Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Not Julia Roberts

I shudder when I see poorly equipped and poorly trained workers cleaning the residue from the Gulf oil spill and the later applied chemical additives.
Sure, Tyvek suits, dish washing gloves and paper masks give the illusion of protection - but are EPA guidelines really to be trusted?
Or does the EPA or OSHA even regulate the amount of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) required for cleanup workers?
Even in a down economy - Are; $16 and hour, time-and-a-half overtime and a $26 per diem really worth ones health?

Now the real Erin Brockovich is getting involved.
Ms Brockovich is bringing into question whether PPE such as this can protect one from illnesses later in life.
And these poorly worn Type-A suits still leave room for improvement.
At the very least, a Hepa mask should be worn by every worker.

And Tyvek suits should only be used by those with the least potential for contact with any hazardous materials.
With recent record profits for oil companies - Big Oil can surely afford to protect even it's temporary workers.

1 comment:

  1. I'm playing catch up, having been totally absorbed by reading about this issue.

    What strikes me about the clean up crews early on is I saw mostly brothas from county jails. I wondered then and now how much they're being used for this, and if they're being provided more effective gear.

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