RI Committee on Occupational Safety & Health

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RICOSH Alert:  THE FIRE THIS TIME.

 

They crawl through labyrinths of equipment in utter darkness pierced

only by their flashlights, listening for periodic explosions as

hydrogen gas escaping from crippled reactors ignites on contact with

air.

They breathe through uncomfortable respirators or carry heavy oxygen

tanks on their backs. They wear white, full-body jumpsuits with

snug-fitting hoods that provide scant protection from the invisible

radiation sleeting through their bodies. Nytimes 3/15/11

 

As the disaster unfolds the Japanese public is being advised to evacuate or shelter in place. But some are doing neither. Somebody is pumping water into the reactors to cool them, someone is operating valves inside the secondary containment structure — and somebody is fighting the fires that have broken out.  These are workers.

Fires and explosions at the reactors have injured, as of this writing, 15 workers and military personnel and exposed up to 190 workers to elevated radiation.

During the Chernobyl accident in 1986, operators and firefighters received high doses of radiation, sometimes within minutes. More than two dozen died of acute radiation illness.

While workers ARE wearing full bodysuits and air packs, some forms of radiation can penetrate any gear.  Each worker would be wearing a dosimeter, which measures radiation exposure.

Protecting workers in this situation is usually based on three principles: distance, time and shielding. In the Japanese plants, extensive damage in an emergency situation would mean that distance and shielding are limited controls, so the controlling variable is time. But time is also the enemy in that workers will need to stay on site to keep the situation under control.  As usual, those making the most heroic sacrifices receive the least attention.

Meanwhile Congressional Republicans enacted a budget slashing funding for OSHA the agency responsible for enforcing worker safety and health standards,  as well as for the agency that issues tsunami warnings.  

 

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RI Committee on Occupational Safety & Health

741 Westminster St.  Prov  RI 02903 (401) 751-2015/ricosh@verizon.net