Document 918k6j5d7NNpr4Vk02XpNodbV

FILE NAME Kohler KOH DATE 1942 DOC KOH003 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Unpublished Internal Report - os a J t ANNUAL REPORT FOR 19/2 PIL 5020 of 1/25/18/8 THE INDUSTRIAL HEALTH SECTION & x 1/25/18/8 PLANT SURVEYS During the year 1942 nearly twice as many surveys were conducted as in 1941. The number of different industrial plants studied in 1942 was 58 as compared to 30 in 1941. As in 1941 firms engaged in manufacturing heavy metals comprise the major part of the studies with ore mines second The _ industries studied may be classified as follows Metals 62.1 Coal mines 8,6 Asbestos plants 8,6 Chemicals 1.8 Quarries 1.7 Wood 1.7 100.0 The samples collected in the plants necessitated making 1,536 separate analyses in the laboratory Analyses have also been made as in the past of materials shipped to the laboratory from plants of our Group policyholders These tests were mostly for free and total silica A number of materials used in our Home Office buildings has also been analyzed In addition to the above surveys the plants or offices of three policyholders were visited and advice given regarding hazards or medical service Requests for plant surveys and information were received from Group . policyholders and others in all lines of industry To give an idea of the variety -2- a of firms which request this service the following are some of the more importent firms which we have served Armstrong Cork Company Consolidated Gas Electric Light & Power Co. Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines American Viscose Corp. Idaho Maryland Gold Mines American Rolling Mill Co. Corp. Standard Oil Co. Union Carbide Co. American Seating Co. Humble Oil & Refining Co. Tennessee Coal Iron & R.R. Co. Blackwell Zinc Co. Republic Steel Corp. Kohler Co. Marshall Field & Co. Vickers Inc. National Enameling & Montgomery Ward Co. Bethlehem Steel Co. Stamping Co. Pendelton Ship Yards Norfolk & Western Railroad General American Transportation Co. Kimball Piano Co. General Motors Corp. RESEARCH STUDIES Ruberoid Co. Continental Baking Co. Higgins Corp. Atlas Powder Co. N.Y. Telephone Co. International Business Machine Corp. Braden Copper Co. Florida Power & Light Co. Lewisburg Chair and Furniture Co. Norton Company U.S. Leather Co. Virginie Electric & Power Caterpillar Tractor Co. Manville Corp. Baker & Taylor Co. Bell Telephone Laboratorie A.P. Green Fire Brick Co. N.Y. Employing Printers Assoc Inc. General Electric Co. Monarch Machine Tool Co. Asbestos Textile Corp. Due to the increased number of requests for plant surveys resulting from the speed up in production due to industry's victory effort more routine work has been loaded upon the laboratory This additional work has left little time for new type research problems of centrifugal pump The laboratory staff did design and which could operate on A.C. or D.C. construct a current of 110-220 volts TRAVEL CRELIT . The amount of money expended for travel in the Industrial Health Section during 1942 amounted to 4507.57 However of this amount 4047.63 was paid to us by the Group policyholders for expenses incurred by our men in the field while conducting plant surveys Therefore our total expenditure for travel for the year amounted to 459.94 SPECIAL INQUIRIES Nine hundred thirty 937 special inquiries were received during the year for information covering a wide range of subjects of 39 over 1941 This is an increase 1 ; 1 RAY INTERPRETATIONS Before Dr. McConnell left for the Service he had read and interpreted 158 rays received from our Group policyholders MEETINGS AND ADDRESSES Dr. McConnell and other members of the staff attended 38 meetings during the year 1942. The following addresses were made Dr. McConnell made an address over Radio Station WABC on Heat Stroke and Other Effects of Health . Dr. McConnell gave a series of at a training course in industrial medicine and Surgeons Columbia University He also at Columbia University and demonstrated our air lectures to Naval medical officers and surgery at the College of Physicians addressed the Industrial Hygiene class apparatus for collecting and sampling Dr. McConnell continued during the spring semester a class in industrial hygiene at New York University He had to secure a substitute for the fall semester due to his induction into the Army Mr. Fehnel gave a lecture to this class on The Conservation of Man Power Mr. the joint annual Surgeons and the Fehnel gave a paper entitled Health Hazards in Steel Mills meeting of the American Association of Industrial Physicians American Industrial Hygiene Association at and Miss Rantoul attended a meeting in Washington of the Committee on Standards for Maternity Care and Employment of Mothers in Industry LITERATURE During 1942 76,405 publications were sent