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E I A I . 6Cr-LiPi+-(efv).j- q 9711 Current Report Formaldehyde UAW ASKS COURT TO COMPEL OSHA TO ISSUE FORMALDEHYDE PROPOSAL Estimating that 1.4 million workers will continue to be exposedi to dangerous levels of formaldehyde while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration undertakes a "cumbersome regulatory" course, the United Auto Work- ers International Union asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit May l to compel the agency to issue a proposed standard within 30 days. On Aprili 15, OSHA announced its intention to initiate rulemaking proceedings to reduce worker exposure levels to formaldehyde. An advance notice of proposed rulemaking requested that concerned parties submit'comments addtess- ing exposure levels, technological feasibility, and economic feasibility, for a 120-day period (Current Report, April 25, p. 915).: The agency, however, has never disclosed, the petitioners charged, any timetable for rulemaking activity, including the expected; dates for both the proposed and final rules on formaldehyde. When asked by the UAW in mid-April' to provide such a timetable, OSHA failed to produce a copy of the regulatory agenda for the April 1, 1985, to March 31, 1986, time period prepared for the Office of Management and Budget under Executive Order 12498, according to the petitioners. That regulatory agenda, published in the Federal'Repis- ter April 29 (Current Report, May 2, p. 947), does not list formaldehyde among its rulemaking activities. OSHA offi- cials later explained to BNA that the agenda is prepared months in advance and was submitted'to OMB prior to the agency's decision to proceed;with'the rulemaking. With the issuance of the advance notice, the petitioners fear that OSHA will further delay the conclusion of the rulemaking process, the motion said. In the past, they point- ed out! the publication of ANPRs, as in the cases of the lead and cancer policies, has resulted in no additional regulatory action without the impetus of a court order. OSHA Said to Have Enough Data The agency has sulhcient: information at' this time to propose a standard for formaldehyde, the petitioners con- tend. To support that contention, petitioners noted that while OSHA claims to need additional information on exposure, no information of this type was called for at a Feb. 13-15 public meeting in Washington, D.C. (Current Report, Feb. 21, p. 731). Furthermore, the petitioners said, the agency had enough exposure data in January to reject the union's peti- tion for an emergency temporary standard, The petitioners will no longer pursue the issuance of an ETS, the motionnoted;,although they believe it stillican be properly compelled by the court. Battling over the ETS will serve only to distract the respondents from ttle rulemaking process, according to the petitioners, who now support an expedited rulemaking process to obtain health and safety protections for formaldehyde workers as soon as possible. The petitioners specifically requested that the court: 5-9-a5 . Require OSHA to issue a proposed standard reducing formaldehyde exposure levels 30 days after the court takes action. . Require OSHA to expedite the formaldehyde rulemaking., . Retain jurisdiction over this action., . Exhort OSHA to conclude its formaldehyde rulemaking within one year. In a second motion filed with the court, the petitioners presented their opposition to a Department of,Iabor motion to dismiss the action, International Union, United Auto- motrile; Aerospace and'Aqriculturat Implement Work- ers of America„ UA W, et al. v: Brock (No. 85-1003). The suit was originally brought to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the UAW and 13 other unions in 1982' to compel the agency to issue an ETS or take other appro- priate regulatory action. The Labor Department filed its motion upon the publica- tion of the ANPR requesting that the action be dismissed since the issue of the emergency standard had been disposed of and permanent rulemaking had been initiated. Challenging that motion, the UAW, argued that simple cessation of illegall conduct and a promise not to continue that conduct in the future does not render a controversy moot "The controversy persists," petitioners maintained, as OSHA has not' issued an ETS, promulgated a permanent standard, or announced any form of rulemaking schedule. Until a final rule is issued, they insisted, the court has "continuing jurisdiction~to grant additional relief to prevent unreasonable delay." Research JNEED FOR SURVEILLANCE, TRAINING SEEN EMPHASIZED IN NIOSH STRATEGIES ATLANTA - (By a BNA Staff Correspondent) - Recom- mendations from five workshops convened by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to consider strategies for preventing leading work-related illnesses and injuries emphasize "a crying need" for meaningful surveil- lance, NIOSH Director J. Donald Millar stated May 3. Millar's remarks came at the conclusion of a three-day conterence in which leading,experts in occupational safety and health were asked to review NIOSH draft strategy papers for preventing five major work-related disorders, and to make suggestions on how the strategy papers could be improved. The conference was co-sponsored by NIOSH and the Association for Schools of Public Health. The five disorders addressed were occupational lung dis- ease, musculoskeletal injuries, work-related cancer, severe traumatic injuries, and cardiovascular disease. A draft strategy paper on each disorder was•aesigned'to an individ- ual workshop for discussion, and each.workshop was led by a panel of experts from government, industry, labor, and the academic community. In addition to surveillance, the need for training also was a common theme in most of the workshop recommenda- tions, Millar also noted. Particular emphasis was placed on safety and health training for decision-makers in govern- OCCUpNiCeul Safety,6 FNe1P Rspnner 0095-5t~7~e5ffG..~Or

