An integrated approach to worker health and safety in the metal recycling industry

The recycling of metals is an important business in the US, annually processing 60 million metric tons of metal, generating revenues of $84 billion, and employing approximately 100,000 workers. Workers in this industry perform a critically important role in both the economic and the environmental health of our country. However, these workers also face serious safety and health challenges as they carry out their work. Primary among these workplace hazards are exposures to toxic metals, including lead, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, arsenic, manganese, beryllium, and mercury. These hazards do not come packaged with labels, hazard warnings, and MSDSs. Rather, workers on a daily basis face irregular and unquantified exposures to known toxins. In addition to metal toxins, workers are exposed to high noise levels, compressed gases, machine hazards, confined spaces, and the risk of ionizing radiation. Using industrial hygiene sampling results for airborne exposure and wipe sampling results for settled metal dust, this presentation will discuss several case studies of metal recycling facilities conducted by the Georgia Tech Research Institute's Safety and Health Consultation Program. The study will examine the limitations of worker protection afforded by current OSHA standards and how these standards are challenged to encompass the dynamic nature of the exposures faced by these workers. As an alternative, the study will present an approach to worker health and safety that provides a more comprehensive program for protecting workers. The study will present an integrated approach to combining the medical monitoring provisions applicable to the various toxic metals.