b'RFebroary,1990 MIDWESTROOFER 8725 Rosehill Road, Suite 21 0, Lenexa, Kansas66215-4611 Phone:(913) 599-6600Fax:(913) 599-6500 Prez Sez. OSHA to Survey Exposure to Air Contaminants in the Construction Industry by Robert P. Lyons MRCA Legal Counsel In 1970 the American Conference ofGovernmentalIndustrial Hygienists established permissible exposure limits (PELs) for airborne contaminantsfortheconstruction industry.Recently, OSHA updated PELs ofof hundredschemicals for workers in general industry. OSHA \'has tentatively concluded that the Cy)MRCA Presidenthealth evidence accumulatedover Douglas Kirberg, 1ofthelast20years suggeststhatatRobert P. Lyons want to thank allthe contributingmanyof thePELsestablishedin writerstolastmonth\'sMidwest1970 there is a significant risk to theand benefits of reducing PELs for Roofer for ajob well done.Theworkers\' health. As a result, OSHAseveral hundred substances in the ASTMreportswereveryannounced in the Federal Registerconstructionindustry."This isa enlightening and hopefully more ofdistant early warning of on January 5, 1990, that it plans torestrictive uswillattendthesemeetings.regulations which will have a direct set newfor specific substances Remember, the more peoplehavePELs wenot on the 1970 list that may causeimpactonhoweachroofing atthesemeetingsrepresentingcontractor conducts business. roofing contractors, the louder oursignificantriskstothehealthofTo provide the necessary statistical voice is.workers in the construction industry.data forRIA, OSHA thewill conduct Before establishing more restrictiveContinued on Page 2 Metal retrofit roofing appears to beandexpansivePELsforair gaining popularity. Ithave looks tocontaminantsintheconstruction thebeginnings as single plies:INSIDE sameindustry OSHA must evaluate the noperformanceandapplicationpotential impact ofregulatoryPage standards.Let\'s hope that none ofsuch us will get burnt duea roofaction.Inother words,itmust tofailureDirectly From aDirector 2 and/orthedisappearanceofaconduct a regulatory impact analysis manufacturer.(RIA).An RIA is analogous to anNationalRoofing Month 3environmentalimpactstatement, \ymemberexperiencinganyexcept that here the study is aimed atGroup InsuranceAvailab1e 3 difficultywiththeinstallationordetermining the impact of plannedLet\'s Talk Safety! .4 performancethese systems, pleaseregulatoryaction.TheRIA ofannounced on January 5, 1990 will Continued on Page 3estimate the "direct and indirect costs Page 1'