Comments recommending removal of respirator sections from EPA report

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

There-wwme-evidenee-thaHHiy-sftfety-aftdTiealth--prograffl-was-epeFatifi^^ the site. The lack of an operating' safety-und health program'was confirmed by varieas-sappon personnel, workers, and government officials. [ Absolutely untrue. There was an aggressive safety and health effort underway, spearheaded by the DDC and QSHA working m close collaboration. Beginning 9/12/01, daily health and safety meetings were held and attended by multiple City, State and Federal agencies, including EPA, FEMA. QSHA, DEC, DDC, DOH, PEP, FDNY, NYPD and OEM, together with the contractors' safety personnel, at which air monitoring and PPE protocols were discussed and established. There was a preliminary "Accident Prevention Plan" in place from September 14, 2001 through October 29, 2001, at which time the World Trade Center Emergency "Environment, Safety and Health Plan" went into effect. Teams of safety and health professionals worked around the clock providing "direct intervention" to get workers to comply with basic safety and health requirements, especially the use of PPE. There were as many as 30 safety professionals on site each day. QSHA employees were constantly roving the site with safety equipment, and provided hands on instruction and preliminary fit checking at IS 89 and at supply caches on the Site. There are tens of thousands of documents which record these multi­ agency health and safety effeirts and which can be provided upon request.1

A January 2002 report^ prepared by a certified industrial hygienist for the Operating Engineers National Hazmat Program noted that during the period October 2-16, 2001, less than half of the heavy equipment operators regularly used respirators when working on the "pile" at Ground Zero, and often this use decreased to less than one- third of the workers This report, which discussed respiratory protection lessons from the WTC disaster, concluded that the respirators NIOSH recommended for use at the site were correct and sufficiently protective provided that they were properly tested and conscientiously worn.

DRAFT EXCERPTS - FOR REVIEW & DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY

In contrast to the recovery operation at the WTC site, the January 2002 report

2 "Respiratory Protection at the World Trade Center: Lessons From the Other Disaster," Bruce Lippy, CIH, CSP, January 15, 2002.

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NYC-WTC_000153384