Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-91-053-2320: Union Tank Car; Cleveland, Texas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Shults, Ruth A. ; Sussell, Aaron L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the United Steelworkers of America, an investigation was made of possible hazardous working conditions at Union Tank Car (SIC-4789), Cleveland, Texas during railroad tank car repair. Respiratory irritation had been reported by several workers. The company refurbishes, repairs and performs routine maintenance on railroad tank cars. There were 237 full time employees at the time of the first of two site visits
  
  there were 164 full time employees at the time of the second visit. During arc gouging, welding, cutting and interior sweeping on railroad tank cars, workers were exposed to levels of arsenic (7440382), iron (7439896), nickel (7440020), and nitrogen-dioxide (10102440) which constituted a health hazard. Potential hazards also existed in exposures to isocyanates, chromium (7440473), and asbestos (1332214). Urine tests suggested occupational exposure to arsenic. The authors conclude that health hazards existed during arc gouging, welding, cutting and interior sweeping on railroad tank cars
  
  during car maintenance activities, potential hazards existed from exposures to contaminants. The authors recommend that engineering controls, improved respiratory protection, and administrative controls be instituted to prevent both routine overexposures and acute exposure incidents.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Lung Metals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Railroads Respiratory System Safety Welding
• Keywords:
  Air Arc Gouging Arc-welding Arsenic Chromium Cutting Hazard-Confirmed HETA-91-053-2320 Insulation-materials Isocyanates Lung-irritants Metal-fumes NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure OSHA Region 6 Railroad-industry Railroad Car Repair Tank Cars Transportation Services, Not Elsewhere Classified Welding

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA910532320
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Texas ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  47 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Almaguer, Daniel ; Buchta, Teresa M. ; Burton, Nancy C. ; Cook, Calvin K. ; Decker, John A. ; Kinnes, Gregory M.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00215692
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB94-111473
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 91-053-2320, 1993 May ; :1-51
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2) ; Iron (CAS RN 7439-89-6) ; Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Nitrogen dioxide (CAS RN 10102-44-0) ; Chromium (CAS RN 7440-47-3) ; Asbestos (CAS RN 1332-21-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  4789 - Transportation services, not elsewhere classified - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:837d500324ec0305b83bc80744057f7a8dde1abfe7d266a8ce8b8e94f1baa46ff071016dd800667def3def08cb16f83254eb8394a9f33cd65a2dca11fb09304e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171468/cdc_171468_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.88 MB ]