Industrial Health and Safety Criteria for Abrasive Blast ...

1 ' ' , ,fortheDivisionofLaboratoriesandCriteria Development, , (NIOSH)75-122 Singlecopiesareavailablefrom:OfficeofTec hnicalPublicationsNationalInstituteforOc cupationalSafetyandHealthPostOfficeBuild ingCincinnati,Ohio45202-(513/ 684-2723)Pleaseincludea :BethlehemSteelCorporation,Steelton,Penn sylvaniaWestEndIronWorks,Cambridge,Massa chusettsHaarmanSteelCompany,Willimansett ,MassachusettsAbrasiveBlastingandCoating Company,Springfield,MassachusettsBrownan dSharpeManufacturingCompany,Providence,R hodeIslandSanstormCompany,aDivisionofthe BigThreeIndustries,Houston,TexasTennesse ePipelineCompany,Cleveland,TexasBaylorCo mpany,Sugarland,TexasMiddlesexWeldingand SupplyCompany,Somerville,MassachusettsUn itedStatesNavy,Boston,MassachusettsUnite dStatesCoastGuard,Boston,MassachusettsAm ericanNationalStandardsInstitute.

2 Committeeon:SafetyCodeforExhaustSystemsC lemco-Clementina,Ltd.,SanFrancisco, ,Oakland,CaliforniaCycloneAbrasiveBlasti ngEquipmentCompany,Stockton, ,Belmont,CaliforniaPangbornDivision,TheC arborundumCompany,Hagerstown,MarylandWhe elabrator-FryeInc.,Mishawaka,IndianaBobS chmidtInc.,Houston,TexasPauli&GriffinCom pany,SanFrancisco,CaliforniaHodgeClemco, Ltd.,Sheffield,EnglandPressureBlastManuf acturingCo.,Inc.,Manchester,ConnecticutA lexanderSaunders&Co.,Inc.,ColdSpring,New YorkTritonCorporation,Houston, ,Sausalito,CaliforniaWewouldalsoliketoth ankthevariouslabororganizations,privatec ompanies,abrasiveblastcleaningandpersona lprotectiveequipmentmanufacturers, (CONT'D) ~.

3 (UnderHelmet) ' -InstallationsSurveyedAppendixB -TestEquipmentandProcedureviA-IB-1viiLIS TOFFIGURESLISTOFFIGURES(CONT'D) ,Hand-HeldNozzle(InstallationP-l)A-16 BlastOperatorEnvelopedbyDustCloud5623456 78 PortableBlastCleaningUnitwithOperatorInt eriorofBlastCleaningRoomHand-OperatedCab inetTypeBlastCleaningMachineAutomaticSwi ngTableBlastCleaningMachinePortableWetBl astCleaningMachineDustEvaluationForm(Sam ple)232426282954A-2A-3A-4A-SA-6 PortableBlastCleaningUnit(InstallationP- 2)PortableBlastCleaningMachine,Hand-Held NozzleCleaningShipinDrydock(Installation P-4)PortableBlastCleaningMachine,Hand-He ldNozzle(InstallationP-5)PortableBlastCl eaningMachine,Hand-HeldNozzle(Installati onP-6)ExhaustBlowersandDuctingtoOpenYard (InstallationP-9)A-20A-28A-32A-36A-47910 11121314 BlastOperatorEnvelopedbyDustCloud57 NeglectedRespiratedHelmet58 UnprotectedWorkerClearingDustCollectionH opper61 ParticleSettlingTime70 OctaveBandMeasurementsatSelectedFaciliti es, (InstallationP-9)AreaSurroundingBlastCle aningApparatus(Installation~-3)

4 GCAC orporationRespirableDustMonitorDatametri csSeries800-VTPA irflowMultimeterSoundLevelMonitoringInst rumentationA-48A-68B-2B-6B-715 Flat,C,andA-WeightingScalesareCommonlyin Use;D2isRecommended9316 Hand-OperatedPortableBlastCleaningMachin e9817 UnguardedBeltDriveforExhaustFan10118 MoundsofAbrasiveWasteMaterial10319 OpenElectricalConnectionBoxandAccumulate dWaste10720 TumbleBlastCleaningMachine10921 OpenWasteContainerandDischargeNearWorkSt ationIIIviiiB-4 MicrophonePositionRelativetoBlastOperato r'sEarforInsideHelmet ,Education,andWelfare,DivisionofLaborato riesandCriteriaDevelopment,NationalInsti tuteforOccupationalSafetyandHealth,Cinci nnati,Ohio, , Safety .

5 Andhealthcriteriaandtosubstantiallyimpro vepersonalprotectiveequipmentforabrasive blastcleaningoperatorsandotherworkerswho ,duetoproductionflowrequirements,spacere strictions, ~Theywereunstintinginprovidingcatalogs,t echnicalinformation, ,production,andsalesengineersuntilalltea mmemberswerefullyindoctrinatedintopast,p resent, ,rules,andregulationshavebeenlackingform anyyears, ~ , ,whichincludedbothfederalandprivateindus trialfacilities, , ,during, ~alprotectiveequipmentsuchasshortduratio nheadmasks,self-containedbreathinghelmet s(someofwhichareairconditioned),capes,le ggings,chaps,gloves,breathingairpurifier s, Downdraftandcrossdraftblastingrooms,usin gsteelshotandslagabrasives,providedgoodw orkingvisibilityinallcaseswheretheairflo wratewasatorabove18 Alargehood,withceilingexhaustedairflow, Ashipboardtank,ventilatedat57 CFM/FT2, Enclosed,ventilatedfacilitiessuchasblast ingrooms,wheningoodrepair, Enclosedfacilitiessuchasblastingrooms,in moderatedisrepairwithleakagethroughdoors eals,andthroughholesworninwalls,develope donlylocalnuisancedustconcentrations.

