Document VGVerwb7Z5B8xRLxXwbO6Q284

8 FRANK A. PATTY 200. Many of these qualified persons were loaned to various states to help them establish their own divisions of industrial hygiene, assist in training local per sonnel, and "sell" the entire field of endeavor to the local officials and population. Prior to 1936 there were only five state departments of health and three state departments of labor conducting industrial hygiene activities, and these activities were limited. Under the impact of World War II and generous federal grants of funds all the industrial states established industrial hygiene units. In November, 1946, these totaled 52 units, spread over 41 states. The enormous increase in harmful situations along with demands for manpower conservation accompanying World War II made investigational industrial hygiene surveys very much in demand, and led to the hasty training of a number of men for this work. Many of these men had had only rudimentary training in the evaluation of exposures and little or no practical experience in control methods. However, because of, or in spite of, the efforts of this group of novices, and the relatively few seasoned men, industrial health was well promoted during World War II. Industrial health comparisons of munitions workers for 1917-18 and 1941--45, for instance, are striking. Under the stimulus of additional, federal, funds allocated to states and territories, the development of official industrial hygiene agenoies reached an alltime high in 1949 and included all but two of the states.8 This peak was in turn followed by a five-year period of retrogression necessitated by economy drives and appropriation cuts, during which about half of the trained personnel were absorbed'by-private'eirterprise^and'local-health-departments. Tn-manynnstances they assumed positions of even greater responsibility in advancing industrial health objectives. The present rapidly mounting public and congressional interest in atmospheric pollution indicates that another swing of the pendulum is gaining momentum. Other important organizations that have been active in the advancement of industrial hygiene include The American Standards Association, The Industrial Hygiene Foundation of America Inc., The John B. Pierce Laboratory of. Hygiene (New Haven, Connecticut), The Saranac Laboratories (Saranac Lake, New York), life insurance companies as well as mutual and stock company compensation insurance carriers, and many of the larger private industries. Employee groups are-alsp-;eyide,pipg"an;a:ctiye4ntefest'in4ndustrial"healthr-In'49.45?a^h.ealth4nstitute-wasifop?9S'^^^^^p]l(gd?Automobile Workers (CIO) in sDetfroitato give diag nostic service toMmbffltnenibers. Employees no longer regard x-ray examinations or industrial .hygiene')surveys with the suspicion that was common a few years earlier,.This^changEko.L.aititudej.SidvieJn,part to improved practices,sb.ut.mainly, to educational successes: in short, the average employee now understands the purpose of such health-control work and realizes its value to his well-being. Some states now require pre-employment and periodic medical examinations for persons exposed to potentially harmful materials. V. M. Trasko, Am. J. Pub. Health, 45 39 (1955). INDUSTRIAL HYGIENE--RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT 9 lb- II. World War II and Industrial Hygiene Service Industrial hygiene .procedures have largely passed through the period of inquiry into the causes of ill health and are now devoted to anticipating and Avoiding harmful situations before they have time to cause injury. Many different organizations played a part in this rapid development during the period of expanded production in 1941-45. A. OFFICIAL AGENCIES sit1; The Army provided men to make surveys and recommend control measures fm%rmy-owned and Army-operated industrial installations. Similar service was Spidered to government-owned, privately operated munitions plants by other government industrial hygiene groups co-operating with the Army. The Navy ij^ovided men for its shore establishments, and co-operated with the Maritime S Commission in providing service for private shipyards. The United States Public Health.Service supplied funds and loaned trained personnel to state and municipal 1 lfealth departments, and also conducted field surveys in industry, especially muni- 'ti'pns works. The United States Department of Labor concentrated upon activities /'o'f ?aii educational nature. The United States Bureau of Mines greatly expanded ^4a^V^B'ealth program in relation to mining operations. During and following the period 0f reconversion to the manufacture of civilian goods many of the trained SSTTmen wffo'Kad' been"active in government agencies were reabsorbed by industry. B. INSURANCE AND INDUSTRIAL GROUPS insurance and compensation carriers were rather active in the field well `'-jiSfpj.g 194^ an(j they continued their work as best they could despite the inroads ^o'itheir personnel from all sides that occurred during the war-production years. `S'SMfi^.'liater they expanded their activities and re-employed trained men. ^^.v1 .`'|P'1*'Dunng thiB period industry became much more active in the field than ^^^^gomerly, partly because of a newly awakened interest as a result of state and |j!|jfijpal activity, partly as a result of organized labor's, demands for healthful T^MKBrenviroinnent8. partly as a heaefe'aMngrrftckd^enng. but lareeKTSacaiiae feSg^ays dividends from the cost-saving viewpoint as well as in employee satisfaction 5#^^an#foduced turnover of the labor force. More and more industrial concerns have nc to the conclusion that industrial hygiene is a necessary adjunct to production V "rT`in*t. sRonmmpe+t.hVilningtr tfon bV>eP epnn+tr.unlsRtfepd^ entiirroellyl. t+o overworked government agencies. w'Private institutions, such as, for instance,. The Industrial Hygiene Foundation, riaf a'V*1 l'eehnrcmouiTnrtfperrpe.Hd dgtrpeaa.+t.1lvy PexvpnaarntddpeHd HdepmirtoannHdos ffovrr fthkeir services during this period. Other