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Maritime Advisory Committee For
Occupational Safety and Health
US Department of Labor
Washington, D.C.
March 31, 2005
Executive Summary
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Roll Call
Chairman Jim Thornton
In attendance were members of the Committee: MACOSH Chairperson James Thornton,
North Grumman Newport News Shipyard; Dan Nadeau, Bath Iron Works; James D.
Burgin, National Maritime Safety Association; Captain John McNeill, Pacific
Maritime Association; Captain Teresa Preston, Atlantic Marine/Alabama Shipyard;
Captain Keith D. Cameron, U.S. Coast Guard; Michael Flynn, International
Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers; William (Chico) McGill,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local #733; Mike Freese,
International Longshore and Warehouse Union, and Charles Thompson, Others
present included Michael Seymour for (Jim Maddux) as the designated Federal
Official and Susan Sherman, Committee Counsel. (Mr. Maddux joined the committee
later in the day.)
Chairman Thornton called the meeting to order and introduced Jonathan Snare,
Acting Assistant Secretary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA).
OSHA Opening Remarks
Jonathan L. Snare
Mr. Snare welcomed MACOSH and thanked the committee for supporting OSHA's
efforts to reduce injuries and illnesses in the maritime industries and for the
committees work over the past two years.
Mr. Snare stated that OSHA is working diligently on the rechartering process,
and will publish a Federal Register notice soon to ask for nominations for the
new committee. Mr. Snare noted that this is the most productive MACOSH group
that OSHA's ever worked with, that MACOSH has been a hard working committee, and
that the committee's work is appreciated. Mr. Snare also gave a "special thanks"
to Chairman Thornton, stating that Mr. Thornton has done an excellent job
chairing this committee.
Executive Summary
Chairman Thornton
Chairman Thornton called a motion to approve the previous executive summary. Mr.
Jimmy Burgin commented that there was one clarification he would like to make on
page 7 of the executive summary, bullet point number five, second sentence,
should be changed to "the National Maritime Safety Association has created a
comprehensive training program", instead of "could create" a comprehensive
training program. The correction was made, and the committee unanimously
accepted the executive summary into the MACOSH record.
Outreach Workgroup – Update
Captain Preston
Captain Preston reported that OSHA's rewrite of the first ship fitting module of
SHIPS is ready to go to publication and OSHA provided the workgroup with copies
to review. Captain Preston recommended OSHA solicit labor and management
industry participation on the final drafting of the SHIPS modules through the
alliance programs. Mr. McGill suggested that the current participants who have
been reviewing SHIPS continue to review it. If anyone wishes to volunteer to
review those items, they should get their name to Ms. Deborah Gabry as quickly
as possible so that the process can be expedited but that process should not be
delayed by the review. The committee unanimously agreed that OSHA should solicit
labor and management industry participation on the final drafting of the SHIPS
modules through the alliance programs.
Traffic Safety Workgroup -- update
Jimmy Burgin
Jimmy Burgin noted that MACOSH provided OSHA with comments on the marine
terminal traffic safety guidance document during the last MACOSH meeting. The
document is currently in the OSHA internal review process. The Traffic Safety
workgroup recommended that OSHA look at the following areas concerning safety in
marine terminals: pedestrian safety, the interaction between terminal operations
and trains, and how equipment and technology affect terminal traffic. Mr.
Thompson stated that the final work product of the Traffic Safety workgroup is
intended to become guidance documents. The committee unanimously accepted the
recommendations of the traffic safety workgroup.
Reflection on the Workgroup Approach
Full committee
Chairman Thornton said that having workgroup meetings the day before the full
committee meeting has been very effective. Mr. McGill agreed with Chairman
Thornton and went on to say that he would like more discussion time before the
full committee on certain issues. Mr. McGill stated that he was not comfortable
with the restricted time frames because good discussion that occurred in the
workgroups was left out of the full committee discussion. Captain McNeill said
that in addition to the workgroup meetings, the teleconferences were extremely
productive and helped workgroups get the work product ready for meetings.
Captain McNeil also thought that the work group format was very productive. Mr.
Burgin encouraged separate breakout sessions for the longshoring and shipyard
industries at future MACOSH meetings.
