Tobacco Documents Online

. . - Dlrect 0n on Health Standa r is .... ation of worker exposure limits for lead er photo, era brown lung ;~ictim; wd~ hot appealing, he says. "The .fact th.at it put" the industry on the defensive is absolute~ ly inappropriate." The entit;e budget for educational materials was drastically curtailed. 'Tin appall~d at the amount of money that's been spent in the past. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever." Auchter insists that his efforts to alter the akeney's di.rectio.n h'av6 been sup- ported by several union leaderships, but and c3tton dust, and he has postponed a tighter lim.it on workplace noise. He has exempted the construction industry from a require~ment that it .provide medical records to its worke~rs, and has delayed a requirement th~at the smelting industry comply with stiffer limits on'permissible levels of lead in~.blood. A host of new health standards under preparatirn be- fore the election have now been placed the~ shift in direction they are presiding . "bver~" have apparently lowered morale .. "" aiiaong the agency's technical and scien- - tific experts. Several, who ask not to be id.entifietl, express conceFn that Auchter has been more interested in gettihg ad- vice from trade association, r~pres.enta- tires thffn he has from them. "There has been little consultation and a lot of hip- shooting," says one. "Everyo.ne in health standards is restudying old rules, and everyone else is just sitting idly by." - A~chter says~:.that., in_itialappr-ehe-nsi0n ..... hasS~een din~inished amo~ag~sta~ff mem- bers- that he iii~ets with- frequently. . He-~acknowledgeff reeeivihg_~, good dekl--0f advice from Organiz~it!on Re- sources Counselors,Inc.~an |ndustrial re ..... latio~ns firm fo.unded 60 years ago by John D.'Rock~feller. "Any time we can get donated expertise, we're d~dgum go- ing to rise it," he says. The firm's small Washingtori off~ce is supported "by 60 -., large corporations, inclflding Du Pont, General Motors, IBM, AT&T, Exxon, Tenneco, and many others. "'We try to help OSHA do a more accurate job of setting standards," says office manager Richard Boggs, an industrial engineer. The firm has conveyed its m.embers' on the back burner, he declines to name them. "They have '. ....... Workers-remain--pr0teeted bY less-theirown problem~;'!.he s.ays; ~i-~-~~ - stringent~regtil~iions put into effect un-= =~ Meari~hile,~i:, direct~of - ...... der. Presidents Nixon and" Ford. And -th~ occupatio5al health department:;at ~?-- Aueh~er, a former constr_uction official,-_ the -AFL-CIO, says, "The Reagan Ad- may-yet conclude that the standards he--ministration promi~ed to laiid runriiii~ has. withdrawn t'or review.are so.u_nd.. In and. runni_n_g they are--to_ u_ndo all the light-rf-his remarks aboui ihem, howev- hard-won gains in worker safety and er, Auchter shows every-sign of beeom- health. of the. past 19,years." Taylor ing a leader in the deregulation effort recently "told. member union officials promised to industry b.y the Administra- that, "any of yogl w.ho reme.mbe~ the prr- lion. Whereas his predecessor, toxicolo- OSHA days know state enforcement of- • i gist Eula Bingham., deliberately pushed ten means no enforcement.WA group of the agency into new and frequently hos- environmentalists and uniori member's tile territory, Auehter says, "Our ap- recently picketed the White House to preach is one of intensive management. I protest Auchter's actions. Also, Repre- think that's the reason l'm here. In fact, sentative Joseph Gaydos .