Industrial health and safety criteria for abrasive blast cleaning operations

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boudreau E ; Coletta G ; Goodier JL ; Lucas R ; Boudreau E ; Coletta G ; Goodier JL ; Lucas R
• Description:
  The existing standards and safety and health conditions in a broad representative scope of abrasive blast cleaning operations within various US industries were evaluated. The goal of this assessment was to recommend changes or additions to enhance ventilation, safety, and health criteria and to substantially improve personal protective equipment for abrasive blast cleaning operators and other workers who, due to production flow requirements, space restrictions, or other work demands must work in the pressure blast cleaning area. Altogether, 92 manufacturers were contacted by mail. Numerous facilities were visited. The dust exposure depended on the equipment type and abrasive material used. Dust removal during and after blasting was found in all but three of ten blasting rooms and ventilated enclosures surveyed. Out of 22 separate abrasive blasting sites visited, only five produced sound levels that would allow a normal 8 hour working day without exceeding the present OSHA regulations. The greatest single adverse factor observed at most locations involved poor maintenance of the blast cleaning equipment. The authors conclude that blast operators using hand held nozzles are continually exposed to very high dust levels regardless of abrasive material or facility type. These operators must be protected by well maintained, respirated helmets. The most effective safety measure that could be taken would be to restrict the use of silica (14808607) sand abrasives in the abrasive blast cleaning industry. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Dust Metals Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Particulate Matter Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety
• Keywords:
  Abrasive-blasting Airborne-dusts Contract-099-72-0083 Dust-exposure Dust-inhalation Metal-dusts NIOSH-Contract Occupational-exposure Personal-protective-equipment Respirators Respiratory-protective-equipment

  More +
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Contract
• Genre:
  Final Contract Report ; Final Contract Report
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-214
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00211068
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB93-223022
• Citation:
  Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts 1973 Jun; :1-214
• CAS Registry Number:
  Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1973
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Arthur D. Little, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:689b043fbed32617fd50136c301bfb4a8caf16f0c22d8196352ea9c159463450834aa82beaeec5dc4aa53b013d8f7ca30b3736f60032b9a3535777d833e646bd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/204930/cdc_204930_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 6.78 MB ]