Page 12 - BusinessWest January 22, 2024

Breathing Easier
Cannabis-grinding Study Could Lead to Safer Workplaces
BY JOSEPH BEDNAR
[email protected]
From his background in plant management and chemical engineering, Frank Dailey said, he understands the risks involved in
manufacturing anything, let alone a product with so little research available in the realm of workplace safety.
So, when asked to take part in a National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH) evaluation of the cannabis grinding process at Boston Bud Factory, the Holyoke business Dailey owns, he was enthusiastic about it.
The study was first slated to take place at Trulieve in Holyoke, where an employee died in January 2022. The 27-year-old production technician suffered a fatal asthma attack while working at the indoor cannabis cultivation and processing facility. According to the Massachu- setts Department of Public Health (DPH), the death occurred seven months after she started employment at the facility and three months after she began working as a flower technician, which involved processing and handling whole and ground cannabis flower buds.
Boston Bud Factory was contacted by Danny Stair, a local industry advocate and for- mer Trulieve employee, who was concerned the study was in jeopardy following Trulieve’s departure from the Massachusetts market last year. So Dailey contacted NIOSH directly and volunteered his operations for the study.
“We put up signs when we’re grinding; we notify everybody. It can be a hazardous process. It doesn’t have to be, but it can be,” Dailey told BusinessWest. “We have to take into account allergens. Employees have allergic reactions processing some strains. It’s random; there’s no rhyme or reason.”
While he doesn’t know exactly what precau- tions were taken at Trulieve, “what I do know is that it’s common in the industry for large corporations to short personal protective equip- ment when the money’s tight. They need to pay for inventory. We’re answering to the money train in this industry, and it seems like it’s a common thing throughout the industry, that employees’ safety is not being looked out for.”
Dailey said Boston Bud Factory has already implemented strict PPE procedures when grinding cannabis due to possible employee reactions to dust, but still has concerns about whether the PPE was adequate, and he wants to be part of developing a wider body of knowl- edge that may become the basis for mandated workplace health regulations.
“We know how dangerous dust is in other industries. Dust in foundries has caused explo- sions. Dust in factories has caused fires. As
for cannabis dust, this is just the beginning of the employee exposure. As the industry grows, more and more dust is created.”
One of his employees with specific sensitiv- ity concerns actually wears not only a Tyvek suit with a particulate mask, but also gloves duct-taped to the sleeves so the dust doesn’t get up the sleeves.
“These are techniques from the pharma-
Frank Dailey shows
off some equipment used to grind cannabis.
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“People are talking about tax revenues and other issues in cannabis, but you don’t hear people talking about the effort the industry is making
to keep their workers safe. Workers shouldn’t have to unionize and take extreme measures to implement safety in the workplace.”
ceutical industry that are easy to implement
if someone is paying attention and has proper safety protocols in place,” he explained. “Peo- ple are talking about tax revenues and other issues in cannabis, but you don’t hear people talking about the effort the industry is making to keep their workers safe. Workers shouldn’t have to unionize and take extreme measures to implement safety in the workplace.”
During the on-site visit, NIOSH will set up airborne particulate monitoring during the grinding process to see what the exposure is and how many airborne particulates employees are subject to.
“We use dust masks, basically particulate masks, and that should be enough in most cases. We’re not talking chemical fumes; it’s simply airborne particulates,” Dailey said. “But we need to know whether we need to go to N95 or a higher level to make sure enough par- ticulates are captured.”
Historically, he added, a lot of cannabis manufacturing has been done underground, where employee safety isn’t paramount.
“We’re one of the smallest operations in Massachusetts; we’re fighting for survival,” he added. “But we need to do something to set some standards in this emerging industry.”
Statewide Investigation
Also in the wake of the death at Trulieve, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) recently released an investigative report outlining additional steps the cannabis indus- try should take to prevent work-related asthma and sent a bulletin to healthcare providers in the Commonwealth urging vigilance in identi- fying work-related asthma among workers in that industry. The bulletin reminds providers that they are mandated to report cases of work- related asthma and other respiratory diseases to DPH.
While the Holyoke death is the only known asthma death in the U.S. cannabis industry, other cases of non-fatal respiratory disease among Massachusetts cannabis workers have been reported. According to DPH, cannabis- industry workers can be routinely exposed to numerous occupational respiratory hazards, including cannabis dust, mold, volatile organic compounds, pollen, bacterial endotoxins, pes- ticides, soil components, and cleaning disin- fectants, which can cause and/or exacerbate chronic diseases, like asthma, if not addressed.
Massachusetts has more than 500 licensed cannabis industry employers providing jobs to more than 22,000 workers.
“The legalized cannabis industry in Mas-