Marcor Completes AMI
Anthrax Decontamination
MARCOR Remediation, a national provider of environmental contracting
services, is decontaminating more than 8,500 boxes of anthrax-laden
archival photos, clippings and other files stored at the former home
of the National Enquirer, Star and other tabloid newspapers and
magazines.
In what may be the final chapter of the cleanup of the former
headquarters of the publishing firm, American Media, Inc., MARCOR is
painstakingly disinfecting the exterior of the boxes and then
transporting them offsite to be sterilized.
The boxes contain millions of photos of celebrities taken over
decades, which will be returned to the building’s owner after
cleaning.
The American Media building was the first target in a series of
anthrax attacks in the weeks following the Sept. 11 attack on the
World Trade Center. Soon afterward, the Hart Senate Office Building
in Washington, DC, was also attacked.
MARCOR Remediation is the firm that helped clean up the anthrax in
the Senate building, and has brought its expertise to Boca Raton.
American Media vacated the building several days after
its photo editor died from inhaling anthrax.
Lynn Dewees, project manager, will lead a crew of technicians garbed
in Tyvek protective suits, wearing poweredair purifying respirator
systems. The crew will first disinfect the exterior of
the boxes with a bleach solution. The boxes will then be transported
to an offsite facility, where they will be placed in an autoclave,
which is a closed vessel applying high pressure and heat to
sterilize
the interior contents of the boxes.
Once the boxes are removed, MARCOR Remediation will return to the
parking garage where they were stored and decontaminate that area,
as well.
“Our focus is getting the boxes out of there, treated, and either
properly disposed or returned to the owner to take over possession
of them,” said Dewees said. “The entire process should take
about three months.” Another environmental contractor handled the
previous decontamination of the building itself, he noted.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had approved MARCOR’s
health and safety plan and remedial plan before work could begin.
MARCOR was the first contractor in the U.S. to be licensed to
perform asbestos abatement, and the first contractor in the country
to be licensed to perform mold remediation. The company is also
providing a wide variety of environmental services resulting from
the ravages of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the South. It has
already set up a new office — one of 15 nationwide — in
Florida after the four devastating hurricanes to hit the area in
2004.
ASSE Announces Liberty
Mutual Research Fellowship
Encouraging research in the field of safety to help reduce injuries
for workers countrywide, the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE)
Foundation has announced the 2006 ASSE Foundation/
Liberty Mutual Safety Research Fellowship Program.
Up to two fellows will be chosen to conduct research at the
Hopkinton, MA based Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety,
having access to current research projects, equipment, and research
scientists onsite.
The ASSE Foundation/Liberty Mutual Safety Research Fellowship
promotes research in occupational safety, expands upon current
safety practices, and creates the groundwork for fellows to further
pursue safety research. Spending four to six weeks at the Liberty
Mutual Research Institute for Safety to complete their research,
fellows will each write an article for the ASSE Professional Safety
or the ASSE Foundation’s Advocate.
Fellows receive a stipend of up to $9,500 from the ASSE Foundation
to cover expenses.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens and possess a Ph.D. degree or be
working towards a Master’s or Ph.D. degree. ASSE members and
applicants enrolled or holding appointments in an Accreditation
Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accredited safety
program will be given special consideration.
Research fellowship applications must be submitted by March 1, 2006.
Applications and guidelines for the fellowships are available at
www.asse.org/Foundation.
“We are proud of Liberty Mutual’s efforts in helping the safety
research community, the fellowship program and the ASSE Foundation,”
said ASSE Foundation Chair Kennith D. Brock, CSP. “Liberty
Mutual not only provides support to safety research, but also aids
students through an
annual scholarship and the recent ASSE Future Safety Leaders
Conference.”
Recognized throughout the world, the Liberty Mutual Research
Institute for Safety conducts original investigations into
job-related accidents, injuries and disability, and publishes the
results in
peer-reviewed, scientific journals. The institute is the only
occupational safety research facility owned and operated by an
insurance company.
For more information about Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group, go to
www.libertymutual.com.
Nine More Companies Join DuPont’s ‘World Safety’
Coalition
Nine
multi-national companies joined a growing coalition of diverse
companies from around the world in the first ever “World Safety
Declaration: Global Industry Commitment to Workplace Safety” during
the 2005 DuPont Leaders Forum on Safety and Performance.
