NIOSH testimony on interim decompression tables for caisson and tunnel workers by J. D. Millar, July 12, 1985.

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  This testimony concerned the regulations of OSHA related to decompression of employees returning to normal atmospheric pressures fRom, William N.ork in caissons or other areas of elevated pressures. The current regulations were based on tables which it was felt were inadequate to prevent acute, chronic or disabling injuries. Until definitive decompression tables have been obtained, such workers have been provided with interim tables which should provide a greatly increased margin of safety in decompression operations. NIOSH recommends that the enforcement activities on those sections of the current regulations which are known to be hazardous be suspended and that the interim tables be used as a consideration when applications for variances are considered. Specifically, NIOSH concluded that the C-3A Air Interim Decompression Tables be required as a minimum for further caisson/tunnel work until laboratory tested tables are available, that the G-3A1 Air Interim Decompression Table be used as a backup for the G-3A where environmental or individual conditions warrant, that the G-3B Oxygen Interim Decompression Tables not be used unless the contractor is willing to obtain special training for the personnel involved and properly maintain the required oxygen equipment, that the G-3C Air Saturation Interim Decompression Table be used whenever operational needs or emergencies require workers to remain under hyperbaric conditions for more than 8 hours, and that records of any incidents of decompression illness continue to be sent to OSHA.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Noise Noise, Occupational Occupational Health Safety Vibration
• Keywords:
  Caisson-disease Caisson-workers Construction-workers Hyperbaric-environments Hyperbarism Millar-J-D NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Testimony Tunnel-workers
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Testimony
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Louisiana ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OD - Office of the Director
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-54
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00193990
• 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, 1985 Jul; :1-54
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1985
• Performing Organization:
  Sea-Space Research Company, Inc.
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:95764edf40abda075aaaa84db2a7b657164e2f34b69634724e31584914d69d7f93478dca6efefd95f4f1b1fca413f4414d428277d8709e7873de73a6235161ef
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/180356/cdc_180356_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.48 MB ]