("D-Pa.), ch~iir- 1 know that's the reason I'm here. I'm a man of the House subcommittee, on believer and a creator and an implemen- health and safety, has held a series of tot of management systems. I don't feel recent hearings in which he criticized the complaints about the lead standard, the that.rules are a mea.sure of ~uccess-for decision to withdraw the toxic chemical noise standard, " and the rule requiring the agency." labeling requirement. In response, worker access to medical records:- Auehter and James Miller, head of the Auchter prq.mised to. rewrite it by I S, ep- Potential revisi0.n of the cdtton dust ~ deregulato.ry effort of the Office of Man- tember. He urges union critics to "hold standard, is exp¢ct.e.d to crea.te the most agement and Budget (0MB), have said their: judgment a little bit'10nger to see heated ephtroversy. The Carter Admin- poinl.edly that revie.w and revision of what the.result of our actions arc.'.'.:L't- . istration imposed the standard .a~er an current OSHA staridards is likely to g~i In the n~eantime, h.e'draws confidence, intern~ struggle in 1.97.8, citing'epidemi~- more attention, than new initiatives.. Con- ~rbm dose relations with regulatory re- logical studies linking exposu.re to byssi- sistent with Administration efforts in lief o'ffieials ~t OMB, who "are" ~n" turn trusts, a lung disease, in numerous ffork- other environmental and health .areas~ -well-tuned to a host of ~omplai~ing in- ers. OSHA .ran.de little att~m, pt then at they intend to return as much federal dustri~s. "It's really funny to sit back " comparing costs and benefits of .compli- Control over occupational health a.s pos- and see a lot of que~tio.ns ,I get, like ance, requiring lost.earl, that the affected sible to the states. And safety ~quire- who's running the agency, and is Miller segments ofindustry control the dust to ments, as distinct from health rules, will really the boss ofall this," Auchti:r says. the lowest level feasible: Lower courts be given added emphasis, Auchter said "'Jim and I chat about it, we laugh about upheld the requirement in industry chat- in a recent interview, A major objective, it when we get together. They don't tell lenges, and the Supre .me Court was set is to reduce work time lost to employers me what to work on. If I have questions, to rule on the cos.t-benefit issue when due to employee injury, Wtlic.h Auchter I call them and tell what direction we're Auchter, responding to appeals from the Tt05280t46

tam OoltwrlAmmican Labor Etluca~n C~nl~r _ Auchte~ had-all photos and quotations of workera e..xclsed fro.m, this booklet. Chamber of Commerce a~d others, re- versed OSHA's position, siding with the textile manufacturers and offering to do the analysis voluntarily. ~ ~ '" The textile unions are now concerned that the reanaly~is will lead the agency to : "" '- drop. engiheering and work practice re- " :.;~.-;:~f~l'ttirem'ddi~'th.at.~ere delayed until 1~}84, • :...;...-k. leaving in plaee.,.0.nly t,he.exist.ing .... ~that workers use respirators, Industry • favo/'s'fesi~iratbrs because they are the .... cliea~s't way to reduce exposurd, while "the iini6ns~,~'~they offer insufficient • ". protection and are bulky and a~vkward • .--: ~:~'.for 6,6[k~r~'t'~"~,~ir. Auchter .has. stated • .'- ~" ,. 'that the-discomfort to wbrkei:s mtist be. . "..:.~..=:~-.~.:='.~ei~.~'d'ag~inst things'employers arc . :~. c-~.a,, ked..to .do. by the'government "that are ~_ _ ,_ ~ not always .comfortable t6 ~herh:" " ---.._,~.~ also be aenmomous. Bmgham ~mposed ". -' _ . the standard m 1978 after collecting volu- .... -- " mino~s"~videne~" that" linked exposure with neurological problems, kidney im- pairment, and genetic effects. The rule would lower maximum-worker exposure to 50 m|crograms per cubic meter, aver- aged over 8 hours, a level that is one- quarter of the existing limit. Auchter wants to reexamine the standard's feasi- bility, and the possibility of easing re- quirements in the smelting, telecommu- nications, and ship-loading industries. Part of the standard requires that work- ers with blood levels of more than 60 • mlerogram~ of lead per milliliter be" re,- ~" moved from exposure until these levels drop by one-third. The requirement is based on studies linking lead