Also
at the forum, five companies earned the DuPont Safety Award for
individual and collective safety initiatives in Europe, the Middle
East and Africa.
In its
third year, the Leaders Forum is part of DuPont’s safety leadership
initiatives to foster strong actions about safety at work and at
home. Participants examined how significant differences can be made
by embracing safety leadership as a strategic business value.
Speakers included former astronaut Neil Armstrong, DuPont Safety &
Protection Group Vice President Ellen J. Kullman, and CEO Bruno
LaFont of Lafarge, one of the world’s leaders in building materials.
Senior
leaders from Nestlé, Sonae, Fortum, MOL, SUAL, Borealis, Plastic
Omnium, Kone and Ciba signed the World Safety Declaration at the
forum. The declaration, which was unveiled September at the XVII
World Congress of Safety and Health at Work, calls for participating
companies “to affect real-world change to achieve an attainable goal
of increased safety and injury reduction.”
One of
the declaration’s goals is to recognize that safety enhancements in
workplaces and homes are achievable objectives that can be defined,
evaluated and measured - despite the differences of geographies and
environments around the world. The companies also committed to
reporting their progress, successes and challenges over the next
three years at the 2008 World Congress on Safety and Health at Work.
The 15
founding organizations of the “World Safety Declaration,”
headquartered in various regions around the world from a broad scope
of industries — ranging from entertainment to mining — include
DuPont, General Electric, British Petroleum, BE&K, TATA Steel, TATA
Chemicals, Fluor, Rohm & Haas, Evergreen Aviation Technologies,
Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes, Reliance Industries Limited, Aker
Kvaerner, Hindustan Lever, CEMEX and Calvert.
“The World Safety Declaration is striking a chord with leaders in
industry,” Kullman said. “While the challenges we face as senior
executives vary, the safety and well-being of employees
is a fundamental responsibility we all share.”
The DuPont Safety Award was presented to AMEC Group Limited, Alcoa,
Mondi Packaging Paper Steti, Borealis and Aluminium Norf. The DuPont
Safety Award recognizes significant projects in workplace safety or
society at large that have been led by individuals, companies or
organizations in the areas of innovative approach, performance
improvement, leadership, business impact and cultural evolution.
“The common thread among these winners is that they understand the
strong link between business performance and creating a safer
workplace,” said Mathieu Vrijsen, president, DuPont
Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Each of these companies has shown
exceptional dedication and innovation in reducing injuries and
creating a safety culture.”
AMEC Group Limited, an international project management and services
company, was recognized for its creation and implementation of First
Step and Safety Watch programs. These programs, which are being
adopted by several of the company’s clients, resulted in
excess of 4.5 million hours over a continuous 12 months period with
zero lost time injuries.
Alcoa, the world’s leading producer of aluminum products, was
recognized for its Fastening Systems business in Europe for
significantly improving performance in the area of environment,
health and safety for 2,000 employees in different countries with
programs adapted to each country.
Mondi Packaging Paper Steti, a member of the Anglo American/Mondi
Group of Companies, located in the Czech Republic, earned its
recognition based on management efforts to transform
the company’s culture as the country moved from a centrally planned
economy to a market economy.
The result includes 1,294 days without a lost time injury and a
change into a world-class operation in safety, health, environmental
and financial performance. Borealis, a leading provider of plastics
solutions, which saw total recordable injuries decrease from 6.9 in
2001 to 1.7 in
August 2005, was recognized because of its “Step Change in Safety”
program. In addition to the dramatic decrease in injuries, the
program also resulted in greater employee satisfaction, improved
operational performance and stronger financial performance.
Aluminium Norf was recognized for its significant increase in
employee involvement
in safety management. The aluminum rolling mills created working
groups of employees who designed and implemented the 24/7 Safety
process.
The result was a reduction in accident figures by strengthening safe
behavior, improving communication and ability to work in a team
toward creating a new corporate culture.
SC Guv Looking to Reform
Workers’ Compensation System
The governor of South Carolina is considering scrapping a program
that makes it easier for employers to hire and keep workers with
past workplace injuries.
