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                UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
          Occupational Safety and Health Administration
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                     SAFEWORKS SERIES NO. 13

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ON-SITE CONSULTATION CARBON MONOXIDE EXPOSURE


Beverage Distributor, Container Recycler 

Warehouse employees of a beverage distributor and container
recycler complained of headaches, nausea, and occasional
vomiting.  The employer, suspecting possible carbon monoxide
exposures, requested an air sampling survey to determine employee
exposures.


Excessive Carbon Monoxide Exposures Found

The consultant found a 50-employee operation in a 23,000 square-
foot warehouse including several large, relatively airtight
beverage storage coolers.  Employees used propane powered
forklifts to load and unload beverages and empty containers from
gasoline and diesel fueled trucks and then to transport beverages
to the coolers.  The consultant learned that all the employees
who had experienced headaches and nausea worked in the storage
coolers during times when the propane powered forklifts were
operating.

Area air samples showed carbon monoxide ranging from 4 to 350
parts per million with the greatest concentrations found in the
beverage storage coolers.  One night shift worker operating a
propane powered forklift had an eight-hour time-weighted average 
(TWA) exposure of 60 ppm carbon monoxide, exceeding the 50 ppm 
OSHA exposure limit.  (Beginning  Sept. 1, 1989, new permissible 
exposure limits, a 35 ppm 8-hr, TWA, and a 200 ppm ceiling will
apply.)  Management estimated that exposures on the day shift
might be even higher.


Consultant's Analysis

Since the complaints came from workers in the beverage coolers
and the highest measured carbon monoxide exposures were
experienced by a forklift operator in the beverage cooler, the
consultant pinpointed the propane powered forklift trucks as the
primary source of the problem.


Recommendations

1.  Substitute electric powered forklifts for the propane powered
ones, preferably in all operations.

2.  At a minimum, prohibit the use of propane powered forklifts
in the storage coolers.

3.  For any remaining propane powered forklifts, set up a strict 
maintenance program, including periodic carbon monoxide emission 
checks and tune-ups.


Results and Benefits

When the consultant contacted the firm several months later, 
management explained that it had purchased a new electric powered

forklift, had prohibited use of propane powered forklifts in the
storage coolers and was adhering to a routine maintenance program
for the propane powered vehicles.  As a consequence of lower
exposures to carbon monoxide, worker health complaints had
subsided
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Safeworks provides a brief summary of the results of an
employer's request for workplace safety and health assistance.
Such assistance can identify and help the employer correct
workplace hazards, develop or improve an effective safety and
health management system, or both.  Small business employers can
receive this assistance, without cost, under a consultation
program funded largely by OSHA and administered by state agencies
and universities.  Contact the OSHA office in your area for
additional information on the consultation program.

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