Document 99DgMpYrL0kz2r4zRdOr2gNbD

FILE NAME: National Safety Council (NSC) DATE: 1968 DOC#: NSC192 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Excerpt - NSC Transactions - Occupational Hazards Making the Invisible Visible F.iihur Session* rmttcc is to make management aware of flic benefits of safety elTorts and to edneatc workers. Joint safety seminars are bold at scheduled intervals from four to 'even months- Filins are shown, panel discussions held, demonstrations given, and particular subjects are discussed, such as "X-rav and effects of radiation on the human body." Company representatives are .also invited. A campaign emphasizing the impnrt; tlricnsivi' driving was launrhH the nr,( >d fmir involving a i| ih sti<mniirc. v such ; IhkUt s and newspaper amt row raiic. They arc enlarging t)ir their nff-tlM'-p.h >atoty activities ^ ^ opera!ing with local safety council fions and community officials. UNITED ehcarrl o f H onor to STEELW ORKERS I.Ot'Al. Sudhurv, ( hit., f onad.t <>500 * - ,^ f r ! Citation fa r Histim/nished Sendee to Sa fety to JU L IU S N. JACOBSEN, Safety Chairman. Oil Chemical, and A tomic Workers Local 4-147, Destrehan, La. `If*t* .tg*W___w_eerfefoirmtspreoscne<:bl ehalf fol' T ' d p ttfy (ft bis local union. The documented ihilrtitti vividly revealed the many extensive fctyjfiffbe promoted and participated in. It 1) iftnwed the amount o f time and energy * (flUVllUhly put forth to promote safety. The judges noted the many areas of ac tivity in which he is engaged, including safety training, anil the fact lie was not deterred in achieving noteworthy goals. T he Awards committee of the Labor Conference vvarmlv commends him tor Ins --olid achieve ments. This local is receiving recognition for the third time. Thev received an Award of Merit for 1965 and the Award ut Honor for I9(i6. They have now (|iia|ihei| lor another Award ot Honor ior activities conducted during 1967. Their eh o its have assured the con tinuity that i- so important in keeping a pood salety program pomp and growing. They continue to jive extensive publicity to safely through local television, td.mt Urf1g, tins, and their own paper. Safety 11.unttij i a \ tal part hers. their prog ra m for mu.m1 HlfSt They h a re accelerated their actnihr, ^4 improved present ones, so that tlir Attuti eommittee judges agreed they ite'-r>.r4 f receive the top award again. OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS--MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE By RALPH NADER A ttorney, A uthor, Safety Critic, New York, N. Y. .heart! o f H onor to I N T E R N A T I O N A L T.ONT S H O R E M E N 'S ASS< H I A T I O X N'ew Y ri: City This international union reecive.l an Award it Merit tor :pe \c;ir P 1,,; nnil now tln-v have tpiahlied o.r 11o' top award -- the Award ol Honor -- for ln7. The International has consistently nr. niot('(l safety in its pniilie.ations. Tliev ha\e expanded their activities from the Port of New York and vicinity to the entire Atlantic coast and Hull area and the (rent !-;iku>. -Safety training receives top priority, An example is the 1 2 -lmtir training course* n " Handling Pnngerntis Cargoes" given in Mdo auki 1 k<v | i a r t i - i p a t r in t ..utmiiH of t he r \ Stan<Iar*U in-'fMii*. I ! . . : *{ .i^i>U<l in w alcrlrnni fire pruvunli" whirl inrhulnl >aiYv kmon-tr.-iln-H. 1 r< ukUmud an*l tu-tiui'inv on liuhMi -a to ( kvti|>at i<nal Safety ati'l Health A i : t*<WI lia< taken limns of fhuir staff finir T he j u d g e s imtci ! flit'1 siinitmnt .lortei#; tii 'll 1T s a f e t y eff <>rU ami ncriT f!>if il Intern ajion.il 1!H)I1LTOion`m en's Asini'uH truly i (u<cr\uk flit A\\.! nl ot Honor ni //. '//or OH.. C H H M IC .U . A M ) A TO M IC W O R K E R S L o c a i . \ o . 