6 Enclosed,ventilatedautomaticandcabinetbl astingmachines,wheningoodrepair, Non-enclosed,portable, , , , , (Hediduseearplugs,however.)Hearingdamage wassubjectivelyobservedatsomefacilities, ,mostmachinesaresoldonabasicor"stripped" , ,suchitemsasdustcollectors,negativepress ureinterlock/sensingcontrolvalves,pneuma ticremotecontrolvalves,compressedairpuri fiers,moistureseparators, ' : affecttheworkers'lifesupportsystem permittheescapeofabrasivefromblastingcha mbers createadirtyanddustyenvironmentintheimme diateandnearbyworkareas , ,suchaswithsilicasand, ,aswithnontoxicabrasivessuchassteelshot, workersshouldberequiredtouserespiratoryp rotection,suchasdustmasksand/orhoods, ,blastoperatorsmustbeprotectedwithwell-m aintained, ,hand-heldblastingnozzles, , contributetothedevelopmentofexcessivenoi selevels preventobservationoftheoperatorfromtheex teriorofacleaningbooth,room.

7 Orchamberdistractfromtheoperatingefficie ncyofdustcollectionsystemsresultinsudden andaccidentalabrasivehosefailurerestrict theworkers' ;however, ,preferably,downdraftventilationsystemss houldbedesignedtoprovideadequatedustclea ranceforvisibilitywithaminimumairflowrat eof-20 ~dpoint,certainmachinesmayhavesuperioror built-insafetyandhealthprotection;howeve r, ,counteractingthenaturaltendencyofdustto settle,providesverypoordustremovalunless unrealisticairvelocities,suchasarefoundw ithinexhaustducting, ,suchasintanksandcabinets, , , ~ ; 'slevel,althoughsomeattentionhasbeengive ntohearingconservationattheuser' , , "pots" ,SectionVIII whichdefinesdesign,materials,andc~ ~ereofcodeconstruction,anumberof"homemad e" ,ifnotallofthe40statesrequi:ethatunfired pressurevesselsbeinternallye~ , ~1ts,f~wofthevesselsviewedhadbeeninterna llyinspected~uring~heent1reper10doftheop erationlife.

8 However, (masksandhoodsthatlackbreathingair,breat hing-airpurifiers,protectiveclothing,and metalair-supplyhelmets) , (alltypes)arefrequentlypositionedindense lypopulatedworkareaswherenearbyworkersar eexposedt odustan d noiselevelsthatcouldb e r evaryingdesignsof"deadman" ,tocontinuouspushbutton, , ,nonleakinghelmets, ~~~~= , otherabrasiveblastingoperationisperforme dsoastoallowgenerateddusttospreadtonearb yworkers,suitablemeasuresshouldbetakento protectthoseworkers:(1)Respiratormasksan dsafetyglassesshouldbeusedtoprotectagain stnuisance-typedusts.(2)Whendustlevelsar esufficientlyheavytocausemarkeddiscomfor t,distractionfromwork,orahealthhazard(ac cordingtothebestava~lablegUidesuchasACGI HTLV's), ~srequiringperformanceofanoperationsucha sairblowing~xcessabras~veordustfromthecl eanedobject, emandatorywhensilicasandisusedasanabrasi verega~ , ,especiallyblastingrooms,booths, , ,combinedwithvelocitiessufficienttoprovi degoodvisibilityduringblasting, (1) ,orbyothermeansof"onground"depression,cu tting,orpinchingbypedestrian, , (Figure14)

9 FromtheFederalRegisterofDecember16, 'searmustbemodifiedbytheknownattenuation characteristicsofanyearprotectiondevices used.(2) , , ~ ~ ,aminimumairflowrat~?fapproximately20 ,pastexperiencehasshown80 ~ (preferablyh~gher)butn olowerthant hosefordowndraftsystemsdesignedforidenti ca (3)Onatime-usebasis,allmetalpipelines,jo ints,bends,valvesconnectorsandnozzlessho uldbesubjectedtoregularinternalinspec~io ntodete~ ~ (4)Pressure"pots"orvesselsusedinconjunct ionwitha~rasiveblastcleaningoperationssh ouldbeexaminedforinternaldeteriorat1~ ~perat10n,the"pot"orpressurevesselshould besubjectedtoahydrostat1ctestatapressure of1-1 ,asanASME/NationalBoardCommissionedInspe ctor, "pots" "pots"orvesselsshouldbeconstructedinacco rdancewithASME pressurevesselcoderequirements.

10 (5)Pop-upvalvesusedtopressurizethe"pot" ,anddefectivepartsshouldbepromptlyreplac ed.(6)Pressure"pots"orvesselsshouldbedes ignedinamannerthatwillpermitfreeandeasye ntryoft~eabrasive,reducespillin~, (7)Theinteriorfloors,ledges,andshelfsurf aces(wheneverpracticalthelattertwoitemss houldbeavoided) , (8)Blastcleaningroomsshouldbeinspectedon aregularweeklybasistodetectholes,abraded metalenclosuresurfaces, ,theinteriorofblastcleaningroomsshouldbe rubberlinedtoreduceoperatingnoiseandtopr otectthemetalsidewallsfromabrasivedeteri oration.(9)InasimilarmannertoItem8,split ordividedblastcleaningroomsthatpermitthe entryofworkonanoverheadtravelingc