In the News with Marine Chemist Service, Inc.

As part of the National Fire Protection Association's commitment to enhancing public safety through the adoption and enforcement of key ANSI codes and standards, NFPA is making all of its codes and standards available for review online by the public. "On-demand review of NFPA's consensus documents conveniently places important safety information on the desktops of traditional users as well as others who have a keen interest," said NFPA President James M. Shannon. "NFPA is committed to serving the public's increasing interest in technical information, and online access to these key codes is a valuable resource." Access NFPA's codes and standards online, then either select the appropriate document range or scroll to the specific code/standard, click Preview this Document at the bottom of the page under Additional Information, and finally Open (again, near the bottom) the specific document. NFPA 306, for example, is now able online by clicking on the link and then Previewing.

Current NPFA 306 Revision Cycle

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

NIOSH's NPPTL Seeks Public Comment on PAPR Concept and Positive Pressure CC SCBA

Comments on a concept paper for powered air-purifying respirators (PAPR) performance requirements, NIOSH Docket Number 008, will be accepted through March 28, 2008. Details can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npptl/resources/pressrel/letters/lttr-010308.html. Comments are invited on any topic related to this concept paper.

NPPTL is also reevaluating its limitations on and precaution for safe use of positive-pressure closed-circuit self-contained breathing apparatus. Public comment on this document, NIOSH Docket Number 123, will be accepted until April 10, 2008. The full document can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/review/public/123.

Comments submitted by e-mail or mail should be addressed to the “NIOSH Docket Officer” and should specify the appropriate Docket Number and identify the author(s), return address, and a phone number, in case clarification is needed. Comments can be submitted by e-mail to niocindocket@cdc.gov. If submitting comments by e-mail, they may be provided as e-mail text or as a Word file attachment. Printed comments can be sent to: NIOSH Docket Office, Robert A. Taft Laboratories, MS-C34, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226.

Sample Standard Colors for Respirator Labeling

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has launched a new digital library for occupational and environmental health and safety professionals called OEHS Library Central. This resource offers downloadable versions of all AIHA print publications to subscribers and links to abstracting and databases for more than 150 science and technical journals. Further information is available at http://www.oehslibrary.org.

Research by NIOSH, commercial fishermen, and the commercial fishing industry has resulted in the development of a critical safety device for commercial use. In November 2007, NIOSH entered into a partnership with Emerald Marine Products, Seattle, WA, to develop the “e-stop” – an emergency device that can be used to quickly stop a deck winch if a fisherman becomes entangled or is about to become entangled in the winch. The e-stop can be retrofitted onto any winch and has been installed and tested on three fishing vessels in Washington and Alaska. Details about the e-stop are available from Emerald Marine at http://www.go2marine.com/product.do?no=162904F. For additional information, please contact Jennifer Lincoln, NIOSH, at JLincoln@cdc.gov or Robert McKibbin, NIOSH, at RMcKibbin@cdc.gov. Mention of a company name does not imply commercial endorsement by NIOSH.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

OSHA Publishes Proposal on Shipyard Employment

A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on General Working Conditions in Shipyard Employment was published in the Dec. 20, 2007, Federal Register. The proposed rule is designed to help reduce hazards and provide greater protection for shipyard employees. It also updates and clarifies provisions in the shipyard employment standards, including establishing minimum lighting for certain worksites, accounting for employees at the end of work shifts if they work in confined or isolated spaces, and adding uniform criteria to ensure that shipyards have an adequate number of appropriately trained first-aid providers. In addition, the proposal updates sanitation requirements. Comments are being accepted until March 19, 2008.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for New Respirator Fit-Testing Protocol

OSHA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for a new respirator fit-testing protocol-the Abbreviated Bitrex® Qualitative Fit-Testing (ABQLFT) protocol. The proposed rule would add the ABQLFT protocol as an alternative to the current OSHA-approved qualitative fit-test procedures. The ABQLFT protocol for the seven exercises listed in the existing OSHA-approved Bitrex fit-test procedure in the Respiratory Protection standard would shorten the duration of each of the seven fit-test exercises from one minute to 15 seconds. The proposed rule would apply to employers in shipyard employment, and the general and construction industries. Comments are being accepted until Feb. 25, 2008.

OSHA Reminds Employers and Employees About the Safe Use of Quick Coupling Devices

OSHA's Chicago Region, the Chicagoland Construction Safety Council, and the Underground Contractors Association (a participant in OSHA's Strategic Partnership Program), have joined forces to remind employers and employees about the hazards of using quick coupling devices and possible solutions to avoiding those hazards. Quick couplers allow operators of hydraulic excavators to change buckets or other attachments without leaving the excavator's cab. Unfortunately, the unexpected release of excavator buckets from quick coupling devices has resulted in injuries and deaths. OSHA's Safety and Health Information Bulletin entitled Hazards of Inadequately Securing Hydraulic Excavator Buckets When Using Quick Coupling Devices outlines specific methods for employers and employees to address the hazards and prevent further accidents.

Occupational Safety and Health

OSHA Issues Enforcement Procedures Directive for Hex Chrome Standards

OSHA has issued a new compliance directive for occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)). The directive, OSHA Instruction CPL 02-02-074, Inspection Procedures for the Chromium (VI) Standards, was effective January 24, 2008. <more>

OSHA's Shipyard Regulations Set for Revision

OSHA announced it is accepting public comments on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on General Working Conditions in Shipyard Employment. The proposed rule aims to help reduce hazards and provide greater protection for shipyard employees. The agency will be accepting public comments on the proposed rule until March 19.