4-H7 I Vsirclmn. I.a,. TiiU mak ; the ft finii lime flint this local '; i . received n'a.giiitron for safefy activities, 'Pie}' w<*rc granted the Award of Merit tor the years l%4-<>5-6h. This local has significantly accelerated their accident prevention work vrr the pre vious years. A major activity was a " Toi-un Prevention W e e k ;" the National 1)rivers Test was again extensively promoted aniourr their members: they conducted the annual Christmas holiday safety campaign; and also 12 the annual L ab o r l 'av -aio tv canipaien I'** fire active ni the enliri' metropolitan i hdeans area. T h e local is made tip H ll groups, each group cmploved hv a company. L ac k group lender is ah chairman. All g m u jis elect an overall 'tfl) director 111 coordinate and promote w<l etv at : i\ itic . I h c j u d - v k c om m end this local iot erca-ing its safety efforts mid a s r deserve the highest possible recogniti11"' ||Si ,Y TlM! chief forms of domestic violence biting American working men and women tMor vehicle crashes and occupational and diseases. Taken together or ia*tf, (heir toll in death and injury utterly oft the violence incurred through street utwivi. While the nation is properly con- *ino.| about street crime, it virtually ig- Mfi the far greater death, injury, and h>*cs on farms, in mines, factories W n)>cn work areas such as construelioii >, tjmsidcr one comparison out ol many Could be detailed: all the riots in this "miry during the past three years in our have led to about 260 d ead ; each **Mnt day brings death to 55 workers, -*,Miit(| injury to 8,500 workers and lesser Hutir to 27,200 other laborers. Every year, *JIM) to 15,000 workers die. over half a WHlott arc disabled by occupational diseases. * two million are disabled by occupational "'Units, and over seven million are injured, th* toll is even greater than indicated by ihf ifove data because death through toxic BtV'iirc over time to chemicals o r particu- Wt tBtter is rarely recorded. T h e half Wilton plus workers disabled from the ef- 'tl* of asbestos, beryllium, carbon mon- **"k, coal dust, cotton dust, caiiccr-causiug dyes, pesticides, radiation etc. must * Uklng terminal doses over time from these exposures. T here is another L rg rW .'lh y the above data must be con- sidered understated--,i reason which leads to the. Iirst of six realities which should he recognized publicly bclorc 'igniiieaut prog ress can he made to reduce worker injury and disease : 1. 1 "iider reporting hy industrial urr.- ui actual injuries and disease experienced hy laborers has long been an endemic mana gerial disease. First, the lieiiniti,ai in what constitutes an injury is devilled hi an imhi.stry-dominated body called the United .'".ales Standards Institute of America a group of industries and industry technical societies. Second, companies go to considerable length to avoid reporting a lost time injury--not only to keep their insurance rates down hut to preserve their place in u i i i i (- mpcU:. tioiis. For example, a w orker in a !nes iV I.aughlin steel plant received a groin ru u r y ; lie was taken off his usual job and placed in a chair where he sat doing nothing t ,r two weeks. Any blue-collar man knows that such a practice is not unusual in numerous industries. 2. Plant physicians surrender to or are constrained by corporate dictate- as to the exercise of their medical judgment and right to publication of eases in the medical litera ture. A recent ease in point involved a Hr. John Zalinsky, a physician at the Brush Beryllium plant outside Cleveland, who had cases of workers suffering from hereIlium poisoning and wanted to publish them in a 13 m s A n ti,`iuiI ( '.