Container Safety Workgroup – Update
Captain McNeill
Lashing Pedestals -- The issue of fall protection and the need for guardrails on
container ship lashing pedestals will be brought before the International
Maritime Organization (IMO) at their conference later this year in London. The
workgroup hopes to get international support to help resolve this issue. In
addition, the workgroup hopes that the IMO will discuss the issue of the need
for lighting between tiers of containers on deck and the issue of damaged and
poorly made cell guides. The workgroup recommended that the "appropriate agency"
take part in these international discussions, or, if that is not possible, that
they work with the U.S. Coast Guard to ensure that the workgroup concerns and
the research that the workgroup has done to date on these three areas can be
considered. The full committee unanimously accepted the recommendation.
Container Lashing -- Captain McNeill discussed the issue of injuries to lashers
caused by the use of lashing poles. Captain McNeill entered into the record the
documents and a video on lashing for future evaluation and study by OSHA at
future MACOSH groups. Captain McNeill explained how the fully automatic twist
lock works as apposed to the traditional method of interconnecting containers on
container ships by either pulling a chain; pulling a wire or moving a lever is
activated at great height above the deck by using a long pole. The committee
unanimously voted to accept the container safety workgroup motion to accept the
video that shows the use of fully automated cones and the written material.
Fall Protection -- The workgroup recommended that OSHA develop a new rule, or issue
a recommendation that fall protection anchor points be provided for those who travel
to and from the vessel deck and the dock by way of a personnel platform or man cage
attached to the container lifting beam. The committee unanimously voted in favor
of accepting the recommendation.
E-Tool for Longshoring -- The workgroup recommended OSHA produce a guidance product
for the longshore industry outlining safety and health training issues for maintenance
and repair workers. The workgroup urgently recommended that OSHA produce safety and
health e tools for the longshore industry in the same way as they did for shipyards.
The committee unanimously accepted the recommendation.
Automatic External Defribulators (AED's). The workgroup recommended that OSHA try and
find information on state and federal Good Samaritan statutes that would allow employers
to train employees for proper use of AED's and allow employees and employers to use these
devices without fear of litigation. If it is not possible, then MACOSH would recommend that
OSHA explore the possibility of an exemption that would allow employers to use these devices
without fear of litigation. The recommendation was unanimously accepted by the committee.
VACIS -- NIOSH and U.S. Customs are developing rules for the operation of these devices and
for the protection of those who have to work in their vicinity. The workgroup recommended
that OSHA look into the possibility of publishing guidelines or rules for these workers, and
to have Customs and/or NIOSH make a presentation at a future MACOSH meeting. The committee
would like the presenter to describe VACIS and report on previous testing. The committee
unanimously voted in favor of accepting the recommendations.
The workgroup also recommended that all the unfinished items from this workgroup be addressed
by the next MACOSH. The committee unanimously voted in favor of accepting the recommendation.
Health Workgroup – Update
Captain Teresa Preston
Several MACOSH members submitted beryllium and silica data to OSHA for
rulemaking use and the committee discussed the status of the two rulemakings.
Chairman Thornton expressed an interest in Bill Carey's abrasive blasting/silica
report to the health workgroup. He pointed out that the demolition of bricks and
concrete may result in worker overexposures. Mr. McGill asked if NACOSH has
looked into other elements that may cause silica exposure. Mr. Maddux replied
"No, but it has been a subject for the Construction Advisory Committee." Mr.
McGill recommended that OSHA advise NACOSH and other advisory committees in the
areas of demolition and other construction like activities as it pertains to
silica. The recommendation was unanimously accepted. The workgroup also
recommended that OSHA conduct noise sampling in marine terminals. The committee
unanimously voted in favor of accepting the recommendation.
Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout) Presentation
Theresa Nelson (NSRP)
Last year the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) conducted a project
to determine common practices related to hazardous energy control. The scope
included a collection of present practices, historical data related to incidents
and model program elements. Hazardous energy control is an integral part of
shipbuilding and repair. There is no OSHA standard that specifically addresses
all the elements of hazardous energy control for the maritime industry, but
shipyards have developed lockout/tagout programs. The committee unanimously
voted in favor of accepting the presentation.
Ms. Preston asked Mr. Maddux to update the entire committee on the status of the
standard for lockout/tagout. Mr. Maddux told the committee that the requirements
for lockout/tagout will be part of the proposed standard for general working
conditions, Subpart F. Mr. McGill suggested that OSHA develop a separate
standard for lockout/tagout using the Neg-Reg process. The committee unanimously
voted in favor of accepting the recommendation.
