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.
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Libby, part 2

earlier in the saga, the EPA posted Q&A about the earlier suit: Q : Can Grace sue me to recover money it is required to pay EPA for cleanup of my property?

A : Yes. Grace has the right to sue you, but the court must first decide to what extent you may be held responsible. EPA provided No Action Assurances to owners of residential and business properties in Libby. These assurances indicate that EPA will not seek the cost of cleanup from you. The No Action Assurance will tell the court that EPA does not believe you should be held responsible for those costs.

So, the EPA won't screw you out of money to pay for this??? What in god's name do they think funds the EPA? My taxes. Oh, okay - so EPA won't see restitution from the residents - they get it from me! Grace being able to sue a homeowner to recoup money they need to spend to cover their illegal/unethical activities which caused the homeowner to get asbestosis(read: lung cancer)? How much more obscene can you get?

Not really unprecedented

Outbreaks of measles in U.K. mirrors problems we've had here. About 10 or so years ago, several universities started requiring incoming students to be vaccinated for measles.* This was at a point where the ACIP changed its recommendations for MMR vaccines (measles, mumps, and rubella/German measles). The traditional vaccination practices, they were discovering, were inadequate for long-term immunity. Fair enough; hey, this is why CDC has a reportable disease requirement. I realized that I am old enough to fall into that period. I figured I'd get vaccinated again. That's another story. I did. Not so for thousands of people who have decided to abrogate their personal & social responsibility. Yes, this is one point upon which I am both conversant and very strongly opinionated. Sure, I'm often opinionated; I try to be knowledgeable about it; I try to see other points of view. I've seen them here and they're irrational and scientifically unsubstantiated. Don't get me going on the whole thimerosal 'controversy' or 'conspiracy'. Maybe I'll make a different post on that, using the concepts of Risk Assessment to explain my opinion; it will take more time than I have right now to do this well and accurately. While I realize measles is far more common than mumps and rubella, and is therefore more immediate in people's minds, it is also the least risky of the 3 to long-term health. [I don't recall where I read this, so if it's not correct, please let me know.] It is a cogent example of ignoring a greater risk due to the fact that it's less likely to happen, and thus less likely for people to believe it has anything to do with them. Eventually the herd immunity will fall below the level necessary to effectively control these diseases. At which point, we're going to have an large outbreak, if not an epidemic. And, at which point, all of these "don't vaccinate my child; I'm the parent and know better" parents are going to line up and demand to know why the government hasn't done anything to prevent this. Failure to vaccinate your child or yourself against the major communicable vaccine-preventable diseases is inexcusable. Before you think I'm an ideologue on the point, there are other vaccine-preventable diseases for which I also consider less important. It's not an absolute yes/no question. But, it is not only the potential for disease, but also the potential consequences of communicating the disease. Polio - well, this is one where I understand a reluctance to vaccinate; however, considering the extent of global travel, it is no longer a valid argument that "we don't have it here, it's only over there [i.e., in some 3rd world country]." I understand, but do not agree with their argument. An interesting article in Minnesota Parent magazine addresses puts forth the problem in personal terms. (The stats are Minnesota-based.) There are also vaccines for rabies, anthrax, and monkey pox. I'm not about to get in line to have any of these, much less ask for them for my kids. [Although, as a point of disclosure, I have actually been vaccinated for the first two, but that was occupationally related and justified based upon a much higher risk of exposure than I have now.] Hey, cool - "Warning, some of these photos are quite graphic" notice for medical photos of these diseases (measles, mumps, rubella, polio (still & video), tetanus, diphtheria (personal note: these are the grossest) & pertussis . I bet if these were more widely available, it might change some people's choice about whether to get vaccinated, considering the current American obsession with body images. I realize there is legally an option to refuse to be vaccinated.** This in the past was generally used by some religious sects which object to any 'modern' medicine. We need to seriously and objectively assess the effectiveness and appropriateness of our current policies. The objectivity needs to be placed on all sides of the argument. * Currently, the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota (schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, pharmacology, veterinary medicine and public health) require vaccination for HepB, DTP, MMR and annual TB tests. What a pain trying to get all the documentation for this, when school started! ** Non Medical Exemptions to School Immunization Requirements, secular trends and association of state policy with pertussis incidence, Omer, Pan, Halsey, et al., J. Am. Med. Assoc., 2006;296:1757-1763 as pdf and .htm ~~ concludes that the looser exemption rules are, the higher the incidence of disease. Other information: Advisory Council of Immunization Practices has an extensive list of vaccine-preventable diseases and individual information on both the disease and vaccine. ACIP is part of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). There is a new adult schedule posted here in .pdf and .htm versions. Summary of Notifiable Diseases (several years worth) The photos linked above are on the CDC website, but are from the Public Health Image Library.

stupidity in action

One of my biggest pet peeves is the "modern" belief that vaccinations are no longer necessary as a public health measure. of the measles patients, 33 were from Indiana and 1 resided in Illinois. Patients ranges in age from 9 to 49 (mean age: 12). Measles vaccination was documented for 2 persons, one of whom had received 1 dose, and one who had received 2 doses. [3 doses being the magic 'fully vaccinated' number]. MMWR, vol. 54, no. 42, pp. 1073-1074, 2005, Import-Associated Measles Outbreak Now, I realize that it is possible to get vaccinated and no have immunity (e.g., me). I also realize that vaccination does not provide life-long immunity (e.g., the patients over 40). But really, 31 of these people suffered through a case of the measles (and its attendant infection-related health problems) due to a simple refusal to vaccinate their children.