Resource Guide for Right to Know Training
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A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR RIGHT TO KNOW TRAINING ~NEW~~~ IERSlY DEPARTMENT OF Division of Epidemiology, HIAI.lH Environmental and Occupational Health Services A BETIER STATE OF HEALTH Christine Todd Whitman Len Fishman Governor Commissioner of Health A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR RIGHT TO KNOW TRAINING Prepared by: Karen Miles, Ph.D., CHES Juanita Bynum, M.Ed., CHES William E. Parkin, D.V.M., Dr.P.H., Assistant Commissioner Division of Epidemiology, EnvironmenW and Occupational Health Services Kathleen O'Leary, M.S., Director Occupational Health Service Richard Willinger, J.D., M.P.H., Manager Right to Know Program JUNE 1994 ..A Resource Guide For Right to Know Training" was written by Karen Miles, Ph.D., CHES, former Coordinator of the Education and Outreach Project in the Right to Know Program, New Jersey Department of Health. This Guide was developed to assist public employees who conduct Right to Know education and training at their facility by providing background information on occupational health principles, the New Jersey Worker and Community Right to Know Act, and the Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Act. The Resource Guide was edited by Juanita Bynum, M.Ed., CHES, Coordinator of the Education and Outreach Project of the Right to Know Program and Nancy Savage, Education and Outreach Project to reflect the August 2, 1993 and Januacy 3, 1994 amendments to the Right to Know regulations. Special thanks are extended to Richard Willinger, Program Manager, Right to Know Program, and Kathleen O'Leacy, Service Director, Occupational Health Service, who reviewed and edited the Guide, and to Eva McGovern and Cynthia McCoy for their assistance. The Right to Know Program, along with the Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Program and the Smveillance Program, constitute the Occupational Health Service. This Service is located in the Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health Services in the State Department of Health. Additional materials are available from the Right to Know Program, such as: the Right to Know Brochure, Public and Private Sources of Occupational Health Information, The Effects ofToxic Substances, Bibliography for a Workplace Occupational Health Training Program,IITK/PEOSHAvideo,TheTrainer'sGuidetotheNewJerseyRighttoKnowLaw, and a list of available Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets. This material can be obtained for free (except for the videos) by writing to the: Right to Know Program New Jersey Department of Health CN 368 Trenton, NJ 08625-0368 or by calling the Right to Know infoline at: (609) 984-2202 TABLE OF CONTENTS Occupational Health and Safety.................................................................... 1 I. History of Occupational Health ........................................................... 1 II. Hazardous Substances ....................................................................... 5 What is a Hazardous Substance? ........................................................ 5 Forms of Hazardous Substances .................................................... 5 Routes of Exposure ........................................................................ 6 Acute vs Chronic Effects ................................................................ 7 Type of Damage Caused by Hazardous Substances ........................ 8 How to IdentifY a Hazard .................................................................... 9 Using Your Senses to IdentifY a Hazard ........................................ 10 Krlowing Work Processes ............................................................. 11 Other Informative Materials Around the Workplace Which Help in IdentifYing a Hazard . .. .. .. 11 Evaluate the Seriousness of a Hazard ............................................... 13 Air Samples . 14 Other Types of Samples . 14 What do the Sampling Results Mean? .......................................... 15 Problems with Exposure Limits . 16 Medical Surveillance .................................................................... 16 Control Measures to Prevent Hazardous Exposure ............................ 17 Substitution . 17 Change the Process . 18 Isolation ...................................................................................... 18 Enclosure . 18 Ventilation ................................................................................... 18 Housekeeping . 19 Administrative Measures.............................................................. 19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) . .. .. 19 III. Conclusion ....................................................................................... 23 New Jersey Worker and Community Right to Krlow Act ............................... 27 I. Background of the Right to Krlow Law ............................................... 27 Role of State Agencies ....................................................................... 28 TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) Role of Oilier .Agencies . 30 Rigllt to K:rlow Advtsocy Councll . .. .. .. .. .. .. 30 Components of the Rigllt to K:rlow Law . 31 Rigllt to K:rlow Hazardous Substance Ust .. 31 Rtgllt to K:rlow Survey •. •. •. •. •. •. •. 31 Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets . 31 Labeling . 32 Education and '!'raining Program . 38 Rigllts and Responsibilities . 40 Employers' Responsibilities .......................................................... 40 Workers' Rigllts ........................................................................... 40 New Jersey Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Act .............. 45 I. Background of the PEOSH Act . 45 Role of the Depart:Inent of Healtll .... ~ ................................................. 45 Investigations . 45 Standards Development ............................................................... 46 Techrllcal .Assistance.................................................................... 4 7 Education . 4 7 Role of Oth.er Departiilents................................................................ 4 7 II. Summacy ......................................................................................... 49 III. Definitions . 51 IV. References . 57 .Appendix A: Rigllt to K:rlow .Agencies........................................................... 61 Appendix B: Respirator Information ............................................................ 65 Appendix C: Sample Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet and Description of a Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet ................... 75 Appendix D: New Jersey Rigllt to K:rlow Labels ............................................ 87 Appendix E: Sample 1993 Rigllt to K:rlow Survey, Common Survey Errors, and Commonly .Asked Questions . 89 Appendix F: Letter Requesting RrK Survey and Hazardous Substance Fact Sheets .......................................................... 101 Appendix G: Other Sources of Information .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 103 Appendix H: PEOSH .Agencies ... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 111 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY OccUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY I. WSTORY OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH throughout history people have been exposed to hazards in the workplace. For T example, 3 or 4 hours in the days of the Romans, mercury production workers wore ox bladders as a primitive type of respirator to prevent breathing in the poisonous vapors. Scribes in the Middle Ages suffered lead poisoning as a result of shaping their quills with their tongues after dipping the quills into metallic ink solutions. In the 19th century, workers in the hat industry suffered extensive brain damage when they inhaled mercury vapors while treating fur pelts to make felt. Because of this brain damage these people appeared to be insane, thus the term "mad as a hatter" or "the mad hatter." Children were also not immune from occupational hazards. Often children ofworking class families were sold into involuntary servitude and forced into jobs such as chimney sweeps. Chimney sweepers were often burnt or suffocated when they were forced up the flue. So it is not surprising that the average life expectancy for laborers in 1842 was only 16 years! (Hanlon, 1974). However, some concerned citizens started to do something to make people aware about occupational health. In Italy, Ramazzini (1633-1714) wrote "Discourse on the Diseases ofWorkers," which discussed diseases ofworkers in a multitude of trades. This is one of the first publications which discussed occupationally-induced disease. For his work, Ramazzini is considered by many to be the father of occupational medicine. He also suggested that measures should be taken to protect workers in various trades. In the early 1800's, Edwin Chadwick, a British health officer, made progress toward improving health conditions of the workplace by limiting the number of hours worked by workers in a day and requiring children who worked in factories to go to school every day. Dr. Alice Hamilton, an industrial toxicologist, is universally regarded as the legendary pioneer of industrial medicine in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. Her work focused on the recognition of lead poisoning in poor immigrant workers who lived in the slums around social worker Jane Addams' Hull House. In 1897, Great Britain became the first industrialized country to compensate employees for injuries sustained on the job. By 1906 this legislation was expanded to include occupational disease. In 1911, Wisconsin passed the first worker compensation legislation in the United States. California followed with progressive legislation that included compensation for occupational disease.