on request an increase of 31 % over 1941 . CORRESPONDENCE CORRESPONDENCE The incoming letters to the section during the year amounted to 2,242 and the outgoing numbered 1,368 COMMITTEES Members of the section have continued to serve on a number of committees which have existed during the year and attended a number of meetings The following are new committees and others to which members have been reappointed during 1942 New committees A committee has been formed among Home Office building men entitled War Emergency Committeeto devise ways and means of equipping the Metropolitan Home Office buildings with protective devices in case of air raids Dr. McConnell and Mr. Ferry are members of this committee and attended a number of meetings and rendered advice and assistance Dr. McConnell has been appointed a member of an advisory committee to prepare proposed industrial code rules relating to the revision of the Code on the Removal of Dusts Gases and Fumes at the New York State Department of Labor Dr. McConnell has been appointed a member of the advisory committee with Dr. Wittmer and Dr. Watson on intensive graduate instruction in industrial health by industrial physicians and the Faculty of the Long Island College of Medicine Reappointments Dr. McConnell has been asked to serve on the Technical Advisory Committee on Sensations of Comfort of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers Dr. McConnell has been asked to serve again on the National Association of Manufacturers Industrial Relations Committee He was also reappointed to the following committees American Society of Refrigerating Engineers Committee on Biology Research Technical Advisory Committee on Air Conditioning in Industry of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers -5- Committee on Ventilation and Atmospheric Pollution of the American Public Health Association Committee on Standard Methods for the Examination of Air of American Public Health Association HOME OFFICE SERVICES As in the past our assistance has been requested on frequent occasions by the different departments charged with the maintenance of the Home Office buildings These requests covered advice regarding illumination ventilation health hazards of different operations and materials used etc. In addition our office has been represented on the War Emergency Committee a committee charged with the responsibility of plans for air raids in Home Office buildings This entailed a number of conferences and testing of various materials to be used for protection Dr. McConnell was in charge of decontamination procedures in case of gas attack He gave a number of lectures on poisonous gases methods of detection physiological action first aid treatment etc. to members of the decontamination squads A few of the requests follow Information regarding inflammable solvents in use and methods of storage in laboratories Shatterproof tests on electric light bulbs covered with garinol were made to test its efficiency Information regarding control of refrigerants in case of a bombing raid Analyzed food from Home Office cafeterias Advice regarding elimination of faulty plumbing Analyzed specimens of urine of claimants for permanent disability Reviewed proposals regarding defouling stations on the Pacific Coast sent in by Dr. Shepard Inspected the Typewriter Repair Room to see if they had carried ---- ---- out our recommendations regarding the use of sodium cyanide Information regarding a proofing compound which is effective in preventing cloth from igniting and bursting into flame Anslysed sample of the lacquer cleaner which is to substituted for Utility Wash Analyzed sample of Protecto thinner Information regarding the formula for making supertropical bleach used to decontaminate floors walls etc. in case of a gas raid Temperature and humidity readings of eight of most congested air raid shelter areas in Home Office buildings Information regarding the composition of bottled gas Information regarding toxicity of fumes from creosote sprayed on wood in otion with a double indemnity death claim Recommended use of M 1 nask to be used by the attendant in the Sanatorium laundry to prevent inhalation of formaldehyde and ammonia fumes PUBLICATIONS Report of the survey of the leather industry entitled Health Hazards of the Leather Industry was completed and appeared in the May issue of the Journal \ of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology Copies of this reprint were sent to industrial hygienists and those particularly interested Dr. Fred O'Flaherty of the Department of Leather Research of the University of Cincinnati arranged for the report of the leather survey to be reprinted in the trade journal Hide and Leather Dr. McConnell rewrote his chapter in A Textbook of Medicine by American Authors edited