Abatement fraud in NYC

How good is your data?  Spending countless hours as a chemistry major at university, and then working as a chemist for many year, good documentation practices have been driven into my subconscious.  But that only applies to me generating data.  I am confident of the quality of the data in my lab notebook:  after all, it's mine.

What about the lead analysis I did at my internship?  I'm sure about how the samples were collected.  But what about the lab reports?  Are the numbers even real?  Well, I'm forced to assume they are.  I got the numbers directly from the laboratory.

What about the mercury sampling I had done at my last house?  I watched them do the sampling.  But what about the results?

How do I know they weren't lying?

I haven't given much though to what I, as an ordinary person, would do in the situation of needing environmental testing.  The people I purchased that house from had done lead testing.  What would I do?  Just call an 'inspector'?  How does a person verify their honesty/quality, beyond calling to verify the license is current?

This fellow, creating a ruckus in New York City, demonstrates both the fractured nature of public offices as well as the consequences of underfunding government agencies.  The result?  Moaning and wringing hands over the inability of the state to control this, then crying that too many agencies aren't working together.  Is anyone going to sit down, ask "so how can we do this better?" and then change something? change anything?

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What's up

Graduation is in a couple weeks (May 17).  I'm trying to get the 2nd half of my research done so that my poster, which just got accepted, will be able to go to AIHce.  I'm trying to find someone to share a room with, so that I can go to AIHce.  I keep forgetting to track down the person suggested for the 3rd person on my committee...

and

... I keep thinking of the shocking news stories recently about occupational fatalities, especially the Upper Big Branch Mine in WV and the oil rig in the Gulf. more soon

Fatality Perspective

The explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia on Monday killed 25 people.

21 people died during the whole of 2009 in the entire state of Minnesota.

Nervous about job interview

"How would you like to come in for an interview?"

ahhh, the magic words a grad student wants to hear before graduation.

So - I have an interview tomorrow afternoon with Minnesota OSHA.  Like any responsible person, one researches the potential employer.  Sure - I'm already in the business.  Sure - everyone knows what OSHA does, right?  Nevertheless, I did.

Their website is fairly user-friendly.  Detail dense, but with a little looking around, it didn't seem hard to find what I wanted.

I'm looking forward to the opportunity to visit many different types of worksites.  Construction, meatpacking, chemical processing, paper mills, etc.  Then, I found the list of 2009 Fatalities and Serious Injury Investigation Summary.  It hit me.  What's the sure-fire guaranteed way to get a compliance inspector at your worksite?

1 - kill one of your employees
2 - injure a bunch all at once
3 - complaint

I never considered doing what compliance inspectors have to do: fatality investigations.  It's horrible enough 1,000 miles away listening to the news about the Big Branch Coal Mine in WV.  Can you imagine being the MSHA compliance officer who has to do the investigation after they open the mine?

I have never encountered a workplace fatality.  I've even managed to make it to this point in life without having many people I know die.  I've only had 2 friends die:  chronic medical problems and power tool accident(or suicide, depending on who you ask).  I've had 3 co-workers die:  motorcycle accident, drug o.d., and cancer(not related to our mutual job).  Suddenly I found an aspect to this job that is rather unsettling.

Of course, I'm nervous about having a job interview.  What questions should I ask them?  Should I ask

How do you cope with doing fatality investigations?

Do you ever run into employers who are verbally abusive when you do an unannounced inspection?

Do you like your job after 5 years?

What's the average time before someone leaves & why do they do it (other than money)?

What's the worst place you've ever had to do an inspection?

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(not) user-friendly websites

The AIHce website really doesn't cut it for user-friendly.  It should be relatively intuitive to find basic information, like a Call for Submissions instructions.  I should not need Google to find it.  And, the requirements for abstracts should be directly available on-line.  It doesn't make much sense to require me to interrupt someone's day to ask for the information.  Especially since I doubt I'm unique in submitting it at the last minute.  I really hope that the information is adequate, beyond the actual abstract, e.g. title, formatting, author names, etc.

Someone at AIHA told me that at least 60% of the abstract submissions come on the last day.

oops - sorry - I can't even claim my dog ate it.  I can claim that I missed 3 days within the last week due to puking children, fevers, sick children, and sick grad students.  Oh, and perhaps even more so - I've never written one of these things before. I really feel sorry for my prof, even if I appreciate the time he took to help with this.

I'm left wondering if
a)  it will get accepted, and
b) if anyone else from our program is going, and
c) I'll get altitude sickness in Denver.

value of networking

I have a job interview next week.  My first in 13 years - I've been employed, or voluntarily unemployed, or a student.  I'm not sure if the intern-interview 2 years ago counts - considering how utterly horrible it went, I've decided that it doesn't count.