"Working in shipyards is one of the most hazardous occupations in the nation," said Edwin Foulke Jr., assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "Shipyard employees perform industrial operations such as abrasive blasting and welding, operate heavy equipment and often work in confined spaces onboard vessels. This proposed rule would help reduce the hazards these employees face."

The proposal updates and clarifies provisions in the shipyard employment standards (29 CFR Part 1915 subpart F) that have largely gone unchanged since OSHA adopted them in 1972. OSHA proposes to revise and update existing provisions and to add new provisions, including the control of hazardous energy and motor vehicle safety. Other proposed updates include establishing minimum lighting for certain worksites, accounting for employees at the end of work-shifts if they work in confined spaces or alone in isolated spaces, and adding uniform criteria to ensure shipyards have an adequate number of appropriately trained first aid providers. The proposal also updates sanitation requirements.

Interested parties may submit comments electronically at www.regulations.gov, the Federal eRulemaking Portal; by sending three copies to the OSHA Docket Office, U.S. Department of Labor, Room N-2625, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room N-2625, Washington, DC 20210; or by faxing to 202-693-1678 if the comments and attachments do not exceed 10 pages. Comments must include the agency name and docket number OSHA-S049-2006-0675.

Environmental Protection

EPA's Mercury Rules Bite the Dust

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Feb. 8 said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency' violated the Clean Air Act through changes it made in regulating hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), specifically under the Clean Air Mercury Rule.

According to the court decision: "In December 2000, EPA concluded that it was 'appropriate and necessary' to regulate mercury emissions from coal- and oil-fired power plants under section 112 and listed these EGUs [electric generating units] as sources of HAPs regulated under that section. In 2005, after reconsidering its previous determination, EPA purported to remove these EGUs from the section 112 list."

EPA never made a specific finding to remove these plants from the list as it is required to do, the court said. <more>

Sea Power Ambassador

America faces a security crisis. The fleet of the U.S. Navy has dropped from 594 ships in 1987 to 279 ships today. This represents the smallest Navy in our Nation's history since 1917. For 12 years, the Nation has been ordering just six new ships a year, on average. This is the lowest rate of naval ship production since 1932, and if continued, our Navy will shrink to a fleet of 180 ships. While the Navy's fleet is on a dive course, the need for a larger and more capable fleet is more imperative now than at any other time in our history. <more>

Congress Calls for More Ships

Congressmen Ike Skelton (D-MO), Jack Murtha (D-PA), and Gene Taylor (D-MS), the Chairmen of the House Armed Services Committee, Defense Appropriations and Seapower & Expeditionary Forces Subcommittees, respectively, have announced that they will add money and five additional ships to the Administration’s FY 2008 naval shipbuilding budget. Their actions to increase the Navy’s shipbuilding budget are intended to accelerate rebuilding the U.S. naval fleet and to avert the looming threats to the U.S. from China and Russia. Both of those countries are currently engaged in a massive build-up of their blue water navies.

The President’s FY 2008 budget submission to Congress requests $12.5 billion for the procurement of seven naval ships. Included among the seven ships are one aircraft carrier, one nuclear attack class submarine, one amphibious transport dock ship, three littoral combat ships, and one combat force logistics ship. The budget also requests funds to complete the first two multi-mission land attack destroyers. While the FY 2008 request is an increase from last year, it falls short of the $14.1 billion that the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Mullen, stated was needed in FY 2008 to begin rebuilding America’s naval fleet.

Today, the U.S. naval fleet numbers just 276 ships, which is the smallest naval fleet this country has had in ninety years. The decline in the size of the fleet coincides with an increase in naval missions, which is creating a national security crisis. America’s submarine fleet is slated to drop below the required force structure of 48 subs for 14 years by 2020. Moreover, naval leaders acknowledged to Congress that the current submarine fleet is only able to respond to 62% of all missions. The country’s aircraft carrier fleet will drop to 10 aircraft carriers from the established requirement of 12 carriers or more. Shortages of all types of ships have been documented. With growing unrest in the Middle East and Asia, greater numbers of ships are being deployed to the Pacific to counter threats from Iran, North Korea, and China, which leaves other areas of the world under-defended. The effort of Skelton, Murtha, and Taylor to arrest the decline of the fleet is a vital first step to ensuring that the United States possesses the seapower needed to defend itself.

VA NewsWire

Virginia Completes First Design-Build Road Project

PORTSMOUTH--The Virginia Department of Transportation has opened the first design-build roadway project in Virginia, expanding access to APM Terminals and doubling the shipping capacity of the port. The private design-build team, which included contractor Tidewater Skanska and engineering firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, completed the $22 million project ahead of schedule. Said Greg Lassiter, director of Design-Build Delivery for VHB: "The resulting time savings from this design-build contract meant lower costs for the Commonwealth of Virginia and earlier utilization of APMT's marine container terminal. This project is a model of what the design-build method should be all about." <more>

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Online Access to all NFPA Codes and Standards

Current NPFA 306 Revision Cycle

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

NIOSH's NPPTL Seeks Public Comment on PAPR Concept and Positive Pressure CC SCBA

Sample Standard Colors for Respirator Labeling

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Occupational Safety and Health

OSHA Issues Enforcement Procedures Directive for Hex Chrome Standards

OSHA's Shipyard Regulations Set for Revision

Environmental Protection

EPA's Mercury Rules Bite the Dust

Sea Power Ambassador

Congress Calls for More Ships

VA NewsWire

Virginia Completes First Design-Build Road Project