Dec 30, 2019

Japan Is Considering To Dump Radioactive Water From Fukushima Into The Pacific Ocean

According to TOI, the new proposal stated the methods have been implemented previously, after the core meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979 to dispose of 87,000 tons of tritium water in two years. The proposal by the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy has put forth three methods to get rid of the water. The agency, part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) wants to gradually release water into the sea or the air(through vaporisation) or both.

The annual radiation levels are expected to be about 0.052 to 0.62 microsievert at sea while about 1.3 microsieverts in the atmosphere near the release points. A nuclear expert from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) explained to the JapanTimes that controlled discharge of radioactive water "is something which is applied in many nuclear facilities, so it is not something that is new."

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Chinese metal mines feed the global demand for gadgets. They’re also poisoning China’s poorest regions.

Dec 19, 2019

Fukushima: Lessons learned from soil decontamination after nuclear accident

December 18, 2019/in Focus Story, Remediation /by hazmatmag
(From https://www.soil-journal.net/5/333/2019/)

Following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in March 2011, the Japanese authorities carried out major decontamination works in the affected area, which covered more than 9,000 square kilometres ( 3,470 square miles). On Dec. 12, 2019, with most of this work having been completed, researchers provided an overview of the decontamination strategies used and their effectiveness in the Scientific Journal Soil.

Of primary concern after the Fukushima nuclear incident was the release of radioactive cesium in the environment because this radioisotope was emitted in large quantities during the accident,  it has a half-life of 30 years, and it constitutes the highest risk to the local population in the medium and long term.

This analysis in the journal provides new scientific lessons on decontamination strategies and techniques implemented in the municipalities affected by the radioactive fallout from the Fukushima accident. This synthesis indicates that removing the surface layer of the soil to a thickness of 5 cm, the main method used by the Japanese authorities to clean up cultivated land, has reduced cesium concentrations by about 80% in treated areas.

The removal of the uppermost part of the topsoil, which has proved effective in treating cultivated land, has cost the Japanese state about $35 billion (Cdn.).  This technique generates a significant amount of waste, which is difficult to treat, to transport and to store for several decades in the vicinity of the power plant, a step that is necessary before it is shipped to final disposal sites located outside Fukushima district by 2050. By early 2019, Fukushima's decontamination efforts had generated about 20 million cubic metres of waste.

Decontamination activities have mainly targeted agricultural landscapes and residential areas. The review points out that the forests have not been cleaned up -because of the difficulty and very high costs that these operations would represent – as they cover 75% of the surface area located within the radioactive fallout zone.

Please read full by hazmatmag

Dec 3, 2019

OSHA Enforcement and Compliance Increases in 2019 To Keep America’s Workforce Safe

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) fiscal year (FY) 2019 final statistics show a significant increase in the number of inspections and a record amount of compliance assistance to further the mission of ensuring that employers provide workplaces free of hazards.

OSHA's enforcement activities reflect the Department's continued focus on worker safety. Federal OSHA conducted 33,401 inspections—more inspections than the previous three years –addressing violations related to trenching, falls, chemical exposure, silica and other hazards.

In FY19, OSHA provided a record 1,392,611 workers with training on safety and health requirements through the Agency's various education programs, including the OSHA Training Institute Education Centers, Outreach Training Program and Susan Harwood Training Grant Program. OSHA's compliance assistance programs have helped small businesses address safety and health hazards in their workplaces. In FY19, OSHA's no-cost On-Site Consultation Program identified 137,885 workplace hazards, and protected 3.2 million workers from potential harm.

"OSHA's efforts – rulemaking, enforcement, compliance assistance and training – are tools to accomplish our mission of safety and health for every worker," said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Loren Sweatt. "I am proud of the diligent, hard work of all OSHA personnel who contributed to a memorable year of protecting our nation's workers."

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to help ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

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Clearing the Air on Respiratory Hazards

CCOHS - For many workers, their jobs can take an unexpected toll on their physical health. An occupational disease can be disruptive, disabling, and even fatal. However, workplaces can take preventive action on respiratory hazards that can lead to mesothelioma, lung cancer, silicosis, asbestosis, and other serious occupational diseases.

