non-container gantry cranes where
positive container securing devices do not eliminate the need to work on top of
containers, fall protection also is required. Labor and management reached
consensus on an 8-foot fall protection trigger height. This will provide worker
protection consistent with other parts of the marine cargo handling regulations
and is economically and technically feasible.
- These rules improve the old rules in the following ways:
- specification changed to performance language where possible
- in harmony with international guidelines. These international
provisions involve testing and inspection requirements for cranes and other
lifting gear. Because the requirements have a direct impact on the
international marine cargo community, OSHA is providing ample phase-in periods
for compliance: one year for testing and four years for inspection.
- modernized and clarified sections
- mandatory and non-mandatory appendices are included to assist
compliance and provide improved worker protection.
- Several new sections address changes in technology that have occurred
since the rule was first written:
- Handling containers. Ports that use container gantry cranes
(specially designed cranes used exclusively for lifting intermodal freight
containers) perform vertical lifts only. A non-vertical lift is typically made
with four wires connected to the hook of a non-container gantry crane or to a
spreader bar. Non-vertical lifts impose stress on the container and its
fittings, increasing the risk of a container failure. Non-vertical lifts also
increase the chance of snagging containers on ships' parts and rigging.
International container design standards permit only vertical lifts, but
non-vertical lifting is a common practice. A prohibition on non-vertical lifts
would largely affect smaller ports and small employers. Based on a study
performed by a recognized international expert on intermodal containers, and
with the consensus of labor and management, OSHA concluded that, under certain
conditions, lifts that were nearly vertical would be a practical and effective
safe practice. These "controlled conditions" are spelled out in the rule.
- Roll on/roll off (Ro/Ro) vessel operations. These are vessels
where the cargo can be driven on or off the vessel on ramps and moved within
the vessel on ramps or elevators. Traffic patterns can vary greatly in these
vessels, exposing personnel to being struck by vehicular traffic. There are
provisions for establishing traffic control systems and protecting workers who
might use the ship's ramp for access.
- Loading logs from the water.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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