I told my prof/adviser of the news.  His response:  a summary road map of people/information to allow me to make a better impression.

Sure, I think he's a nice man, and a good researcher, but this information is what makes someone a good colleague.

Now, I just need to convince the interviewer that I'd make a good colleague.

another smaller world

Yet again a reason to give consideration, before uttering the Truth about your boss. No matter how true it is, eventually you'll say it in front of someone who knows her/him. And, with a relatively small profession like industrial hygiene, it will likely be sooner rather than later.

I'm going to be working through a consultant to do a project for the firm I did my internship with last year. I mentioned I'm taking a law course, and he of course asked who my teacher is. Yup - consultant knows my prof. They used to work together. Discussing the course material, I mentioned one of my classmates works here at the U. Yup, consultant knows him, too. Both people, in turn, also know the consultant personally.

Interestingly, the opinions expressed by the various parties was rather amusing, when taken as a whole.

It's also the sort of thing that reminds me that there are other folks out there who know me professionally, and whose opinion of my abilities and personality can quite easily be passed on to some total stranger. Which leaves me wondering what sort of opinons they are tossing around.

Hmmmm.... yup, maybe I ought to keep my opinion of my boss/co-worker/etc. to myself. Or, at least, keep the entire truth to myself.

Response to failure

Today at Rodent U.'s Industrial Hygiene lab
we return to the on-going saga of our grad student's valiant efforts to get data.
In the last episode, her experiment actually produced data!
We open on the scene of her meeting with her research adviser,
Dr.P:


meet with Dr.P --- ok

The missing peak in last experiment is supposed to be missing --- ok

the annoying peak at 0.7 is still there and pretty much just as big --- hmmm

check out experimental set up, connections, tubing --- how many gallons of oil were needed to make all of this Tygon tubing??

Find wiggly thing that's not supposed to be wiggly --- hmmm

find a the leak --- good

correct leak --- even better

annoying peak at 0.7 gone --- great

have finally gotten really ready to get to the meat of the experiment

set up power source --- ok

turn power source on

power source "on" light lights up --- yea!

power source makes the right kind of ticking noises --- good

fiddle with voltage regulator --- looks right

loud pop --- huh?

flash of white light at ammeter scale --- wow, pretty lights

no more voltage

no more joy

Dr.P & I looked at each other and sighed ...


I might as well laugh; at least it doesn't make my nose run afterwards.

Thesis tip

When you decide to be supportive of your classmate, and attend her thesis' defense ...

and you realize the only people in the room besides yourself are the degree candidate, and her 3 committee members ...

make sure you think of something really intelligent to ask at the end of the presentation.

So that when her advisor (who also happens to be yours) turns to you and asks, "So, at this point, we'd like to ask our guest if she has any questions" ...

you can whip out that great, insightful observation and impress a) your advisor and b) the other departmental prof sitting there, whom you want to have on your committee.

Without Precedent

This is absolutely beyond the pale; totally unbelievable; without precedent...  a true story:

I am working on a project this week with a couple other people.  They were doing their thing, I was going to the next part of the facility to make sure it was ready for my colleagues.  I went into a small aluminum foundry.  This is:
In a noisy location in the factory; clearly labeled as needing hearing protection; has been required for years.  As a matter of fact, I am the one who did the last noise monitoring, and am quite certain it's over the company's OEL.

Me:  are those ear phones?
Worker:  yes
Me:  you do realize those won't protect your hearing?  You do know you're supposed to be wearing earing protection, right?
Worker:  these are okay
Me: actually, no, they're not.  You need to have real ear plugs in.
Worker: it's not such a big deal.
Me:  The Safety Department is going to get on your case about this. Actually, I am getting on your case about it to.

Enter two other men, one of whom is a supervisor.

Supervisor:  What's going on?  friendly tone
Me:  I was just getting on his case about wearing hearing protection.  friendly tone
Supervisor to Worker:  How many times do we have to tell you? tone of frustration
Me:  (thinking "all right!")
Supervisor to Worker: is that a radio you're listening to?
Worker:  No
Supervisor:  come on   .tone of 'don't try to pull one over me'
Worker:  No, it's an iPod
Me:  Bah
Worker:  well it is; it's different
Me:  well the ear plugs are still not protecting your ears
Worker: they're okay
Me:  actually, no, they're not.  You're taking all of the noise in here already and just adding more noise to it.  You really need to use real ear plugs
Supervisor:  waves his hand dismissively and says "don't bother with it"

I was beyond stunned

Me to Supervisor:  Are you blowing me off?
Supervisor:  yes
pause
Me:  That is totally inappropriate.