by Dr. Russell Cecil -7- Lr Joseph E. Zbar Editor of Philosophical Library requested permission to use Lr McConnell's article on Mobilization of Industrial Hygiene for National Defense which appeared in the American Journal of Public Health as a chapter in a book on Public Health in War Tine Dr. McConnell prepared a Memorandum on Protective Meesures Against Common Implements of Warfare This has been given a good deal of publicity and reprinted in the New York State Journal of Medicine A digest of the article was published in The Digest of Treatment by J. B. Lippincott Company The demand for this memorandum has been very great and it has created a good deal of interest Dr. McConnell wrote a paper on Indoor Environmental Atmosphere and Its Control for Medical Clinics of North America Copies of this paper were sent to state iniustrial bygienists and to a selected mailing list Reviewed two articles by Dr. Victor G. Heiser of the National Manufacturers Association on Defense Workers Lunch Box and Pack a Lunch a Man Can Work On Reviewed Chapter II of the 1942 Guide of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers and gave suggestions for rewriting it Reviewed paper entitled Physiological Reactions of Workers in Hot Industries with Atmospheric Conditions of Various Relative Humidities published by the Research Committee of the American Society of Heating and Ventilating Engineers Reviewed pamphlet on Health of the Workers Reviewed article for Nursing Bureau on Communicable Disease Technique Reviewed revised edition of First Aid booklet Reviewed instructions to be sent to our nurses regarding their participation in air raid emergencies Reviewed and offered comments for revision of Rabies booklet -8- Bureau Revised our booklet Air Conditions and the Comfort of Workers Reviewed article on Showers to be issued by the Policyholders Service Commented on paragraph on Health Hazards in War Production Areas which appeared in November 1942 Service Digest of Policyholders Service Bureau Commented on new book issued by U.S. Department of Labor Division of Labor Standards entitled Arranging Shifts for Maximum Production Reviewed the revised edition of Conquest of Typhoid Fever booklet Prepared an article on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever to be sent to an agent who is in Army Reviewed Health Bulletins for Teachers for the School Bureau Reviewed and offered criticisms on articles prepsred by the Policyholders " Service Bureau and members of the Welfare Division on health hazards of industrial processes Since the outbreak of the war and before there has been a great increase in requests from industrial firms for information regarding the hazards of processes and the toxicity of solvents and materials newly introduced in the plants in connection with the war effort The following requests were received from firms and individuels so engaged Surveys Ruberoid Co. survey of four plants - make asbestos roofing for . government projects Republic Steel Corp. recheck surveys of all plants and mines - make * "s~ shells and all kinds of steel Blackwell Zinc Co. survey of two plants - supply zinc for war projects Geo D. Roper Co. - make shells r ene NR, -9- General American Transportation Co. -- make P.T. boats Sundstrand Machine Tool Co. - _ke machine tools Maremont Automotive Products make springs and mufflers for tanks usbestos Textile Corp. - make cloth and brake linings for government Ae TE pnt on ... ... ... Union Carbide Co. - requested surveys of seven plants - alloys for | making steel a nial - Kimball Piano Co. - make desks for the government Armored Force Fort Knox - study of armored tanks and army trucks Armstrong Cork Co. - shells insulation linoleum for battleships etc. Walter Kidde & Co. - fire extinguishers In addition to complete surveys eighty nine requests for assistance were received from bases These the above and other firms and individuals and from Navy requests covered such subjects as adjustment of workers // and Army to changing weemy shifts relative hazards from electric shock from the use of alternating and direct on ene current in welding toxicity of emulsifying or wetting agents chlorinated paraffins end barium peroxide and other compounds information regarding a twin chemical cartridge mask hazards of explosives manufacture hazards of handling TNT sub- stitutes for tetrachlorethane in airplane factories recommendations as to how to handle an epileptic and fit him into industry information regarding hospital requirements in city to take care of increased personnel due to war work There has been a very increased demand for our booklets on welding first aid service in small plants and the first aid booklet The requests for assistance on methods of maintaining the health of personnel hare also increased