With so much emphasis on an invisible microscopic virus wrecking havoc it reminded me of instances when I had to deal with both the fear of, and disdain for, health hazards in my years as a Safety and Health professional. In my world hazards were usually identified by my expanding education and constant perusal of applicable safety standards. Other issues were "thrust upon me" so to speak.
The Industrial Hygiene credo as I understood it was "everyone has a sensitivity to everything, it's just a matter of exposure and dose. As we do not know each person's level of sensitivity we strive to protect employees from ANY exposure." Tall objective I know but it does offer incentive for proper mitigation; unless you are dealing with crazy situations and perceptions. Believing "folk lore" has always been more comfortable than actually listening to science. Of course, when one operates as the employer we have the ability to levy and enforce the rules. A little different scenerio with the general public. But I believe it is still more important to educate and convince rather than forcing compliance.
One major introduction to a health hazard came about when I had a visit from MIOSHA based on an employee complaining their work area was too dirty to enjoy their lunch (eaten outside the break room). Aahh they worked in a coal-fired power plant so obviously the magical puffy flyash landed on everything and everyone in the form of a fine black dust. Blowing one's nose after a long shift was startling and gross if one is the type to examine their hankie after utilization. I only made that mistake once.
DIGRESS: That's what OSHA/MIOSHA did when they had a formal complaint - they visited and investigated. However in Trump world a different dynamic became the norm with the appointment of Eugene Scalia, son of Supreme Court Justice Scalia, as head of OSHA.When complaints came from employees that there were eight deaths from Covid in a meat packing plant, OSHA's and the President's response was to make them "essential workers". Keep the meat coming regardless of the human cost.
Although we came through our clean visit fine, the inspector noticed just before leaving some white stuff around a container. He asked what it was of course and my maintenance supervisor quickly claimed it was innocent old insulation. Big boilers, lots of fireproofing and insulation.
"Is it asbestos?" he asked which my supervisor vigorously denied. "How do you know" he persisted. "Oh I can tell just by looking!" my person proudly proclaimed. RUH RO as Scoobie Doo would say. I knew that was not a great answer...Six months later we all knew where each piece of asbestos insulation was located, sported a whole bunch of spiffy tyvek suits for maintenance work and some of us (me) went to school to learn everything you wanted to know about asbestos monitoring but definitely sorry that we never asked.
As there were three power plants under my responsibility I got to see a lot of guys in their underwear as I had to affix monitoring devices to them and check results as they stripped down for their breaks. Just one of the guys. Of course the first thing they would do was "light up" on break so whatever measures I was attempting to keep their lungs safe from asbestos was probably a wash after they smoked a few.
A few employees and supervision of course thought it was overkill, but someone has to halt the madness. I stopped short of showing them diseased lungs in safety training. One can only take so much fainting from the students. Not to get too technical but basically asbestosis slowly or quickly depending on one's sensitivity, causes scarring to the alevoli or air sacs. Get enough blocked air sacs and breathing becomes a function you used to do. Mesothelioma is another wonderful by-product of asbestos exposure which causes cancer in the linings of vital organs causing an incurable situation. So get those lawsuits going early.
Asbestos is everywhere and has been since Roman times as it's a great insulator and fireproofing substance. The fact that it is also unhealthy even lethal has also been known since forever, hence the massive payouts from Johns-Manville and others. For us older students, remember those old school gymnasiums wth the fluffy ceilings? Used to be a contest to determine who could hit the ceiling with the ball? Yep the floaters were tiny little cancer makers. The darn stuff is also happily present in asphalt tile and roof shingles. Isn't science wonderful? Though air monitoring a roofing job presented some logistical problems for yours truly. Fortunately I am not particularly thrown by heights. (ok I admit bad pun)
I lived and breathed asbestos (well maybe not breathed) forever more and carried my hard-earned knowledge to my next employer which promptly set off a firestorm with my insistence on following the law. Attorneys were involved and panic ensued. I know where the bodies are buried so we will leave it at that. Though there was a memorable night when I got a 2:30 am call as maintenenace punctured a wall in City Hall and exposed "that darn white stuff". Fortunately I knew who to call at 3:00 am for mitigation. Helps to leave a former employer on good terms.
This is running long so I am calling it Chapter 1 with more stories to follow.
I will relate one more story that reminds me of the intransigence of folks. When working for the power company a transformer blowup caused a deluge of oil to be dumped over a few private properties. Now there are little manmade substances called PCBs added to transformer oil that are resistant to heat and pressure. Not a lot in comparison to the oil, but it led to a major PR headache and replacements of siding, driveways and dirt. Though it is true PCBs can cause harm to humans that would require massive amounts of prolonged and repeated exposure. As I tried to explain this to my office mates I literally was told "we know you and would like to believe you, but we are just very worried". Like I said what "we perceive as the truth" is much harder to overcome.
Frustrating but not surprising that people are believing "their own truth" when it comes to coronvirus regardless of the evidence all around them....
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