Quite unfortunately, I was in the middle of leaving when this happened.  So, my immediate departure was likely percieved, or claimed to be, storming off in a snit.  When he said "yes" about blowing me off, he said it in a perfectly normal tone of voice as if it was perfectly natural and obvious.

I went off to an unoccupied part of the plant. Where I swore and cussed a lot. Loudly. Unfortunately some of it was heard by the other two contractors.  It doesn't happen often, that I get so totally enraged.  I waited until I had calmed down, then called the Safety Department manager.  I've worked for him before, and we have a good working relationship.  I asked him what I should or could do.  Unfortunately, the supervisor's ID badge had been flipped around, and I was stuck not being able to immediately identify him by name.

I figured I would just let it be until later.  The photographic org chart was on my desk; I could identify him with it.  Less than 30 minutes later, we were progressing on to the next area of the plant.  Lo, and behold! The supervisor was standing right there.  I was undertain to which group the area belonged, and we needed to know.  So, I walked over to the supervisor and asked him.  I figured this would be a perfectly natural thing to start talking to him; then bring up the issue of his disrespect.  Maybe manage to get his name.

Me:  "Is this area part of Section A?" 
Supervisor:  No, it's one of my areas.

Pow!  I was holding a list of the areas and corresponding supervisors.  At least I would have a name now.  About 5 minutes later, after my colleagues got started, I approached the supervisor again.

Me:  Were you serious when you said you were blowing me off?
Supervisor:  Not really
Me:  That wasn't particularly nice to do in front of the other workers. I was trying to help them.
Supervisor:  Well, you know they're not going to pay attention to you.  You're an independent contractor.  They'll listen to me because I'm another supervisor.

This was becoming surreal.

About half an hour later, my colleagues and I had progressed on to the foundry area.  They started their project.  I checked the worker.  Still no PPE.  I approached the only other worker there. He was wearing a different over-coat, and I thought he might be the team leader.  (The company has Manager > Supervisor > Team Leaders > Workers.)

Me:  Can you tell me who the team leader is?
Him:  I am.
Me:  I would appreciate it if you could tell your worker over there that he needs to wear ear plugs. (pointing at the worker)
Team Leader:  The Supervisor said those were okay.
Me:  Well, he was wrong.  They aren't okay.  They won't protect his hearing.

I leaned over to look at the worker again, since he had just started up another machine.

Me:  Well, perhaps you could go talk to him because right now there's absolutely nothing in his ears at all...



I give kudos to the man in question, since he at least had the balls to blow me off to my face.  Beyond that, though ...?

He has, pretty much without hope of redemption, completely lost all professional respect I might have had for him.  Pow! Five minutes and someone now thinks he's an ignorant schmuck.
.

at last!

I have data!

It's not what I wanted, and there's something wrong (hopefully with the apparatus & not design) ... but, what the hell?!

I have data!

IH standard baggage

While at work today, I stopped to talk to one of the workers, to explain what was going on regarding a project before the team arrived. I noticed rather quickly that his work station was particularly loud.  I asked if he was required to use hearing protection.  He said no, but then qualified his statement by pointing out he had only been on the job for 2 months.  Stunning me with his initiative, he walked to the next work station and asked his group leader.  No, no noise PPE required.

Not being convinced this assessment was correct, and being chronically curious, I went to the safety office to get a noise meter.  I returned, only to discover that the 2nd work station was no longer running.  Ah, well.  Loud, but not the same.

He asked me about what I was doing. I of course answered him,
explained there is a limit for how much noise you can have,
showed him the meter was measuring noise,
explained the meter read-out, and
explained how that number relates to the company's exposure limit.
He was satisfied and thanked me for my time.  Just what every IH wants, eh?

If only I hadn't needed to spend 10 minutes finding a noise meter!

I often find myself wishing I had a standard bag-of-tricks to carry around.  Sure, there's always the things I might personally really need, like a spare pair of non-prescription safety glasses that I know fit over my prescription glasses or ear plugs.  (I do always carry a spare set of ear plugs in my pocket - even if I'm already wearing mine.  I've given them away 2 times in the past 3 days.) With the advent of smaller and smaller electronics, I would definitely add a noise meter to the bag.  The one I used a couple years ago for my internship was pretty compact.  It wouldn't need to be fancy; only functional.  A Dräger hand pump (the simplistic kinds) with a set of tubes for VOCs and CO.  A particle meter. ... hmmm...  a professional shopping list.

justice? Or just ...

