Workers at Weyerhaeuser
want solutions to chemical
related health problems

IWA members at Weyerhaeusers’
Drayton Valley, Alberta oriented
strand board plant are concerned over
some chemicals being used in the
plant in relation to their health. At
least six Local 1-207 members have
had to be transferred over to the com-
pany’s sawmill next door and two oth-
ers have left the job as they have been
unable to work with liquid phenyl
formaldehyde and isocynate sub-
stances which have affected their
health.

The workers may have also been
affected by powdered resins used to
bond the wood chips together.
Chronic exposure of workers on 12
hour shifts has caused a “sensitiza-
tion” to these chemicals. Some work-
ers can no longer tolerate their bodies
coming in contact with the toxic sub-
stances.

To try and resolve the problem the
workers, through a joint health and
safety committee want some basic
changes made. Bernie Rushton, for-
mer sub-local plant chairman and now
chairman of the IWA health and safety
delegation says rather than simply
send workers out of the plant, the
company should try to eliminate the
problem at the source.

This can include a vacuum cleaning
system rather than blowing with an
Airwand which simply spreads the
toxic substances throughout the
atmosphere in the plant.

“Our position is that the liquid iso-
cynate and powdered resins are not
good for worker's health and that
more safeguards must be put into
place,” Brother Rushton told the
Lumberworker. He says that workers
who have to clean up the conveyors

are exposed to higher levels of the
chemicals, and can be affected even
while using such protective equip-
ment as a cartridge respirator and
vapour barrier overalls.

And while the company monitors
the resin substances in accordance
with government regulations, there
has been no routine monitoring of
workers’ health.

Exposure to the chemicals has
caused such health problems as der-
matitis in eyes, ears and noses and
rash in moisture areas of the body.
Some workers have suffered blisters
around their eyes and have had boils
and blisters inside their ears. These
are serious health problems and the
effects of long-term exposure are
unknown.

The health problems began to arise
when Weyerhaeuser went from using
all powdered resins and introduced
me liquid isocynate in the spring of
1991.

“The workers have to be careful to
not get the liquid phenyls on their
skin,” says Brother Rushton. “This is
especially important for people work-
ing in the blenders who handle the
chemicals directly.”

In an atomized form these isocy-
nates bond to the moisture and
warmth of the lungs and can cause
loss of the lungs’ ability to handle air
volume and oxygen absorption.

The union wants to put an end to
worries about health problems associ-
ated with both the liquid and pow-
dered resins.

“The company’s position is that
when current precautions are taken,
the plant is safe,” says Brother
Rushton. “We don’t agree. We need to

e Cleanup worker uses blower which spreads toxic chemicals through plant’s
atmosphere.

know everything we can about safety
of working with the chemicals.”

Now that Weyerhaeuser and the
union are embarking on a joint health
and safety committee process,
Brother Rushton is optimistic that
changes can be made.

On other health and safety issues
the IWA has brought up, Weyer-
haeuser has acted responsibly to fulfil
its corporate motto of “Safety First,
Quality Always.” The company has
worked hard to educate workers on a
proper lockout program.

Rushton says the union should be
directly involved in monitoring the
chemical levels in the plant on a regu-
lar basis although the company may
resist any such attempt.

“The company should be responsi-
ble for testing the air but we (the
workers) should also have a right to
test when we feel our health is threat-
ened,” adds Rushton.

“We should also have the right to
independent testing.”

Continued on page fourteen

Plywoods

Continued from page twelve

There's a lot of eyes on the veneer
before it is laid up. Quality over quan-
tity is a definite issue.

“One of the reasons that this plant
has operated and never shut down,
other than for labour disputes, is
because of quality,” say FCL’s Monte
Jones. “When things have been tough
our customers have always stayed
with us.”

“The reason we have the quality
that we do is we have people doing a
good job for us,” he adds.

The mill runs about 50% fir and 50%
spruce. It secures most of its wood in
the Salmon Arm Forest District. The
company also is buying more and
more private wood to meet its con-
sumption of up to 700 cubic meters a

“The quality of our plywood speaks
for itself”, says Bob Green, the IWA’s
plant chairman. “The workers in here
are quite concerned about the quality
of the product they put out.”

But they aren’t without problems

_ with Federated Co-op. One of the sore
points has been the issue of training

Piiersica Co-op has for the past

constantly refused to

of years
a millwright apprentice pro-

e At the Savona plant layup line Ainsworth believes more workers do a

better job on quality control. Left to right are

Paul Dagg, Derek Mori, core layer Ellis Jarnrich, corefeeder John Chicoine, and Sita Ram.

LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1993/13