Masonry Magazine May 2005 Page. 11
ACGIH is not accountable to anyone, and yet OSHA incorporates its TLVs on a regular basis.
TLVs into its Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) on a regular basis - all in violation of the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Administrative Procedures Act, the Federal Register Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Regulatory Flexibility Act, the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Data Quality Act and the Paperwork Reduction Act.
And guess what? The current chairman of the ACGIH is none other than a Regional Administrator of OSHA. ACGIH presumably pays this OSHA official's expenses on weekends to help it put some spit and polish on the recommended TLV; he then switches hats - back to his day job to anxiously await the arrival by mail of the new TLV he's endorsed so he can share it with OSHA. There's certainly something wrong with this picture!
The latest pronouncement from ACGIH is its intention to lower the TLV for Portland cement from 10 milligrams per cubic meter to one milligram per cubic meter and classify it as a possible human carcinogen. So, after all the concerns raised about the inclusion of Portland cement in the scope of the hexavalent chromium rule due to dermal exposures, now we have to contend with the "science" ACGIH is using to claim inhalation exposures to Portland cement have resulted in reduced lung capacity for employees in the manufacturing sector.
If ACGIH is successful in moving forward with this new TLV-and MCAA will do everything it can to intercept it-manufacturers will have to put the TLV on their Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) and, according to OSHA, end users will have to "tell employees that a recognized authority, in this case ACGIH, recommends a particular exposure limit based on a health hazard determination." Then I can just imagine OSHA being pressured to issue a separate PEL, along with all the appropriate bells and whistles, for Portland cement. Etc, etc, etc.
I don't think the Founding Fathers would have sanctioned such an over-reaching and unjustifiable government regulatory effort.
Marian Marshall is Director of MCAA's Government Affairs. She has over 25 years experience working with the Congress and executive branches of the U.S. government and oversees all MCAA legislative, regulatory and political action activities.
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MASONRY NEWS CONTRACTOR TIP
How many times have you finished your meal at a restaurant when the waiter stops by and asks, "How was everything? Don't you tell him or her, "Just fine," even if you were just telling the person sitting next to you how bad the service was? How bad does a business have to be until someone lets them know what they are doing wrong? The answer is when no one shows up or calls back. By then, it's usually too late.
Lang Masonry and EZ Grout held its annual company picnic in Columbus, Ohio. We went to Wyandot Water Park on Saturday and the Columbus Zoo on Sunday. My wife, Donna, and I along with several employees stayed at the same hotel. We had 25 rooms.
On Friday night, my three daughters wanted to go swimming and needed towels to dry off when they got out of the pool. There was only one towel in the room, so Donna called the front desk to get more. The man at the front desk said to come down to the front office and pick them up. When she got there, the man asked, "How many towels do you need?" Donna replied, "We have a family of five, so we need five towels." The man turned to his manager and asked if she could get five towels. The manager said, "Three towels is the limit." Donna then asked, "What do we need to do to get towels to shower in the moming?" He replied, "The cleaning lady will bring some in the moming."
Well, the next morning came, and there were no towels. I called the front desk. There was no answer, so I went down. Again, the man at the desk thought it was ridiculous when I asked for five towels. He said he would go to the laundry room, get them, and bring them to me. A half-hour later I called to see where they were. He said, "TIl bring them to you."
I asked, "When can I expect them?" He replied, "In about a half-hour." I asked, "What are we suppose to do about our schedule?" He replied, "If you like, I can bring them now, but they will be a little damp since they are still in the dryer." I said, "Go ahead and bring them. We want to meet our schedule." We went ahead and showered and used the old towels to dry off. Forty minutes later as we were getting ready to leave, the man called and asked if we still needed the towels. Donna told him that we no longer needed them since we had already showered. As we were walking to the car, we noticed the laundry room with the door wide open. Inside we could see clean towels on the shelves. So I walked in to feel if they were warm, as they would be if they just came out of the dryer. It was obvious that they had been there for a while. I wondered why they just refused to bring them to us.
Guess where we or the 25 other rooms are not staying for our company picnic next year? We'll be staying where there isn't a three-towel limit for sure!
When I was checking out I was just waiting to be asked, "How was your stay?" But no one asked! That's all right: I was just going say okay, since I will never stay there again anyhow. Isn't this what good customers are doing to our businesses all the time? They do not tell us what our problems are. They simply leave us to die. This hotel chain just lost 25 customers forever. Well, it is just like Donna put it as we were leaving their driveway. If this hotel chain doesn't change its service to its customers soon, it will go bankrupt. Then, the owners will have all the towels they want!