Recognizing and preventing these work-related diseases can be more challenging than trying to prevent injuries. Many occupational diseases, including respiratory conditions, are connected to workplace exposures that occurred many years before. It's possible for a worker not to experience immediate health effects such as irritation and coughing and yet develop lung cancer decades later. As well, occupational diseases often result from repeated exposures to invisible gases or particles, rather than from a single event.

Workplaces can take action to identify and address breathing hazards from agents that can lead to lung cancer and other illnesses. Particulates, in a workplace context, most often refers to particles, dust, mist or fumes that are in the surrounding air that workers are at risk of inhaling. Breathing is the most common way by which they enter the lungs. How far the particle gets in the air passages of the respiratory system, and what it does when it is deposited, depends on the size, shape, and density of the material, as well as on its chemical and toxic properties.

The Canadian picture

According to national data from the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC), occupational diseases caused 64% (612) of deaths vs. 36% (339) traumatic fatalities in 2017. Keep in mind that these numbers do not include deaths in workplaces not covered by a compensation board (from diseases not accepted to be work-related), illness that are not acknowledged as being associated with a workplace exposure, nor those illnesses that are not reported. Plus, there are thousands more non-fatal illnesses and health impacts, including occupational deafness, dermatitis and asthma.

Cancer Care Ontario and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre estimate that approximately 1,300 cancer cases per year in Ontario are related to exposure to asbestos, diesel engine exhaust, crystalline silica and welding fumes. According to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, long latency illnesses, emerging years after exposure to a disease-causing agent, accounted for the largest portion of compensation benefit costs between 2008 and 2017. To address these workplace hazards, the Ministry is conducting an inspection blitz focused on the dusts, vapours and fumes that can lead to the most common fatal occupational diseases: mesothelioma, lung and bronchial cancers, and asbestosis. Focus will be on the construction, industrial, health care, and mining sectors.

Respiratory hazards at construction and industrial sites can include lead dust and fumes; silica dust from cutting concrete or sandblasting; solvent vapours from adhesives, paints, and strippers; isocyanate vapours from spray form insulation and coatings; and carbon monoxide from gas-powered equipment as examples. In health care and community care workplaces, employers should focus on work processes that generate aerosols and the controls that should be in place. Working in a closed underground environment, miners can be exposed to airborne hazards such as diesel exhaust, silica, radon, and arsenic. Many of these exposures have been associated with lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases (including pneumoconiosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

What employers can do

All employers, regardless of worksite or location, can take steps to improve worker safety:

  • Complete a hazard assessment to identify what respiratory agents are present in the workplace
  • Regularly review for opportunities to move control of hazards up the hierarchy of controls to minimize exposure. Can the hazard be eliminated, or prevented from entering the air in the first place?
  • Implement proper controls and work practices to prevent respiratory hazards and to ensure that worker exposure to agents is kept below legal limits
  • Make sure that work areas have proper ventilation
  • Provide information, instruction and supervision to workers
  • Train workers on respiratory hazards specific to their workplace. Employers, supervisors and trainers should encourage workers to communicate any concerns they may have about occupational disease.
  • Provide training on the correct use and fit testing of any necessary personal protective equipment, including respirators.
  • Properly maintain personal protective equipment.

About occupational exposure limits

Occupational exposure limits are the recommended maximum amount and length of time most workers can be exposed to a toxic substance without suffering any known harmful consequences. However, remember a legal limit or guideline (such as an occupational exposure limit) should never be viewed as a line between "safe" and "unsafe". It is important to strive for "as low as reasonably achievable" exposure where possible. Within Canada, the provinces, territories and the federal government list which occupational exposure limits are enforceable under their health and safety legislation. View the legislative references for exposure limits to chemical and biological agents for each jurisdiction. Please note that while you can see the list of legislation for free, you will need a subscription to view the actual documentation.

Workers have a right to be safe on the job. Employers must take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for workers' protection. By identifying solutions for eliminating or reducing respiratory hazards, workplaces can take action now to prevent future harm to workers.

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