Why are you telling me about CAL/OSHA PEL’s?
Part II Potential Impacts
Barbara Kanegsberg and Ed Kanegsberg, SQRC
Gee, maybe we shouldn’t tell you. Think of the potential fees we could
collect by watching you dance the “Funky Chicken” trying to cope
with really, really low PEL’s. Hmmm…. Darn, those annoying ethics – ok,
here’s more information about the consequences.
The lower PEL’s can negatively impact quality, including product quality,
worker safety, and environmental quality. What should you do? Get involved;
speak up. Support the positive aspects of the new PEL policy so you can
protect your workers, the environment, and your business.
Consequences: Decreased worker safety and environmental quality
With the need for increased process and personnel monitoring, of course,
lower PEL numbers would cost more to businesses and would negatively
impact the competitive
position relative to businesses outside of California. And, in the absence
of Federal standards, California PEL’s might be adopted by some companies
outside of California, so competitiveness and profitability could be impacted
nationwide.
The exceedingly low PEL’s may be so difficult to achieve as to impel process and chemical changes. Quality, including not only product quality but more importantly worker safety, community safety, and environmental quality could also be negatively impacted in several ways.
• Increased use of uncharacterized chemicals
There is a lot to be said for understanding the risks of a particular chemical.
However, statements of N.D. (not determined) for worker safety are
often erroneously taken to mean no risk. In attempting to find viable process
options, it is
likely that companies will increase their use of chemicals that are
not
well characterized and are not widely used. These chemicals, if they
are at all
effective in a given process, are likely to negatively impact the worker
and the environment.
The PEL revision process, while expected to be efficient, will not
all happen at once. Cal/OSHA will address a few chemicals at a time,
estimated
at 12-20
per year. This means that many chemicals, especially those that are
less often used or where dangers are not well defined, may be available
for
use for quite
some time before being visited by the “PEL genies”.
The increased use of poorly–understood, rarely used, and therefore unregulated
chemicals can negatively impact quality: product quality, worker safety, and
environmental safety.
• Increased use of mystery mixes
When it comes to ingredients, the MSDS does not tell the full story.
For non-carcinogens, hazardous materials that are less than 1% of the formulation
do not normally have to be listed as hazards on the MSDS. This
has resulted in complex, creative formulation. The Cal/OSHA PEL’s are likely to induce
additional creativity.
What’s the impact on quality? If the blends perform better than the sum
of the parts, if there is synergy in cleaning performance, then there is the
potential for synergy in a negative sense in terms of materials compatibility
(so product quality is impacted), worker safety, and environmental impact.
Because typical industrial cleaning formulations of this type are considered
proprietary, it is difficult to determine what might be problematic for people,
the environment – and even the product. Even without synergy, the additive
impact of all the chemicals is potentially significant (i.e. 0.9% + 0.8% +0.95%+ … can
add up to a significant fraction of a formulation).
• Increased outsourcing of problematic processes
If it becomes noisome for California companies to use certain chemicals,
the processes are likely to be outsourced to companies
in other areas that might
not have the resources to protect their workers. Pushing
the broccoli around to another part of the plate (albeit a national or
international plate) does not resolve the issue. The broccoli (or the contentious
chemical)
is
still
present; and it can still impact other workers.
Product quality can be a safety problem
Manufacturing involves products with critical end-uses
for the medical community, defense, and seismic protection.
We have alluded to the negative impacts on product quality
when chemicals or blends with poorly characterized
properties are
adopted without
sufficient testing. If manufacturers feel impelled
to switch from an aggressive,
effective cleaning chemistry or other process chemistry,
the quality of the surface
and
the quality of the product can suffer. For products
with critical end-use requirements, product failure can have
serious impacts
on public safety
and on individual
safety.
• Additional Observation:
You might say, “I don’t live or work in California. We have different
requirements where I work. Why should I care what happens
in California?”
California PEL’s may come to your state. In today’s economy, manufacturing
efforts are linked. It may be that some of your favorite suppliers and sub-vendors
are from California. Also, regulators in other areas, often suffering from
decreased budgets, look to where a problem has already been addressed—like
California. California regulations have been known to
influence regulations nationwide; the trend is likely
to continue.
So, get involved. How? Read on to Part III.