Thanks! Sadly, this kind of collaboration is all too rare, and we don't have the new standard yet. The trade association representing non-ferrous foundries has challenged most aspects of the proposed standard, and asked for a hearing, which will delay things further. The work that goes into a new OSHA health standard is incredible. Materion and the USW submitted our recommended standard in February 2012. OSHA - quite rightly - can't cede its rulemaking authority to any outside parties, but their proposal was pretty close to ours. However, the text of the proposed regulation is 29 pages long. The detailed analysis of health effects, feasibility, economics, and possible alternatives that OSHA finally published this August is 910 pages long. All of that was necessitated by Congress and the Courts. The Agency accepted public comments up until November 5. They now have the job of analyzing and responding to all those comments, plus anything raised at the hearing. At best the final standard is a year away. All this is why, in the 45 years since the OSH Act was passed, OSHA has promulgated only 23 new health standards.

 

Mike Wright

 

 

 

Mr. Wright;

 

This is super and is the way things should be. Congratulations  to both the Steelworkers, Materion, and to OSHA.

 

Robert (Bob) Weeks, Ph.D.,  CIH

 

 

Beryllium is transparent to most wavelengths of x-rays, so it is present in x-ray equipment in the form of x-ray windows. The best source for practical information on beryllium is Materion Brush, the only US producer of the pure metal, and the predominant supplier of beryllium alloys. They can go way beyond the regulatory information and give you good advice on the safety issues. In fact, the company has partnered with our union to advocate for a new, and much more protective OSHA standard. (And when's the last time you saw a company push for more stringent regulation of its major product?) The person to contact is Terry Civic:

 

Terence M. Civic
Director:  Health, Safety and Regulatory Affairs
T -  216.383.3698
M - 216.870.9791
Terence.Civic**At_Symbol_Here**Materion.com

 

 

 

 

 

Before disposing of old x-ray machines be sure to verify the capacitors and transformers are free of PCB's.

 

W.

 

 

 

Dear All, 

 

We are looking to dispose some old X-ray equipment at our institution.Are you aware of regulations governing beryllium disposal? 

 

Regards,

 

Sandhya

 

--

Sandhya Muralidharan, PhD

Department of Chemistry

Stony Brook University 

New York

 

email - sandhya.muralidharan**At_Symbol_Here**stonybrook.edu