The first one is fictional. It's Monday morning in the human resources office of the Uptown Manufacturing Company, which produces chrome-plated tools for general and scientific uses. Jack Mulgrave is reading the morning mail when he comes across an incident report from Linda Fuller, Uptown's most experienced supervisor.
The report reads: "Paul Wellington and Jane Simms developed redness on their hands while working in the 300 Area Plating Unit. Symptoms began showing up late Friday. The redness continued during their work shifts on Saturday. Both employees were using the required PPE."
Attached to the report is this hand-written note from Linda: "I looked at what they were using and I don't know why it happened. How fast can we get some help for these people?"
Uptown Manufacturing, like many companies these days, doesn't have a safety professional on staff. Consultants are used when problems arise, and this is a problem. So Jack calls Safety and Medical Consulting, Inc., and quickly explains the situation to his contact, Dr. Stanton.
Stanton arrives at the plant within the hour and begins touring the plating area with Linda Fuller, the supervisor. He meets with Paul and Jane. They describe how they do their jobs and the chemicals they use in the plating baths. Their work practices have not changed. Stanton inspects their gloves and finds no holes or other defects.
Paul shows the doctor how he decontaminates the gloves by washing with water, dipping them in a special alkaline soap solution, and rinsing again. After rinsing, Paul removes the gloves and hangs them to dry. Then he washes his hands using the same soap solution. He winces as his reddened hands react to the strong soap.
Dr. Stanton asks Paul why he is using such a harsh soap. Paul hesitates, then sheepishly says, "They were out of the hand soap at the store room and we were told that we always had to rinse both our gloves and our hands after using those chemicals. I guess...well, I just didn't think that the soap was that strong."
All cases are not this easy.
Here's our second example, based on an actual experience (the names are fictitious): Elaine Johnson is a secretary for Roberts Molding Company, a manufacturer of high quality parts using engineered plastics. Monday morning finds Elaine on the phone with her boss, Brad Roberts. She tells him she isn't coming in."Why?" he asks.
"I think I have the flu. I have fever, chills, chest pains, shortness of breath, and coughing. I don't know why. I was feeling okay at work on Friday-it just came on suddenly."
Tuesday morning Elaine is back at work with no further symptoms.
Three weeks later, this time on a Wednesday, Elaine again calls her boss to report that she's not coming in, and she is scared. She has the same symptoms as before; now she's going to her doctor for some tests. Several anxious days later, the test results come back negative.
The same symptoms occur three more times. Brad begins to wonder what kind of problems Elaine is having. Her work is beginning to suffer.
At lunch one day, Brad asks Pete Grace, the customer service laboratory manager, about some special samples that were due. Pete reports that the samples will be delayed a few days because Ed Spencer, the extruder operator, has been out twice with the flu.
"The flu?" Brad asks. "It's summertime. People don't get the flu in summer. Hmm.... Elaine has also been out with the flu."
As Brad and Pete discuss the coincidences, they realize both employees have been absent at the same time. Both brought in legitimate doctors' notes. Trying to solve these mystery absences, Brad calls Pete and the other two employees into his office.
He learns that Elaine takes her break with Ed and they stand on the loading dock to smoke. Elaine always seems to be out of cigarettes and borrows them from Ed, who keeps them in his shirt pocket.
Brad asks if Ed was working on the fluoropolymer samples during these past few weeks, and if he had cigarettes in his pocket when he was weighing out the polymer batches?
"Yes," Ed answers, "why?"
"Why? Because the two of you probably had Œpolymer fume fever', that's why," explains Brad.
Brad knows that certain fluorine-based polymers can cause the type of symptoms both employees experienced. This happens when smoking materials or employees contaminated with polymer are exposed to fumes generated during processing. "Keep your cigarettes wrapped and in your locker. No food or smoking materials in any lab or production area-starting immediately," are Brad's instructions. Here's our second example, based on an actual experience (the names are fictitious): Elaine Johnson is a secretary for Roberts Molding Company, a manufacturer of high quality parts using engineered plastics. Monday morning finds Elaine on the phone with her boss, Brad Roberts. She tells him she isn't coming in.
"Why?" he asks.
"I think I have the flu. I have fever, chills, chest pains, shortness of breath, and coughing. I don't know why. I was feeling okay at work on Friday-it just came on suddenly."
Tuesday morning Elaine is back at work with no further symptoms.
Three weeks later, this time on a Wednesday, Elaine again calls her boss to report that she's not coming in, and she is scared. She has the same symptoms as before; now she's going to her doctor for some tests. Several anxious days later, the test results come back negative.
The same symptoms occur three more times. Brad begins to wonder what kind of problems Elaine is having. Her work is beginning to suffer.
At lunch one day, Brad asks Pete Grace, the customer service laboratory manager, about some special samples that were due. Pete reports that the samples will be delayed a few days because Ed Spencer, the extruder operator, has been out twice with the flu.
"The flu?" Brad asks. "It's summertime. People don't get the flu in summer. Hmm.... Elaine has also been out with the flu."
