British Petroleum (BP) has a massive public relations fiasco on their hands and as it progresses it just seems to get worse and worse. The world is swiftly coming to realize that this natural disaster is turning out to be the largest in human history with unknown consequences for the future of the world’s oceans.
Cleanup has been chaotic and misguided at best and BP has been highly criticized for focusing on their bottom line. The Obama administration has also come under fire for their response. Both of these issues are being put under the microscope when it comes to the issue of respiratory masks for workers.
According to a new grass-roots action group called bpmakesmesick.com and MSNBC interviews with people intimately associated with the cleanup, BP initially ordered workers that were wearing breathing respirators to remove them or be fired. Some speculate that the move was intended to curb their liability in future civil lawsuits regarding health issues surrounding the cleanup.
BP has since started to selectively hand out masks to workers they feel are at risk, but there are still thousands of others exposed.
Why do workers need respiratory masks?
According to NOLA.com, a New Orleans news organization the skimming methods are filled with unknowns.
“Burning is fraught with complications. The crude that litters the Gulf is highly emulsified and depleted in hydrogen, which means it doesn’t burn readily. In many cases, it’s easier to skim it off the surface. For the oil to sustain a fire, it needs to be condensed to several millimeters’ thickness — a task accomplished by retrofitted fishing vessels that work in pairs, dragging a 500-foot line of fireproof boom between them in a narrow U-shaped arc.”
“On any given day, as many as 10 fire teams are on the water, corralling oil and setting it alight.”
The Occupational Heath and Safety Administration (OSHA), which has been monitoring air quality aboard cleanup vessels, has recommended that respirators be made available to all burn crew members. Not all fire team vessels are fully equipped with the apparatus to conduct the work and crew members head inside the ship’s cabin if the smoke gets too heavy.
“Based on the air monitoring we’ve done to date, we haven’t had any situations where respirators have been required,” said BP consultant Alan Allen. “We’re in the process of determining the best way to [distribute respirators] that so that they have the option to wear masks.”
How are Gulf Oil Spill cleanup workers in jeopardy of respiratory issues?
During the cleanup following 9/11 there was a tremendous amount of dust on the site of the fallen towers. Many of the workers toiled diligently at the site not only looking for bodies, but also cleaning up the scar that terrorism had left behind on face of New York City.
Through their dedication they did not wear the proper gear nor did the authorities in charge of the cleanup assess the dangers and provide them with the proper breathing apparatus. That led to what is described as “acute breathing problems” such as asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
Just in June of 2010 ground zero workers finally came to a settlement with New York City’s insurer for the sum of $712 million. The reason that the settlement was reached and the liability was assessed was because it was revealed in the trial that city officials knew about the respiratory risk.
That’s where BP comes in. If they provide masks to some higher risk workers and order other lower risk workers to take off their masks, some speculate that they are drawing a liability line in the oily sand with future lawsuits in mind as they are fully cognizant of the long drawn out ground zero lawsuits.
Who is in jeopardy?
Most of the burning is being done under SMART guidelines which say that in order to use the skimming and burning methods, the operations must stay at least 10 miles off of the shore. This will keep the inland air quality reasonable. Some residents have complained about nausea, sore throats, burning eyes, and respiratory problems, and some try to avoid outdoor activity when the wind blows in. Some of the health complaints may not stem from oil burning, but from the oil’s propensity to be churned by wind and waves into an aerosol that can blow onshore.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has deemed the air quality at its worst “unhealthy to sensitive groups.” But these aren’t the groups that are closest to the problem. Many of the workers on the boats doing the burning have respirators, but there are also thousands of workers on the beaches.
There is a massive population of people out of work because of the oil spill desperate to feed their families. They work around the oil all day without respirators. The fumes from the oil has been reported to cause some health problems, but even OSHA is denying the connection.
According to Jordan Barab, the current Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Health and Safety, “symptoms of nausea, vomiting, nose bleeds, and headaches” cited by cleanup workers so far have “almost all have been heat related.”
Yet the those effected are also complaining that after work, according to MSNBCs Keith Olbermann, to being “intolerant to everyday scents, household products, medicines, even food after exposure to chemicals and toxic fumes.
Gulf Oil Spill Lawyers
Respiratory issues are serious problems that can affect a person for the rest of their lives, affect how they work and provide for their families, and can lead to further health issues such as weight gain and depression. This is a high price to pay for the good intentions of cleaning up the Gulf Coast and trying to minimize the environmental effects of this disaster.
There are lots of unknown issues that will arise as related with the Gulf Oil Spill, but burning and working with hazardous materials already have standards set by multiple government agencies such as OSHA and the EPA. There is a reasonable expectation that cleanup workers be protected under those guidelines at the very least. Then it is up to BP and government officials to make changes to further protect workers as they come up.
At this point minimum guidelines are not being met.
You need not be afraid of large companies like BP, Transocean, and Halliburton with their unlimited resources nor should you be afraid of seeking compensation from the government for not meeting their own guidelines. All you need is representation that is experienced in fighting for the average citizen against giant global conglomerates. Call Phillips Webster for a free consultation and to find out how you can get the compensation you deserve.
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