NIOSH to Visit Hanford Site Over Chemical Vapor Concerns

Officials from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health plan to visit the Hanford Site from July 25 to 28 for an evaluation announced last month related to worker exposure to chemical vapors.

This week workers at the Hanford tank farms received a memo from NIOSH, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with times and locations each day that they may meet with investigators to confidentially share concerns about  tank farm health and safety issues. Participation is voluntary. Investigators also plan to speak with management and union officials. They will observe work practices in different areas of the tank farms, according to the memo. The review will look at four program areas: the medical program, assessment of exposure, safety and health program management, and exposure controls.

More than 50 Hanford workers have been examined in recent months for possible exposure to vapors from tanks that contain chemical and radioactive waste that was a byproduct of decades of plutonium production at the Department of Energy site in Washington state. The situation led the Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council, an umbrella organization of 15 unions, to issue a stop work order last week in tank farms where supplied air respirators are not being used.