PCCA Journal|1
st
Quarter 2010
38
U
.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood re-
cently announced new federal regulations for
operators of natural gas and hazardous liquid
pipelines. The two rules will include a require-
ment for operators of natural gas distribution pipelines
to adopt integrity management programs similar to
current requirements already in place for larger trans-
mission pipelines. In addition, the U.S. Department
of Transportation (DOT) is calling for strengthened
management and oversight of control room operations
for all types of DOT-regulated pipelines.
“The public deserves and expects a national pipeline
transportation system that meets the highest safety
standards,” said PHMSA Administrator Cynthia L.
Quarterman. “These rules will improve public safety by
requiring integrity management programs and installa-
tion of excess-flow valves for the first time for natural
gas distribution pipelines, in addition to improving
the operations of the nation’s pipeline system control
rooms.”
Integrity management programs combine periodic
inspection and testing of a pipeline’s condition with
continuous management processes to collect, integrate,
analyze, and apply information about possible threats.
The new integrity management rule for natural gas
distribution pipelines incorporates the same basic prin-
ciples as requirements for transmission pipelines but
accommodates the significant differences between the
two pipeline types.
In addition, the rule requires distribution operators to
install excess-flow valves in new and replaced services
for single-family residences where conditions are suit-
able for their use. Unlike requirements for transmission
pipelines that are limited to “high-consequence areas,”
the new distribution integrity management rules will
be applied to an operator’s entire system.
DOT developed the rules in cooperation with Con-
gress, the NTSB, and the pipeline industry.
Safety News
Continued from page 37
S
tudies show that highway and street construc-
tion workers are at a significant risk of fatal and
serious nonfatal injuries while working in and
around a street/highway construction jobsite. In
addition to the risk of injury from passing motor ve-
hicle traffic outside the work zone, there is an equally
hazardous risk of injury from movement of construc-
tion vehicles and equipment within the work zone.
In analyzing the data collected on fatalities and
serious nonfatal injuries occurring from 1992-1998, re-
searchers from the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) have concluded that “safety
efforts must also protect construction workers within
work zones who are working on foot around moving
vehicles and equipment....” Collision occurrences have
been attributed in part to limited visibility around the
equipment.
NIOSH has developed a website (go to www.cdc.
gov/niosh/topics/highwayworkzones and click on
“Construction Equipment Visibility”) that provides de-
tailed diagrams to assist in visualizing the areas around
various construction vehicles and equipment that are
unable to be seen from the operator’s position. These
areas are commonly referred to as blind areas.
For each construction vehicle, three different blind-
area diagrams are available to represent the ability of
the operator to see an object at three different eleva-
tions: ground level, 900 mm (3 feet), and 1500 mm
(4 feet 11 inches). The 900-mm plane represents the
average height of a channelizing device, e.g. construc-
tion barrels that are commonly used in road construc-
tion. The 1500-mm plane corresponds to the height of
a 4-foot 11-inch person.
NIOSH is providing this information on blind areas
primarily for safety personnel and instructors to use as
a training aid to develop awareness about hazardous
areas around construction vehicles and equipment due
to limited visibility. The test procedures for developing
the blind-area diagrams are also given on the site. This
information is provided in the event safety personnel or
instructors would like to develop their own blind-area
diagrams.
Construction Equipment Visibility
DOT Issues New Rules for Pipeline Safety