As Brad and Pete discuss the coincidences, they realize both employees have been absent at the same time. Both brought in legitimate doctors' notes. Trying to solve these mystery absences, Brad calls Pete and the other two employees into his office.
He learns that Elaine takes her break with Ed and they stand on the loading dock to smoke. Elaine always seems to be out of cigarettes and borrows them from Ed, who keeps them in his shirt pocket.
Brad asks if Ed was working on the fluoropolymer samples during these past few weeks, and if he had cigarettes in his pocket when he was weighing out the polymer batches?
"Yes," Ed answers, "why?"
"Why? Because the two of you probably had Œpolymer fume fever', that's why," explains Brad.
Brad knows that certain fluorine-based polymers can cause the type of symptoms both employees experienced. This happens when smoking materials or employees contaminated with polymer are exposed to fumes generated during processing. "Keep your cigarettes wrapped and in your locker. No food or smoking materials in any lab or production area-starting immediately," are Brad's instructions.
Tracing the problem
These anecdotes tell of two types of chemical exposures, from the simple to the complex. Exposures occur with surprising frequency to employees in all types of industries-not just in chemical manufacturing plants but also in offices. OSHA's 1986 manual "Safety and Health Hazards in the Office" lists more than 225 chemical compounds that could be present in an office environment.To try to solve exposure mysteries, let's begin by briefly recounting some basic information. Chemical exposures occur by any of four modes:
Ingestion - chemicals on hands, cosmetics, food, gum or tobacco products pass through the mouth and throat to be absorbed in the stomach or intestine.
Inhalation - of fumes, dusts, particulates, mists, vapors or aerosols.
Contact or Absorption - solid, liquid or gaseous chemicals reacting with skin, eyes or mucous membranes.
Even though this list looks basic, tracking down causative agents can rival the cases of Sherlock Holmes.
Do your homework
As a safety professional and chemical exposure sleuth, your first step is to do as much investigation as you can. If you don't find the answer, you might need to call in outside help-industrial hygiene consultants, occupational medical specialists, or even NIOSH.Your investigation should begin with reference materials. Check material safety data sheets first, followed by other reference books or on-line databases. The Internet can help, along with several types of CD-ROM references.
The ROM disks distributed by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety is a good source (905-570-8094). Their databases include MSDSs; information from the Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS); NIOSHTIC®, a database published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; New Jersey Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets; and more. RTECS and NIOSHTIC are also available in paper or microfilm from National Technical Information Service (800-553-6847).
Hard copy references include "Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary" and "Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials," both published by Van Nostrand Reinhold; and "Patty's Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology," published by John Wiley & Sons.
Don't forget your professional associations-the American Society of Safety Engineers (708-692-4121) and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (703-849-8888).
Form a team
An investigation should be a team effort. It should include the exposed employee or employees and their supervisors. Your occupational health nurse and environmental professional should also be involved.
Interview employees
Each employee should be interviewed separately to get their story and then again in a group. What is said should be recorded so you and the team can analyze it. It might be difficult for employees to open up and be candid as they are being recorded, but you are trying to fix a problem, not affix blame.
Look for similarities and differences in employees' actions. Did anything in the work environment change? In the first example, the employees used the wrong soap in their personal washing.
Inspect workstations
Overexposure to certain physical hazards can sometimes be readily apparent. For example, not being able to shout to a co-worker who is standing three feet away from you is a good indication of a noise problem.Some chemical exposures can be obvious, too, such as:
- Walking into a print shop and immediately getting a headache and having your eyes tear from the solvent odor.
- Seeing a gray haze around grain unloading areas, which means solid particles and dust are escaping from the silos. As you walk through the haze, your breathing becomes difficult. You begin to cough and your throat feels dry. Hazardous? Once or twice probably not. But continued exposure to the dust, day in and day out, could lead to "grain fever," which is enhanced if the employee has other allergies, according to "Occupational Diseases, A Guide to Their Recognition," Revised Edition, 1977.
Companies using organic solvents know most solvents have odors that employees are rapidly able to identify. And most organic solvents cause defatting of the skin tissue and can lead to dermatitis with continued misuse or overexposure.
Call for experts
Some chemical exposures are not so obvious. They have no odor. They produce no colored haze. Examples of these types of exposures are water soluble metal solutions or ethylene glycol.
This is where industrial hygiene (IH) testing might be necessary. Your references from step one might give some suggestions on testing protocols. If you do not have the experience, call in a professional. A Certified Industrial Hygienist or IH consulting firm will be able to assist in determining what type of sampling will be appropriate. They might recommend personal sampling, area monitoring, wipe samples or even a bulk testing of chemicals used in the department.
This article has introduced some basic steps to track down chemical exposures in a work environment. Just remember, what we've talked about here is just the beginning. We haven't even touched on designing controls. Library shelves are filled with books on how to solve chemical exposure problems. This article will hopefully steer you in the right direction.
