OSHA's approach to risk assessment for setting a revised occupational exposure standard for 1,3-butadiene.
(73/95)
In its 1980 benzene decision [Industrial Union Department, ALF-CIO v. American Petroleum Institute, 448 U.S. 607 (1980)], the Supreme Court ruled that "before he can promulgate any permanent health or safety standard, the Secretary [of Labor] is required to make a threshold finding that a place of employment is unsafe--in the sense that significant risks are present and can be lessened by a change in practices" (448 U.S. at 642). The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has interpreted this to mean that whenever possible, it must quantify the risk associated with occupational exposure to a toxic substance at the current permissible exposure limit (PEL). If OSHA determines that there is significant risk to workers' health at its current standard, then it must quantify the risk associated with a variety of alternative standards to determine at what level, if any, occupational exposure to a substance no longer poses a significant risk. For rulemaking on occupational exposure to 1,3-butadiene, there are two studies that are suitable for quantitative risk assessment. One is a mouse inhalation bioassay conducted by the National Toxicology Program (NTP), and the other is a rat inhalation bioassay conducted by Hazelton Laboratories Europe. Of the four risk assessments that have been submitted to OSHA, all four have used the mouse and/or rat data with a variety of models to quantify the risk associated with occupational exposure to 1,3-butadiene. In addition, OSHA has performed its own risk assessment using the female mouse and female rat data and the one-hit and multistage models.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) (+info)
Quantitative assessment of lives lost due to delay in the regulation of occupational exposure to benzene.
(74/95)
Benzene exposure can cause leukemia, aplastic anemia, and possibly lymphoma. In 1978, on the basis of strong but incomplete data then available on the risk of benzene-induced leukemia, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reduced the permissible occupational exposure standard for benzene from 10 ppm to 1 ppm. Shortly thereafter, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed this ruling, and in 1980, the Supreme Court overturned the regulation, citing insufficient evidence of benefit. Thus, from 1978 until the standard was again lowered to 1 ppm in 1987, American workers were exposed to benzene at levels in excess of 1 ppm. An estimated 9600 were exposed to levels between 1 and 10 ppm, and an additional 370 were exposed at levels above 10 ppm. To assess the risk resulting from this delay in regulation, we have conducted an epidemiologic risk analysis. We merged data on numbers of persons (238,000) exposed to benzene in seven occupational categories with dose-response data from three epidemiologic studies. The range of risk in these studies indicates that 44 to 152 excess leukemia deaths will ultimately result from exposure to benzene at 10 ppm over a working lifetime (45 years) and that lower or briefer exposures will result in proportionately fewer deaths. On this basis, we calculated that between 30 and 490 excess leukemia deaths will ultimately result from occupational exposures to benzene greater than 1 ppm that occurred between 1978 and 1987. Deaths from aplastic anemia and lymphoma will likely add to this toll. These data confirm the risk of regulatory delay. They suggest that the courts, in reviewing public health regulations, must beware of facile cost-benefit arguments and be willing to accept strong evidence of health risk even when such evidence is incomplete. (+info)
Law and regulation of benzene.
(75/95)
OSHA has created final benzene regulations after extensive rulemakings on two occasions, 1978 and 1987. These standards have been the subject of extensive litigation for nearly 20 years. This article examines in detail the conceptual underpinnings of the Benzene Case, (which was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980) in light of U.S. administrative law precedents that have set limits upon administrative discretion under the test for "substantial evidence" and the "hard look doctrine." This article also addresses recent developments in the wake of the Benzene Case and their implications for benzene regulations following the "significant risk" doctrine in that case. This article briefly describes other national, regional, and international laws governing the use of benzene. This article concludes that the revisions of the benzene regulation and subsequent rulemaking provide substantial evidence of scientific underpinnings for regulatory action and that laws from other nations reflect an international consensus that occupational exposure to benzene is a proper subject of regulation. Such regulations and policies are therefore likely to withstand scrutiny and remain enforceable as widely accepted norms. (+info)
Hazard surveillance in occupational disease.
(76/95)
We have reviewed existing data sources available for conducting hazard surveillance. Both the NIOSH NOHS/NOES and the OSHA IMIS can have significant value for hazard surveillance that is designed both to establish priorities for various preventive strategies--including intervention, research, and planning--and to complement disease surveillance. These systems also have certain limitations that affect their overall value in these regards. We have proposed alternative hazard surveillance systems that would expand the database on actual exposures in the workplace by requiring that industry systematically conduct environmental monitoring for defined substances and then provide the data to OSHA and NIOSH for use in hazard surveillance. (+info)
Occupational lead poisoning in Ohio: surveillance using workers' compensation data.
(77/95)
To determine the utility of workers' compensation (WC) data in a system for the surveillance of occupational lead poisoning, we reviewed workers' compensation claims for lead poisoning in Ohio. For the period 1979 through 1983, 92 (81 per cent) of the 114 claims attributed to lead met our case definition of lead poisoning. The likelihood that a company had a case of lead poisoning was strongly correlated with the number of claims against the company. Thirty companies accounted for the 92 cases; two companies accounted for 49 per cent of these. Inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) occurred at 14 of these companies, all of which were cited for violations of the OSHA lead standard. Comparison of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes for the 14 companies inspected by OSHA with the 15 companies not inspected by OSHA revealed that OSHA inspected battery manufacturers, non-ferrous foundries, secondary smelters, and primary lead smelters, but not bridge painters, manufacturers of electronic components, mechanical power transmission equipment, pumps, and paints, nor a sheriff's office where firing range slugs were remelted to make new bullets. Neither the number of cases of lead poisoning at a company nor the size of a company was related to the likelihood of being inspected by OSHA. Claims for WC appear to be a useful adjunct to an occupational lead poisoning surveillance system; their usefulness should be compared to that of other systems such as laboratory reports of elevated blood lead levels in adults. (+info)
Compliance with OSHA record-keeping requirements.
(78/95)
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 requires employers to maintain records of workplace injuries and illnesses. To assess compliance with the law, data from the National Occupational Exposure Survey (NOES) were examined. Of the 4,185 companies with 11 or more employees, 75 per cent maintained OSHA Form 200 designed for recording illnesses and injuries. The number of employees and the presence of a union were positive determinants in the record maintenance. Of companies with 500 or more employees, 95 per cent kept records compared with 60 per cent of companies with between 11 and 99 employees. (+info)
Government regulation of occupational safety: underground coal mine accidents 1973-75.
(79/95)
The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of federal mine safety inspections on underground coal mine accidents. An economic incentives model is developed to relate federal enforcement activities to accident rates. The determinants of accident rates are analyzed for 535 coal mines during the period 1973-75. Estimates based on these data when applied to the model indicate that increasing inspections by 25 per cent would have produced a 13 per cent decline in fatal accidents and an 18 per cent decline in disabling accidents. (+info)
OSHA criteria for laboratory proficiency in blood lead analysis.
(80/95)
The OSHA lead standard, 29 CFR 1910.1025, was established to protect the health of workers exposed to the hazards of lead. The standard lists specific requirements to ensure that blood lead analyses--critical indicators of workers at risk--be performed reliably by laboratories. Employers must be laboratories that meet OSHA performance criteria in blood lead proficiency testing programs monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and certain States. This proficiency testing requires that, as a minimum, laboratories must report the equivalent of eight out of nine samples within acceptable limits for the most recent three quarters or similar period. For compliance purposes, OSHA circulates to its staff a "List of Laboratories Approved for Blood Lead Analysis" each quarter. (+info)