While looking for a case indicating the liability specifically of the individual owner/operator, rather than the corporate entity, I thought "Grace!" I couldn't find the final court decision, only some motions regarding evidentiary matters. The media, however, carried it. They don't cite case numbers, unfortunately. One of the respondents was quoted saying something along the lines of "it's regretable that anyone was injured, but that's not what this case was about." What did he think it was about? Or was he just weasel-wording it to separate public health from environmental contamination? The U.S. lost its case. I'd really like to read the opinions to see what the justification was, for morbid curiosity, if nothing else. Especially, given that quotation, to see which law was cited as being violated.

Age

It is bizarre to find myself looking at an obituary of a classmate, who was likely 10 years my junior. Cancer is certainly an insidious disease. Yvonne looked fine a few months ago. She was so enthusiastic and passionate about her studies. I read that she had passed away and was left thinking 'that can't be the same Yvonne', since I didn't know what her family name was. Unfortunately it was the same woman. It's just strange. I know only 2 people my own age who have died. Something to come to grips with as one ages.

2008 BLS stats

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics has released the official Injury and Illness statistics for the 2008 calendar year. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/osh2.nr0.htm Table 23 is usually one of particular interest to me: this breaks down the data by causation, rather than industry. Not that the social demographics aren't interesting - but I can't control the demographics of my work place. The cause (fall, exposure, etc.) are what industrial hygienists are out to control. Hopefully the fatality data will be later today.

Ammonia - again

Monday afternoon in Twin Cities: 1 trucker dies and another is seriously injured after a release of anhydrous ammonia. Wednesday afternoon on border between MN / SD: tractor-trailer accident carrying 40,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia caused evacuation of SD town. No one killed; injuries from exposure for truck drivers. "... estimated that between 500 and 1,000 pounds of chemical leaked, creating only a small cloud."

age-limited access to health care

Access to health care is usually presented as a function of income, proximity to services, or cultural dictates. Oddly, it can also be a function of age: Children also need a birth certificate to be eligible for the vaccination programme available to under five year olds. Those who are ineligible are left vulnerable to preventable diseases, a common problem in Cameroon. Given the child mortality rates (i.e. deaths under 5 yrs age) in under-developed countries, and the urgency to vaccinate as a public health measure ... I'm stunned that the gov't would refuse to vaccinate anyone under 5 just because of a birth certificate. I understand the need to control when the child gets vaccinated and make sure the child doesn't get too many. Although I'm equally sure that if the parents are well-off they could get their kid the shots.

Lego safety

Of course, you go looking for one thing on YouTube, you find zillions. This is totally awesome:

Bad engineering?

Sure, knock down the end of the shelves ... knock over all of the boxes ... but this degree of destruction? Holy cow. According to the video poster, it's in a Russian vodka warehouse. Now, lest you think we are exempt from disasters due to employee ignorance/inadequacy: WGN, a radio station in Chicago, has a video that's rather amusing, especially the last 20 seconds of their commentary.

Making up for lost time?

No. However, it is nice to see OSHA trying to look scary. The explosion at Imperial Sugar in Georgia has the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board report released earlier this week. The 3rd paragraph of the story in the NYTimes has a link to the document. Lots of pretty good photographs, with diagrams, etc. I haven't read one of their reports before. 89 pages of reading for a chilly Autumn evening. The Times article reports the proposed $8.7 million fines. This popped up on my radar right after the news today brought up the fines announced against BP following their explosion in Texas a few years ago. In both cases, I'm far more curious about how much these companies will actually pay. We all know that "proposed fines" bears no semblance to "actual fines". The Times article about BP included: Labor Secretary Hilda Solis has repeatedly said that “there’s a new sheriff in town,” signaling that she would take a more aggressive approach in enforcing wage and labor laws, after what she said was lax enforcement under President George W. Bush. This might be more plausible, if OSHA hadn't been so lax for the past 39 years. How often do they prosecute anyone for anything? BP is cited for 439 willful and egregious violations. This is finally the trigger to request the Attorney General to prosecute criminal charges. Are they going to? If 15 deaths & 439 willful violations don't do it .... what will? The Strib also reported (the only point in their article which wasn't in the Times): Since the 2005 accident, four additional people have died at the Texas refinery, including one employee and three contractors. BP was fined $50m by the Department of Justice in 2007 to settle criminal charges stemming from the Texas explosion. Reports the BBC News. This subtly gets to the point most in the US miss. These criminal charges are from failure to comply with the Clean Air Act. In other words, the EPA had them prosecuted. These people likely won't be criminally prosecuted from OSHA. Like everything else with the gov't: wait and see ... wait and see ...