|
Wednesday, 09 June 2010 14:42 |
 Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) and the Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper (LMRK) have been working to protect the health of the fishermen who are working to address the crude oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the estuaries and wetlands in the coastal areas.
In order to offset the loss of livelihood, BP was encouraged to hire local fishermen, who have first hand knowledge of the wetlands, marshes and water bodies. The fishermen were hired to install booms and absorbent pads to protect the coastal areas and estuaries and to participate in the crude oil cleanup activities. The fishermen have experienced negative heath impacts such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, chest pains, respiratory impacts, irritation to eyes, nose, throat and lungs and asthma attacks.
On May 4, 2010, LEAN and LMRK received and began distributing protective gear to the fishermen to utilize during cleanup activities. The protective gear consisted of half face respirators with organic vapor cartridges, goggles, gloves and sleeve protectors. LEAN and LMRK have continued to provide protective gear to fishermen and individuals going into the polluted areas.
LEAN has gone to court and engaged the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in attempts to have the health and safety of the fishermen workers protected and to have BP provide proper training and protective gear to the fishermen.
BP has continued to fail to provide adequate protective gear and respirators to fishermen working in close proximity to the spilled crude oil and dispersants. The workers are afraid to complain, for fear they will loose their cleanup jobs, their only source of livelihood. BP has threatened to fire fishermen attempting to utilize respirators provided by LEAN, LMRK and other organizations.
On May 25, 2010, OSHA's Assistant Secretary David Michaels issues a memo to Admiral T. W. Allen of the US Coast Guard on the topic of OSHA's serious concerns for worker safety and health in Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response. OSHA requested the assistance of Admiral Allen in "communicating the concerns to BP." OSHA further asked that Admiral Allen "stress to BP that their failure to address the issues in the memo raises serious concerns about the safety and health of the workers involved in the cleanup."
In the memo, OSHA stated "These deficiencies present potentially grave consequences for the workers currently involved in the cleanup and will become increasingly acute as more oil hits the shore, more workers are involved and the complexity of the response increases."
According to OSHA the "systems that BP currently has in place, particularly those related to worker safety and heath training, protective equipment, and site monitoring, are not adequate for the current situation or the projected increase in cleanup operations."
OSHA further stressed, "these are not isolated problems. They appear to indicate the general system failure on BP's part to ensure the safety and health of the workers responding to the disaster."
One of the areas documented by OSHA is BP's inadequate response to avoidance of heat stress and heat strokes by the cleanup workers on or near shore. OSHA expressed the need conveyed to BP for shade for workers and liquids to avoid dehydration and to watch carefully for signs and symptoms of exposure.
But in response to the focus on heat stress and heat strokes, suddenly the use of respirators, to avoid inhalation of toxic chemicals, has been discouraged due to the threat of heat strokes. Such an approach trades off the breathing in of toxic chemicals for protection of workers from heat stress. Clarence Duplessis a Braithwaite fishermen testifying at the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on June 7, 2010, stated "the stress from breathing crude oil emissions is greater than the stress of using a respirator."
This is a workplace environment. BP and its contractors are required to protect the health and safety of their workers. The workers must be protected from heat stress and be protected from breathing in of toxic chemicals in their work place environment.
The protection, safety and short and long health of the fishermen and other workers performing the deployment of booms, collecting the crude oil residues and cleaning up the environment are of great concern to LEAN and LMRK. We will continue to work for greater safety and health protection of the workers.
|