-ihirrss mcdiral journal (without mentioning their minos, o coi ir o). H e u;is (old i ho <li< lio would limo to look lor another jolt. The doctor liad a liad heart and was con cerned about lookin'; ior other employment Uefore he could do anything, lie 'lied of a second heart attack. Dr, Lorin K. K e rr o f the United Mine Workers Welfare and Retirement Fund, an authority oil coal w orkers' pneumoconiosis (or, as the coal dust disease is popularly called, "black lung"). ha- sharply denounced "the attitude ami influence of employeroriented physicians who avoid facing known iacts about the ravages ot coal dust in hu man lungs because to do otherwise would cost money. I he impact ot physician knowl edge and attitudes is apparent in inaccurate or incomplete death certificates. These doc uments are essential tor determining the existence of a dangerous dust reipiiriug gov ernmental action for control or eradication. Too utten. no records mean no action. I'hvsician denial or avoidance of known facts can aiso determine the publication of infor mation. Ill ideo, the concern oi -mne phv-iciaiis about management attitudes elfectivelv blocked the publication ot a paper of mine on coal workers pneumoconiosis In tin- n o s widely circulated medical journal in the I.lilted States. One can only wonder howmany times other medical inlorniatioii vital for the protection of the health ot workers has not been published for the same rea.-on. Physician attitudes also influence other groups such as company lawyers, state legis lators, and officials who, .all-told, are remark ably resistant to the elimination or control ot coal dust bcrati-e it would eo-t noum." Coal workers' hlaek lung or pneumoconi osis attccts at least let).001) active and retired miner; in advanced stages of lung destruc tion. 1'u'o thousand men die front this dis ease hi Pennsylvania every year. Wlcit I >r, Kerr was referring to was a critical rupture in the recording and eoinniuiiieating of data by members of the medical profession. 3. State safety laws and regulations are weak, inspection is poor, and penalties rarely imposed. The states spend an average of 40 cents per worker per year on industrial safety. Some states such as Texas and Oklahoma have taken this down to two cents per worker per year. O f the 1,524 state inspectors, 6? inspect boilers, elevators and mines, lea! in;; "'>> $17 msp,rt,,,,jp general suiety inspection, construUcrtt,i,.,.,.,. promotion and education, health dustriul hygiene, according to the '..ibor Statistics. (T h e n ; are InllirtJ |h|L as main ti-li and game wardens 3,00(1 --- employed by ihe -tales to 1,*^ _ for wildlife.) hour states eve ,,,, speetiou staff in any area and 17 nth,, have 10 or less on their safety tiwt*(iji 'tail's. More -hocking i- the fact tint three slates bar e slabs specializing ig flg area of occupational health and m,|,,i,ly hygiene. - 4. liv and large, union leaders tar loo pliable when confronted !,> iimimi incut's inaction or decision- regardmit health and safety. Too often, hr.,Ill, safety conditions are m a te d as ir.n|r|t tor more tangible union gains in w.igfi f the colieethe bargaining table. Tim been the ease, for example, with ihr t'i,,W Mine W orkers h-ade r-iiip. which iiiullj | becoming slightly aroti-ed over the ,,1,^l,| J their workers hut little dedicateci l,i turning coal maiiageineiil s modus <>|>t>Hi licit treats coal miners a- being less si\e than coal. I moil hadci- sinirltf 4 not give health and sately a lir-t ,.u.k H o n t e ; their lack of aggressive MiNwnji M tlu: propusuti i >oaipalinn;il Saiuiv .mi IU,:* Act ot ldoS ,,, ingress cannot hr onn4 up In resolutions and re.-onaiit st.itoimMi lor the re-an Labor leader- nr ,,','4 on die ramparts, not JU-t on ine min,I 0. The Federal government has dlii*b4 ts re-ponsihilitv to devote funds <"*< llccti\e research programs and 'umf*# u-ograuts lor oevupaliotiai hr.,iii, .cad ' l,*t l iie i Vp.irliiH nt of ffealdi. I.dit .iH"U. ^ A'ellare f I I b.W ) has had no -ensr ut fW mportaiiee of this problem, the urrtl In 4 .elop preventive -y-terns and compeH'"l *4' cal and engineering personnel. 11l-.W * oeaey has bven weak and. h .i,'stf'*Hf he oeeupatlonal health activity m dir jj* i.irtmeiit has been downgraded rerentlv me area w here 11 K \\ ha- r-renvoi '*' (insistent funding--$5 million sitn-e or research on the causes and pirvrtll if coal workers' pueumoaniiosis *u * wi ittle to show for it, apart from a |irr'.