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Marine Base First to Follow OSHA Guidelines: Safety Policies Put into Place to Improve Health, Safety for Employees

Posted on: Thursday, 30 March 2006, 15:00 CST

By Howard Decker Staff Writer, Desert Dispatch, Barstow, Calif.

Mar. 30--BARSTOW -- New policies which will provide added protection for workers are being put into place at the Marine Corps Logistics Base.

The base will begin to implement an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Program, (VPP) which will also promote worker involvement in safety issues. It is the first such program in the Marine Corps.

According to an OSHA fact sheet, the average VPP worksite has a Lost Workday Incidence of at least 50 percent below the average in the industry.

Ceremonies were held Wednesday morning at the base to kick off the program, headed by Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment B. J. Penn and Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert, commanding general of Marine Corps Installations West. This represents the first time a VPP program has been set to be implemented on a Marine Corps base.

According to the Barstow Base Commander, Col. Steven Thompson, the idea behind the VPP is straightforward: "To improve employee health and safety through cooperative efforts among labor, management and government."

The VPP plan gives workers at the base a "Bill of Rights," which include ability to participate in health and safety issues, to be able to report or stop unsafe acts and conditions without fear of reprisal, to participate in health and safety investigations, to obtain personal protective equipment and to have access to personal health and safety records.

The base was first established in 1942 and covers 5,687 acres east of Barstow. Part of the base near Yermo was annexed by the Marines from the U. S. Army in 1946 and a U. S. Army Rifle Range was taken over by the Marines in 1955.

The base has two major functions: to provide equipment maintenance, repair, overhauling and rebuilding; and receiving, storing, maintaining, issuing and shipping materials.

"Consequently," an Environmental Protection Agency web site states, "the majority of wastes historically generated by the base have been vehiclerelated and war surplus." The presence of the vehicles and war surplus items and work done on them have generated toxic wastes over the years.

Vehicle-related wastes include waste oils, grease, hydraulic fluids, fuels, battery acids, bilge water, and antifreeze. Industrial wastes are generated by the Repair Division while maintaining, rebuilding or preserving the vehicles. These include painting, degreasing, metal part cleaning, and preservation wastes. War surplus wastes include ammunition, sources of low-level radiation from luminescent dials, watches and scopes, and from chemicals.

Volatile chemicals, including heavy metals, have been found in the water at the base and a four stage cleanup has been put into place. This included, at one time, providing an alternate drinking water supply to base personnel. The EPA site says that final cleanup activities are taking place at the base.

There are 1,678 civilians who work on the base and 197 marines, according to a spokesman at the base.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Desert Dispatch, Barstow, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Desert Dispatch (Barstow, Calif.)

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