Upon officially receiving recommendations from his Workers’
Compensation Task Force, Gov. Mark Sanford said reforming the
state’s Workers’ Compensation system was key to improving the
state’s business environment.
Sanford formed the Task Force in July to conduct a top-to-bottom
review of South Carolina’s Workers’ Compensation system and make
proposals to control spiraling premium increases.
Sanford said he will join with the S.C. Chamber of Commerce, the
S.C. Manufacturers
Alliance and members of the General Assembly in the coming
legislative session to advance workers’ compensation reforms aimed
at having an immediate impact on rates.
“The current trend in workers’ compensation premiums is simply not
sustainable for South Carolina’s businesses, and especially our
small businesses,” Gov. Sanford said. “We’ve been successful over
the past two years in terms of enhancing our competitive edge with
respect
to our business environment with changes like income tax relief and
tort reform. I think Worker’s Compensation reform is key to
continuing the progress we’ve made when it comes to creating better
soil conditions for growing businesses and creating jobs.”
Some of the issues identified by the Task Force that would have an
immediate impact on rates are: dissolution of the Second Injury
Fund; putting restrictions on repetitive trauma claims; eliminating
the presumption of total back loss with a 50 percent injury; and
reversing the
Tiller v. National Healthcare case that allows non-expert testimony
regarding a medical condition. The panel says that program no longer
is needed because the Americans with Disabilities Act makes it
illegal to discriminate against workers with disabilities.
“We applaud Governor Sanford’s leadership and support for our
efforts to reform the workers’ compensation system in South
Carolina,” said Lewis F. Gossett, president and CEO of the S.C.
Manufacturers Alliance. “The manufacturing sector in this state
simply can no longer withstand the dramatic increases it has seen in
workers’ compensation rates, and unless we enact comprehensive,
meaningful reform, South Carolina’s competitiveness in the global
market could suffer.”
“More and more of our members are growing concerned about the impact
these dramatic increases in insurance rates and claim costs will
have on their ability to maintain employment at current levels — or
even stay in business,” said S. Hunter Howard Jr., president and
chief
executive officer of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re looking forward to working with Governor Sanford and the
General Assembly to address this issue before it adversely impacts
our state’s businesses.”
National Council on Compensation Insurance is currently appealing
the S.C. Dept. of Insurance’s rejection of a request to raise
workers’ compensation premiums by nearly 33 percent, in what
would be the third consecutive year of double-digit premium
increases for South Carolina’s businesses.
If that increase were to be approved, it would put the state into
the top half of states for the cost of worker’s compensation
premiums. In 2000, the state had the second-lowest premiums in the
nation.
South Carolina’s workers compensation premiums increased 17.3
percent in 2003, compared to a national average increase of 6.65
percent. Last year, they rose another 11.4 percent compared to an
average decrease of 6 percent nationally.
AIHA Joins EEF Advisory
Committee for IAQ
The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has announced its
appointment to the Environmental Education Foundation (EEF) Advisory
Committee for Indoor Air Quality.
AIHA will participate as a member of the advisory group convened by
EEF to continue work started under a contract from the Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) headquarters.
In this capacity, the association will provide technical expertise,
guidance, and recommendations to assist EEF in evaluating EPA’s IAQ
Building Education and Assessment Model (I-BEAM) and draft Green
Building Guidance, as well as the EEF training module “Indoor
Air Quality Operations & Maintenance Plan Development.”
“AIHA encourages all facilities to have an operations and
maintenance plan in place as part of an overall commitment to the
health and safety of employees and others who might be affected by a
building’s indoor environment,” said AIHA President Roy Buchan, DrPH,
CIH.
“We are pleased to have the opportunity to provide input and
assistance to EEF and EPA as they work on these important tools and
training materials.”
EEF is a 501 (c)(3) organization that provides educational seminars,
publications, and advanced technology to both the public and private
sectors through donations from its contributors and cooperative
agreements with government agencies. The EEF Advisory Committee for
Indoor Air Quality is intended to promote EPA’s indoor air quality
guidance and encourage its use to manage indoor environmental
quality risks.
For more information on AIHA’s participation in the EEF Advisory
Committee for Indoor Air Quality, please contact Mili Mavely, AIHA
technical committees associate, at (703) 846-0794 or
mmavely@aiha.org.
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