[ARC5] unsubscribe

[Bruce Long]

I was fortunate to be part of three deep field science expeditions to Antarctica.  The field camps were populated with university employees and NSF contractor employees.  

We drank cooked and washed with water produced from melted snow.  Melted Antarctica snow is the purest natural water on earth.
Once a month to satisfy OSHA regulations, NSF flew a LC-130 out to the field camp often with only one passenger, the technician who had the job of taking water samples and insuring compliance with OSHA standards.
The hourly operating cost for a LC-130 was in excess of $70,000   Fuel was about $100 dollars per gallon because it was special cold weather formulation made by only a hand full of the refineries in the world, then transported to Antarctic by small tanker guided by an icebreaker.

With respect to small enclosed spaces I heard a company was fined for not having a MSDS sheet for the contents of a vacuum chamber, a serious infraction because vacuum is obviously toxic  if you breath it and explosive.
I can't figure out if this is a joke or if it actually happened which tells you something.



 

      From: DSP3 <jeepp at comcast.net>
 To: arc5 at mailman.qth.net 
 Sent: Monday, January 18, 2016 10:39 AM
 Subject: Re: [ARC5] unsubscribe
   
 Its certainly a mixed bag with that agency.  I agree that many edicts have been very positive in the area of safety, but not always.  OSHA requirements for persons entering so-designated "closed spaces" is sometimes all but impossible to comply with in any practical manner.  For example, the radome for the Weather Service's WSR-88D radar system has a huge radome.   One could arguably have a party, inside (non-rotating, of course!).   There is but one ingress/egress, however.  OSHA mandates two people inside and at least one person outside.  The agency cannot reasonably comply as personnel are simply not there to do it.  So, the one ET goes and does his job.  If he or she is lucky, there's another ET maybe to come along for the ride.  Same goes for the on-site small buildings holding the radar equipment and the stand-by generator.  There's only one door so... its under the requirement.  I wonder in the Navy has like issues in small spaces aboard ships?   OSHA unfortunately like a lot of other agencies have "assumed" power and find it necessary to fully exercise that power.... logic be damned.  
 
 Jeep - K3HVG
 
 
 
 On 1/17/2016 11:29 PM, Bob via ARC5 wrote:
  
Actually, under OSHA beginning in 1969  deaths per 100k dropped from 18 per 100K to 3.6 per 100K as of 2009.  In 1937 deaths per 100K was 42 per 100K.  So there was a downward trend in industrial deaths, but to say that OSHA has not been effective is anything but correct. As one who has worked in the telecommunications industry for over 50 years I certainly cannot complain about the electrical safety enhancements brought about by OSHA and related work place safety measures.    As one who can remember the working environment in the early 1960s where it was quite common for a millwright (ME) to have to hang onto to a working overhead crane in motion with his knees while trouble shooting a control relay with 440 and 880 VAC feeds with no protection and only a "Wiggly" as a test  instrument.  You'd never see that today in a factory operating under OSHA rules and regulations.   
  Cheer's Bob, KE6F
 
   
 
 
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