Safety Culture Workgroup Discussion
Captain Keith Cameron
The Safety Culture workgroup was established to explore and recommend actions to
change industry culture to one that embraces a safety culture. The workgroup
adopted the Shipyard Council of America (SCA) injury and illness survey as a
pilot project to identify "root causes" of injuries. The project used one year
of data to identify the top causes of injuries at participating shipyards. The
workgroup recommends that OSHA continue to monitor and support the SCA project.
The committee unanimously accepted the recommendation.
The Safety Culture workgroup also recommended that OSHA monitor the progress of
NIOSH shipyard hearing loss study, particularly as it relates to culture change.
The committee unanimously accepted the recommendation.
The Safety Culture workgroup recommended that OSHA establish a set metrics to
monitor the two sectors of the maritime industry. In addition, the workgroup
would like that information to be presented at future MACOSH committee meetings.
Captain Mc Neill said that he thought it was important to realize that the
committee did a lot of work on root causes. Captain McNeil also stated "the need
is to get away from reporting just what's right, because it doesn't help us most
of the time. What we have to get to is the whys and the sooner we get there, the
better."
Mr. Youhas offered SCA's pilot surveys to be used by the committee or OSHA. Mr.
Youhas also offered to assist by running pilot programs and collecting root
cause analysis in the future. The committee unanimously voted in favor of
accepting the recommendation.
Captain McNeill recommended that all the materials, developed by the work groups
and MACOSH are handed over to their successors for continued work. The committee
unanimously voted in favor of accepting the recommendation.
Mr. Maddux asked whether OSHA should use the document currently being used to
update the committee on its recommendations. Several committee members responded
that it would be a useful mechanism.
Old Business
The Full Committee
Chairman Thornton asked the committee if there any outstanding issues that
needed to be discussed. Captain McNeill mentioned that item 4 in the document
that was just discussed concerning the safety culture workgroup is incorrect.
Item 4 stated that MACOSH will develop two lists of the 15 most common root
causes, one for longshoring and one for shipyards. The longshoring list was
presented at the last MACOSH meeting and you now have list for shipyards.
Captain Cameron stated that MACOSH asked him as a Coast Guard representative to
keep them updated on towing vessel inspection activities. A Coast Guard Advisory
Committee (TSAC) has established a working group to provide advice on this
rulemaking. Captain Cameron also stated that the working groups are open to the
public. The workgroups' objective is to assist the Coast Guard in developing and
inspection regime for towing vessels. The Coast Guard expects the rulemaking to
take several years.
Open Discussion
Full Committee
Several members thanked the Department of Labor, OSHA, and individual staff for
being chosen to serve on MACOSH meetings. Mr. Flynn stated that there has been a
lot of valuable input from the public.
Mr. Whelan stated that an orientation would be useful for future MACOSH members.
Mr. Thompson suggested that OSHA conduct one or two meetings per year outside of
the Washington DC area. Mr. Thompson said that he thinks it would help encourage
local interest and improve public participation.
Captain McNeill stated that this is one of the most productive organizations he
has ever been in. It is a place where you can leave your baggage outside, and
that would be the advice I would give to anyone who comes here, because this is
not about negotiating contracts and it's not about arguing with labor. It's
about saving people from getting injured.
Mr. Freese said that people are talking about how much more effective the work
groups have been during this Committee's work.
Closing Comments
By Dorothy Dougherty
Ms. Dougherty complimented and personally thanked the committee for the
continuous good work and sound advice they provide to OSHA on maritime issues.
Ms. Dougherty mentioned that the committee wrapped up a large number of issues
today. Mr. Maddux stated that over the last three meetings the committee has
made 20 recommendations, some of which have been refined and that six new
recommendations have been made at this meeting. Ms. Dougherty thanked the
committee for their expertise, commitment, and dedication to the maritime
industry and the employees and employers who benefit from their hard work.
Chairman Thornton thanked Ms. Dougherty for her comments and stated that he
appreciated her personal and the Agency support of MACOSH continuing. Next,
Chairman Thornton asked if there was any more business to be brought before the
committee. Hearing no response the committee unanimously voted to adjourn the
meeting.
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