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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