IT .~, .~ 972 mettt, yldustry;,labor; and academia, and the education of "the public~at'~ large," Millar observed. Other general themes emerging from the workshop dis- cussions were a"dfrombeati for control, technology," and recommendations for more demonstration studies, Millar commented. The NIOSH : director said that his agency has not "done enough" in the past regarding demonstration studies, and "must do more in the future." Millar's comments followed presentations by the chair- men ob the five workshops summarizing the findings of the workshop groups. Robert Glenn, director of the NIOSH Division of Respira- tory Disease Studies, who chaired the panel on lung diseases, said his group recommended that a"generic° strategy be followed in attempting to prevent work-related respiratory, disorders. The draft strategy, paper prepared by NIOSH staff scientists hadi suggested individual: efforts to control four specific disorders: silicosis, asbestos-related diseases, coaliworkers', pneumoconiosis, and byssinosis. The working group also recommended that disorders not originally included in the draft strategy paper, such as asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, be addressed' in prevention efforts, Glenn reported. Research needs cited' by the workshop participants in- clude a "fine tuning" of disease recognition at' "the lower end of the spectrum," development of early, detection meth- ods, studies on dose-response effects in silicosis and asbesto- sis, a determination as to whether pleural plaques are predictive of lung disease mortality, and studies on the extent of hypersensitivity pneumonitis, Glenn said; Participants,saw a need for NIOSH to be involved in anti- smoking efforts in the workplace, the NIOSH official also stated. There should be a push for legislation at the sthte level, and these laws should be targeted toward'controlling indoor air pollution rather than specifically trying to ban smoking, workshop participants indicated. Control of 'Traumatogens" The NIOSH draft strategy paper for musculoskeletal in- juries coined a new term, "traumatogens," to denote phys- ical forces that "produce wear and tear" on the muscles, joints, and bones, Barry Johnson, director of the NIOSH Division of Biomedical and'Behavioral Science,poted. Members of the workshop found the term "appealing," but "too restricted"'to pathogenic factors, Johnson reported. The panel! recommended that it be modified: to include personal and behavioral factors as well, he said. Participants recommended that a nationalicommittee for musculoskeletal injuries be formed to set research priori- ties, monitor developments in research, ensure the quality of research, and provide a forum for public awareness of musculoskeletal disorders, Johnson said. Additionally, the workshop recommended that preventive training programs include workplace designers and health care providers, and that cooperative partnerships in control technology research be encouraged. Also, the participants emphasized a need to look at the effectiveness of intervern tion strategies, to see how well they are working, Johnson said. Richard Lemen, director of the NIOSH: Division of Stan- dards, Development and Technology Transfer, said thaV members of the workshop on occupational cancers recom- mended that a "harmonized policy" be used to regulate workplace carcinogens.. They also recommended that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's carcino- gens policy be put into effect, and used to clear up a current backlog of needed standards.,he stated. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH REPORTER Actions thati can be taken now to prevent work-related cancer include development of better tools in epidemiology and toxicology, technical assistance to small industries, use of substitute materials, use of engineering controls, and lifestyle health promotion, the workshop found. Future ac- tions, should' include development of more experimentaP data, screening of worker populations, involvement of the medical community in occupational cancer prevention, and education of children regarding occupational disease, Le- men said. Model Injury Progroms John Moran, director of the NIOSH Division of Safety Research, indicated that the workshop on prevention of severe traumatic injuries also identified several specific preventive measures that could be put into effect immedi- ately, as well as other initiatives for future action: For the present, the workshop participants recommended that model programs for preventing occupational traumas be developed, and their use on a workplace-specific basis be encouraged, Moran reported. Information centers should be established, andithe maximum use of machine safeguarding should be promoted: The participants also urged that infor- mation on trauma controli be integrated into educational curricula, that research be expanded, and that a model training program be developed; Long term recommendations included development of a national trauma injury, surveillance system; promotion of epidemiologic studies, creation of trauma research associ- ations, monitoring of product liability rulings, greater rec- ognition of substance abuse as a factor in occupational injuries, andigreater accessing of data sources, Moran said. Philip Landrigan, director of the NIOSH Division of Sur- veillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Fieltli Studies, told the conference that there was "no question" among participants in the workshop on cardiovascular disorders that heart disease belongs on the list of7eading work-related disorders. NIOSH's inclusion of cardiovascular diseases was questioned by, some industry officials last year (Currenti Report, July 12, 1984, p. 159): Workshop participants recommended that an epidemi- ologicaUgroup be established in NIOSH specifically to study cardiovascular disorders, Landrigan said. They,also recom• mended that data collection systems be "refined" to include these disorders, and that short term cardio-toxic tests for chemicals be developed. Participants also reeommended that measurement tools be developed! to identify possible links between workplace stress factors and' cardiovascular disease, Landrigan re- marked. "Well run" health promotion programs were seen as an important factor in efforts to prevent work-related cardiovascular disease, Landrigan said, although such pro- grams must not be used as substitutes for "cleaning up the workplace." Millar said that NIOSH scientists will revise the five draft sttategy papers over the next two months. Under the insti- tute's current schedule, the revised drafts will be presented to members of the five workshop expert panels for final review by July 4, and a'blue book" compilation of the final strategies will be published in September, be reported: Ethy/ene Dibromide ~ OSHA REOUEST FOR,PEER REVIEW COMMENT UNTIMELY, BIASED, TWO'UNIONS CONTEND The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was guilty of biased phrasing when it made a request to peer S-9-ES Copp+gtnt O 1985 by The Bureau 1o/ National Aflairs. Inc. , ooBS-327716530•.50 ~ ~ Q ODA N a"i 6 ~T.~