levels . a_nmu~n t ou~.b~ha.vioral effects. The load industry complains that the requirement Will force it to lay off supervisory pe.rsonnel at excessive cost. - , " • Auchter has also postpoti6d the effec- tive date of a standard to limit workplace noise in all industries by 5 decibels below the current limit, because of studies indi- cating that one-fifth of those workers expos6d at that level suffered some per- manent hearing loss. Auchter says "the amount of detail in the requirement is mind-boggling, and the projected costs from my personal experience do not re- flect the-realities of setting up that sort of-- " progta~n ifyou h~,e to sta~from'sera_tch - as a small or medium-size employer:" Complaints ha:~e been rgceiYed from the • Iron and Steel Institute and-other trade . groups,_and a final decision is to be made. bylAugust• " ....... -, . ' ? Finally, there is-the withdrawal of the requirement for labeling of toxic chemi- cals, one of Bingham's key, initiatives. The rule w~uld have required manufac- turers to review data banks such as that maintained by the Natio/tal Libr~ry of Medfeine and deteri}a., in9 if their ehehaieaI Thorne G. Auchter ....... "We're certainly hot going re be rushed'" mackerel, this wilt put us out. of busi- ness." He says, "it's true I didn't con- sult with the unions before withdrawing it. The record spoke for itself." Review and redrafting of these rules leaves the health standards staff at OSHA time for little else. New standards on asbestos, formaldehyde, ethylene ox- - ide, 'and eadmium,am0ng others-in par--- ti~il Stages of pi'eparati0h, h~ve Seen put aside; Auchter says that he i-~ just now_ beginning work on a list of priority stan dards to be-considered under the-generic OSHA ca.reinogen policy, which is. itself likel~ to be i-6~ised. H~ acknowledges that a planned reduction of 5 people in the 50-person health standards office will slow the regulfitory process.'~. -' Auchter also says that• in each deliber- i~tibfi oha hazardous workplace chemi- cal, t.he "agency will no lohger act when the' evidence is merely sugkestive, as the fits one of 17 hazardous chiiracteristic~." 'court6 have sometimes permitted it to if so, precise labeling of the ehemi6al's ' do. While averting that he has ~,et to gain identit.y would b6"reqtiired'. Withdrawa~ a feel for the complexities of toxicity of the requiremeni was prompted largely • by the'Chemical Manufacturers Assoeia- ti.'on,' which cordp165fie~t t~ l[he White House and later to Labor'Secretary Ray Donovan that the list of hazardous char- acteristics was too long. Thomas Evans, director of regulatory ma'n~gement for the Monsanto Comp~iny, says "it is just testing, Auchter says "everything I've done in the past has b6~n based on "objective cv.idence, not-pot'enti~l ~vi- denee. If you have one study that says there is potential evidence and you have three studies that say there is no poten- tial evidence, then the potential evidence stud.y, is.in deep trouble.'" Epideminlo- unnecessarily burdensome. Workers will gists at the Environmeh't~il Protdetion "ignore° to~icity labels if they af.e'pl~7.. Agency, the Centers for DiseaSe Con- tered every~;hel:d." Au3iiiet:algo'g~,ys'lie." trol, and the National Cancer Institute received complaint's_frdm'ih~'fra~at{d~" have" pr6viously argued that negative industry" that the'la~el~"'~Jl~ f~'v~'~ "' studies should simply be discounted in :}i'~d6"'S~:~ret~S"Askdd~" if the "rule" safe,- " the face of well-performed positive ones. "-gii~d~akaiffsf thi~';'~A~iel~i~r.'said; "'tiae-:.~.i;"rll tell you this," Auchter says. "problem is that it is open tb inte~P~e~a-.:-_.'"~V'e'rc certainly notgogiaff to" b.e rushed tion, and that people concerned abou.t in what we do in the regulatory area--it'.s protecting their trade secrets read it a very ~erious bu~inesL completely the other way and say, holy ~R. JEFFI~E.y SMI't'H 14~3 T105280147