Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-88-229-1985: Ormet Corporation; Hannibal, Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Moss, C. Eugene ; Stephenson, Richard L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request, an evaluation was made of possible exposures to magnetic fields and optical radiation among potroom workers at the Ormet Corporation (SIC-3334), Hannibal, Ohio. Ormet had a large aluminum reduction facility with six potrooms, each potroom consisting of two buildings, 100 feet long, housing 86 pots for a total of 1032 pots. The maximum levels of far ultraviolet, near ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation were nondetectable, 120 microwatts/square centimeter (cm2), 0.3 candela/cm2, and 190 milliwatts/cm2, respectively. Static magnetic field levels were as high as 1600 gauss at the location of the workers. Infrared radiation and static magnetic field levels were found to exceed the recommended guidelines from the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists of 10 milliwatts/cm2 and 600 gauss, respectively. The authors conclude that workers may be exposed to excessive levels of infrared radiation and static magnetic fields. Metal rod used to break up slag in the pots were affected by the strong magnetic fields, so that it was necessary for workers to exert considerable force to overcome the attraction to metal objects to use the rods
  
  this may present an ergonomic hazard. The authors recommend specific measures to reduce potentially significant occupational exposures and safety risks at this facility.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Aluminum Compounds Infrared Rays Magnetic Fields Metal Workers Occupational Health Radiation Safety Ultraviolet Rays
• Keywords:
  Aluminum Aluminum-industry Hazard-Confirmed HETA-88-229-1985 Infrared-radiation Infrared Radiation Magnetic-fields NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Nonionizing-radiation OSHA Region 5 Pot Room Primary Production Of Aluminum Radiation-exposure Ultraviolet-radiation Ultraviolet Radiation

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA882291985
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  24 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Jenkins, Sharon ; Conway, Kathleen
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00193559
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB90-180704
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 88-229-1985, 1989 Sep ; :1-22
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3334 - Primary aluminum - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a5e270771c36ddfaf3fee471ce5f6a776ebc182f50a570e69e01ee8689d516f6c1f495c71d33d91ffacd0596afb09b73699a16377b33b87c3256617a04ab557a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171797/cdc_171797_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 835.69 KB ]