**2 !y, tudy completed three years ago. It j* -A naying to note that not only does furope spend twenty times the level ON sc.ncii in tue coal unsi 14 hub or Sessions dJI'Mures arc years ahead of this 'which does not even have coal dust force. 4 T k workmen's compensation system in J t Mintry--its coverage, benefits, and do- S ltH t-i creaking with obsolescence. A ee|h Inquiry is needed and serums (liould be given to uniformity. Not 4) ft there irrational or politically in,1,,,4 differences between states but some *(l re til! mired in a value system of t Moite age. For example, coal miners' it* Ifins disease is not considered work- by the compensation laws of all #0(1, except Pennsylvania Virginia (|*Wt), #nd Alabama. Such Imman derelicts, up coal dust, struggling for breath, tjtlfil with emphysema, massive fibrosis. 0 (ttlurgcd Iteart, are denied workmen s jM fm utlon in such states as W est Vir- petl, Kentucky, Ohio, and Illinois. In Kcn- MVy, Recording to the state's Department J l.tlxir, about 1,400 nut of 2.000 mines " si to do business do not comply with vuitkincn's compensation law for other Injuries apart froin black lung. Vet, the present governor anil bis predecessor have not considered law and order to he applicable to coal operators. Where dors this leave the National Safety t'ouucii ? Certainly, it does no service to truth and candor to hide the tact that the Council's industrial inemhers and constitu ency lake a strong interest in how lar the Council goes in the occupational health and safety area. T hat interest, to toe a mild Word, resulted in the Council's bring placed in a difficult position regarding the Occupa tional Safety and Health Act of !% 8. Some observers believed that the Council retracted from a relatively pn.iuYc position on the bill in February to a statement more in consonance with indu-tre's prelerences a lew months later. For the Council, it C the same old dilemma of "to he or not to be" that lias plagued its potential independence in other safety areas. If the Council is to be true to its potential in occupational health ami safety, it cannot ignore at least some of the above-noted problems obstructing progress toward more humane working conditions. LASER BEAM PRECAUTIONS By W IL L IA M M cCU LLO U G H Collective Agreement & G rievance Officer, C anadian Union of Public Em ployees, Ontario H ydro E m ployees L ocal 1009, CLC, T o ro n to , O nt. we consider the hazards and prefor the safe use of the laser beam, W htfllil understand what it is. The name '" ' t ft an acronym for light amplification h simulated emission of radiation. The concept was invented by Dr. Townes In 1958 Dr. Townes and Dr. A rth u r uRWloti gave a paper on how to construct ^ fflltal maser. The name, maser is an *K)ftWn for micro-wave amplification by MkflMctl emission of radiation. A n optical It a laser. IS IvoO Dr. Theodore Maimnn, a scientist J? Working with the Hughes A irc r a ft MWljEUly, gave the world's first demonstra- of a laser beam. In 1964 Dr. Townos P * U li Nobel prize for bis w ork oil the B tt W lasers. that comes from a conventional Wrce radiates in all directions in "`-Varying lengths that reinforce nr cancel each other. Because it is non-directional au<l of varying wavelengths, it is s;ii'I to he incoherent. Light from a laser beam travels in only one direction and is all at the s;unc wavelength, so that it reinforce' itself and is known as coherent light. Be cause it travels in one direction in straight lines, it is a very narrow beam. To nhtain a directional beam from an in coherent conventional source of light it mu-: be focused, and even then it soon spreadit's beam again. Ordinary light sources are usually beat units such as incandescent lamps, arc lights, etc. In a neon tube the glass wallremain cool hut the electrons activate the neon atoms within the glass tube and ac celerate them to levels normally found at high temperatures. The atoms of the source material are brought to a continuous excited state atul they fall back to normal by losing energy through heat and visible light.