The United Auto Workers (UAW) and the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) have filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals seeking to compel OSHA to issue new standards for worker exposure to metalworking fluids. The UAW formally petitioned OSHA to take action and reduce worker exposure to metalworking fluids 10 years ago in 1993.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) found substantial evidence that metalworking fluids can cause severe respiratory ailments and cancer, and subsequently determined that the existing OSHA standard exposed workers to serious health hazards. As a result, NIOSH recommended that OSHA adopt a standard 10 times more stringent for both petroleum-based and synthetic metalworking fluids.

In 1993, OSHA identified the hazards posed by metal working fluids as a regulatory priority and appointed an official “standards advisory committee.” The committee spent 6 years gathering evidence and holding hearings before recommending in 1999 that OSHA adopt the standard suggested by NIOSH. However, four years after the standards advisory committee made its recommendation, OSHA withdrew the issue from active consideration.

Full story by reporter Sandy Smith with Penton Media, Inc. is available on the Occupational Hazards e-newsletter at http://www.occupationalhazards.com/full_story.php?WID=10775