Canadian Occupational Safety

26 www.cos-mag.com Canadian Occupational Safety T rish Daubs' father worked for 35 years as a carpenter in the Chemical Valley, a 25-kilometre region in Sarnia, Ont., where more than 60 chemical plants and oil refin- eries are located. Much of his time in the plant was spent insulating pipes with asbestos. He wore no protec- tive equipment. Many years after he retired, he became extremely sick and died within two years. The cause of his death, Daubs would later find out, was mesothelioma, an aggressive, rare type of cancer whose strongest and most common risk factor is occupational exposure to asbestos. Within months of her father's death, Daubs' mother, who regularly washed her husbands' asbestos-laden clothes, also fell ill. Her illness, characterized by constant retching and night sweats followed by chills, was determined to also be mesothelioma. "When she met the doctors, they were really puzzled that a 77-year-old woman who had never worked outside of the home was dying from an indus- trial disease. When they discovered where my father worked and that she had washed his clothes, it suddenly all made sense to them," Daubs says. Daubs' mother died about a year and a half after her father. "My experience with industrial disease, quite honestly, has been dev- astating, especially knowing that it was preventable," she says. For workers who handle harmful substances, there is always a risk that some of that material will accumu- late on their work clothes or personal protective equipment (PPE). Leaving these contaminants on the clothing as they go to lunch, back to the sta- tion or home at the end of the day can produce serious health effects for them and their families. Workers and managers need to be aware of these dangers and know what decontami- nation procedures they should use to reduce unnecessary exposures. "Decontamination is a huge issue and it spans just about all industries," says Moira Botham, director of Calgary-based Mesa Environment, Health and Safety and former manager of health and safety at Cenovus Energy in Calgary. "In any industry or occu- pation that either comes into contact with or handles hazardous material, there has to be some assessing of the risk of spreading or releasing that con- taminant. And part of that release is what you walk off the site with." The types of PPE and equipment that require decontamination can vary widely. Gas station mechanics need to clean oil, solvents or gaso- line off their overalls, for example. Other times, the hazard may be more difficult to detect. During the reme- diation of oil and gas sites in Alberta, Botham recalls, their safety program required workers to wash down the tires of trucks leaving the site. "We didn't want to lose track of the contaminated soil on their treads," she says. When proper decontamination is not carried out, contaminants can permeate protective clothing, respira- tory equipment, tools and any other equipment on-site. They may transfer to co-workers or to clean areas. But the harm done by improper decontamina- tion can go even further. "One of the issues with not decon- taminating your PPE is that sometimes people take it home. And once you take your PPE home, then you're potentially exposing a spouse, the more sensitive receptors of children and maybe pregnant women who aren't working. You have that second- ary exposure," Botham says. "That's why everyone now realizes that when you're wearing PPE, there has to be a mechanism to clean the PPE that doesn't involve taking it home and washing it." Inadequate decontamination also affects contract workers, whose num- bers have risen greatly in recent years, she adds. For contractors, who may not be using a laundry service, it is again good practice to have washers and dryers on-site so work clothing can be cleaned before they go home. DECONTAMINATION BASICS Every work site should have a decon- tamination plan in place before a worker or equipment enters an area where there is a potential for exposure to hazardous substances. The plan specifies the number and layout of decontamination areas, appropriate decontamination methods to be used and equipment needed. Decontamina- tion tools include scrub brushes, large galvanized washtubs, children's wading pools, garden sprayers, metal or plastic drums and paper or cloth towels. Many contaminants can be removed by physical means including dislodging, rinsing, wiping off and evaporation. Common removal meth- ods include: rinsing with water using pressurized or gravity flow; chemical leaching and extraction; evaporation; and using pressurized air jets and scrubbing or scraping, usually done using brushes, scrapers or sponges. In the case of asbestos, a stream of water is used. Asbestos is a particulate and the fibres are inhaled. However, when wet, it can be contained. The worker goes into a separate area and removes dirty clothing, except the respirator. The person then goes into a shower (which rinses the fibres off), rinses his or her face and takes off the respirator. Where asbestos is a risk, companies must consult provincial guidelines, contained in a separate manual, as in Alberta, or written into OHS leg- islation, that set out the different risk levels and procedures that they are required to follow, says Jason Dent, principal consultant at Sherwood Park, Alta.-based JADA Solutions. Water used to clean off highly toxic materials must be tested before it is disposed of. The water should be tested and may have to be filtered to remove particulates. Moreover, dis- posable PPE should not be discarded along with regular refuse but should be disposed of as hazardous waste. Sometimes, contaminants cannot be removed physically; steps must be taken to inactivate the contaminant. During the dismantling of a lab that worked with acids, Botham says, the safety team had to neutralize the acids before workers could take off their PPE. FIREFIGHTING In industries where harmful substances are prevalent, gear decontamination is of special concern. These indus- tries include mining, construction, maintenance, manufacturing and oil and gas and in occupations such as electricians, car mechanics, industrial painting (lead) and firefighting. During a fire, burning materials release smoke, soot and tar full of particles of toxic chemicals, many of them carcinogenic. Even after the fire, the health risk remains, as these chemicals are inhaled or absorbed through the skin. As a result, firefighters are at increased risk of cancers and other serious illnesses. In fact, recent studies show that cancer is a leading cause of death among the occupation. Accord- ing to research done by the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C., firefighters are two to three times more likely to die from cancer than the general population. The research also showed cancer causes more than 86 per cent of firefighter deaths in Canada. Hosedown Properly decontaminating protective gear can reduce health risks for workers and their families By Linda Johnson

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