Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 29, 1992 TAG: 9202290222
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
DUST POSES THREAT
Norfolk Southern Corp. is exposing its track maintenance workers to rock dust in sufficient quantities to cause lung disease if inhaled frequently, a federal agency said in an interim report released Friday.The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said "there is convincing evidence that railroad maintenance-of-way employees have been and are being overexposed to silica," the airborne mineral in rock dust.
The study, based on measurements made while the railroad gangs did their work, determined that in some cases employees were exposed to dust particles several times higher than permissible levels established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The Virginia Department of Health asked for the federal investigation after a physician told the department that a patient appeared to have silicosis, a chronic lung disease. The unidentified patient had worked on a Norfolk Southern track maintenance gang for 20 years.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees claimed Friday the railroad has known for eight years that workers were being exposed to dangerous levels of rock dust but withheld the information.
Union President Mac A. Fleming said NS neglected to provide employees with appropriate respiratory equipment and training to reduce their exposure to silica. The dust is stirred up when employees work with the crushed rock used between and beside railroad ties.
NS acknowledged that a test in 1984 found some workers were being exposed to twice as much silica as recommended by OSHA.
But NS spokesman Bob Auman, relaying a statement issued in Roanoke, said the company determined the test was not representative of operations in general. It was done during a hot, dry day on one piece of heavy equipment used to level the crushed rock.
NS, which has its maintenance operations based in Roanoke, also said it thinks the Federal Railroad Administration, rather than OSHA, has jurisdiction on the railroad right of way.
Nevertheless, NS will begin a safety program Sunday that will require its 4,500 maintenance workers to wear face masks while working with the crushed rock, Auman said. Supervisors are being trained to make sure workers are wearing the masks properly, he said.
Fleming said the union also was awaiting the results of the medical evaluations before deciding what action to take.
"This is probably only the tip of the iceberg," Fleming said. "This problem is certain to exist throughout the railroad industry."