NIOSH Activities in the Deepwater Horizon Response Activities in the . Deepwater Horizon Response....

NIOSH Activities in the Deepwater Horizon Response

Margaret Kitt and Max KieferNational Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Agenda

Background

Worker Health and Safety Issues

NIOSH Objectives

NIOSH Activities

Deepwater Horizon Background

Largest accidental oil spill in U.S. history On April 20, 2010 drilling rig exploded, followed by fire and sinkingExplosion killed 11 platform workers and injured 17 othersLeak was largely stopped by capping the gushing wellhead on July 15 after releasing about 4.9 million barrels of oil

DWH Oil Rig

Explosion and Fire

Sinking

Deepwater Horizon:Some Numbers

Estimated oil flow rate of 35,000-60,000 barrels per dayTotal oil/gas recovered/flared to date: 771,283 barrels of oil and 1,729.6 million cubic ft of gasPersonnel: 46,271Boom deployed: 9,354,842 ftDispersant use: 1,776,995 gals (1,071,315 surface/705,680 subsea)

672 miles of shoreline impacted

C/I/O Personnel % of Response

NCEH/ATSDR  (Lead) 80 16.9%

NIOSH  249 52.7%

OPHPR 90 19.1%

OSELS 24 5.1%

OD 18 3.8%

OID 4 0.9%

OSTLTS/SATA 6 1.3%

Other (EPA LNO) 1 0.2%

Total 472

CDC Assets in the DWH Response

Response Workers: OSH Hazards

Injury and Illness

Chemical Exposures

Heat Stress

Mental Health/Stress/Fatigue

NIOSH Objectives

To provide opportunity for every response worker to be counted

To prevent illness and injury real-time during the event by reducing or eliminating exposures

NIOSH Activities

Rostering

Health Hazard Evaluations

(HHEs)

Technical Guidance and Communication

Health Surveillance

Toxicity Testing

NIOSH ActivitiesRostering

Rostered over 52,000 response workers

Staging areas and training sites

Paper-based and web-based

BP employees, contractors, federal and state employees, volunteers

Rostering Workers in LA

Paper & Electronic RecordsAs of 8-17-10

Total Collected: 52,253

Percentage

Male 81%

Female 19%

Asian 2%

Hispanic 9%

Black 38%

All Others 52%

Deep Water Horizon Response Worker Roster Effort

Targeted Workers

BP Staff

BP ContractorsVolunteers

Federal

State & Local

NIOSH HEALTH HAZARD EVALUATIONS

Evaluated Workers at the Source

In-Situ Burns

Dispersant Use

Containment Boom

20

Decontamination of Vessels

Health Hazard Evaluations: Six Work Categories

On Shore Evaluations: Beach clean-UpWildlife rehabilitation Equipment decontamination and waste stream management

Off Shore Evaluations:Source ControlIn-situ burnsBooming, skimming, dispersant operations

HHE staff at source control

Health Hazard Evaluations

Additionally, Psychological Stress/Work Organization Focus Groups Conducted with Safety Officers

Note: HHE Interim reports #1 through #5 available on NIOSH website; remainder of

reports forthcoming

Interim Guidance for Protecting Deepwater Horizon Response Workers and Volunteers National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services andOccupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of LaborJune 25, 2010

For more information on general disaster response, consult the NIOSH Emergency Response Topic Page at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/emergency.html

NIOSH and OSHA Collaboration

DEEPWATER HORIZON RESPONSEGulf of Mexico Oil Cleanup

Recent NIOSH Webpage Updates:

• NIOSH Report of Deepwater Horizon Response/Unified Area Command Illness and Injury Data Updated August 13

• NIOSH Ongoing Health Hazard Evaluation: Deepwater Horizon Response Updated August 13

• NIOSH Voluntary Roster of Deepwater Horizon Response Workers Updated August 12

Health SurveillanceWorking across data sources

BP/UAC health data, State surveillance data, Poison Control Centers, BioSense

BP injury and illness data analysisCurrently on update #4 (posted on NIOSH website)

Working with HHS/ASPR on Medic Log dataHealth Symptom Surveys from HHEs

April 23 – July 27, 2010 

Characteristic Injuries  Illnesses

TotalNumber % Number  % 

Total  1136  53.3  994  46.7  2130 

First Aid cases  959  51.9  888  48.1  1847 

OSHA‐recordable cases

175  62.3  106  37.7  281 

Missed or Restricted Duty cases 

28  70.0  12  30.0  40 

Injury and Illness Data(Note: Based on BP Reported Incident Data)

NIOSH Injury and Illness Report of BP Incident Data

NIOSH Injury and Illness Report of BP Incident Data

NIOSH Injury and Illness Report of BP Incident Data

Chemical Exposures: Crude/Weathered Oil/Dispersants

Oil and/or dispersants were noted as a contributing factor in 13 casesAll were treated by first aid aloneNine occurred offshoreSix cases were dermatologic in nature, four led to injury (such as slipping on oily surface), and three were attributed to oil or dispersant vapor exposure

Heat Stress

141/192 (73%) heat stress cases occurred “onshore” 110 of these occurred among laborers such as beach cleanup workers, boom decontamination workers, heavy equipment operators, and general laborers

Toxicity TestingAcute animal testing (rats) to be conducted on:

Dispersant (Nalco Corexit 9500A)Crude Oil from the source (sample from well head obtained May 23rd)Dispersant/crude oil mixture

Inhalation studiesMeasuring pulmonary, cardiovascular, and CNS outcomes

Dermal studiesAssessing hypersensitivity and immune-mediated responses

Margaret Kittajy8@cdc.gov

Max KieferMkiefer@cdc.gov

Questions?