Document YGBrry5Vr39MwDnro5XwzJ48N

FILE NAME: Maryland Casualty Company (MCC) DATE: 1931 Nov DOC#: MCC006 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Journal Article - The Very Least an Employer Should Know about Dust and Fume Diseases  & i Uccidevi PrcTcntion nciilth Conservation Firo PreTcntion s T h r ty -fr ti Y e a r-- T h e Pioneer P ublication in ll* f i e l d Engineering Isri i ?! 'The Magazine of Safety" 9l frith which hi* been combined: Protection EfngineeTinj. C o n se m tjo n and Fire Prevention t II ARTHUR C. CARRUTHERS, Editor O. B. MEAD, A i t Editor H arry Armand, Asst. Editor 9a h Vol. LXII, No. 5 CONTENTS November, 1931 WHAT THE EDITOR THINKS* FIRE PROTECTION AND PREVENTION: J'uttinsr Our Shoulders to the Wheel ........ 260 The Kind of Christmas Presents That Help 269 Safety Has its Thanksgiving ....................... 270 ACCIDENT PREVENTION AND SAFETY* Ha* Development of Safety Codes Helped Accident Prevention in Industry?--Bv Cyril Ainsworth ........................................................ 271 Often There is aBetter Way ........................ 274 One Million Miles of Safe Bus Driving--By Herbert W.Hoover ........................ ............... 275 Wood Products Company Operates over 400 *" * Days Without an Accident .......................... 276 Proceedings of National Safety Congress .. 277 Some Representative Exhibits -- National Safety Congress ....................................... . 279 Education as an Essential Factor in the Pro tection of Children and Pedestrians on the Streets and Highways--By Albert W. Whitney ........................................................... 281 Safety for the Boiler-- By G. E. S a t n s .......... 282 Common Causes of industrial Accidents--By L. 1.. Spencer ................................................. 283 Coal Mining Makes Excellent Safety Record 2S3 Precautions Against Freezing of Fire Extin guishing Appliances ..................................... 287 Vocational Educator Advocates Courses for Fire Fighters ................................................. 290 Fire Tests of Partitions ................................. 291 Heating Plant Fires ........................................... 294 Reducing Industrial Fire Losses .................. 295 Blasting Caps Cause Many Injuries to Chil dren--By George G. King .......................... 297 HEALTH CONSERVATION: Orderliness and Cleanliness in Mines--By J. A. Voss ............................................................ 298 Rheumatic Disease Among Industrial Work ers ......................................................................... 304 Curative Qualities of Violet Rays .................... 305 Sickness Among Male Industrial Employees --By Dean K. Brundacc ................................ 307 Men. Money and Sickness--By Philip P. Jacobs .............................................................. 308 Gas Hazards and How to Meet Them 3tl What is Being Done to Protect the Eves of Industrial Workers--By Lewis H. Carris 814 Skin Diseases from Brazilian Walnuts . . . . 316 . --The Very Least an Employer Should Know About Dust and Fume Diseases--By Fred erick Willson, M. D........................................ 317 I1-1 rx Yi <3 $ I 9a 0 e| I t icj <3 98 IVi $ 0 Publithed Monthly by ft SafetysMagazine Publishing Corporation Publication office, 34 Crystal Sl, E. Stroudsburg, Pa. Editorial and general ornccs, 119 Nassau Street, New York, N. Y. ARTHUR C. CARRUTHERS, President AUSTIN F. HANCOCK, Vice President HARRY ARMAND. Business Manager O. B. MEAD, Secretary 9l 1Tl HI CM ?!i 'ontents of previous issues of Safety En^inrciiin can be found bv consultine' the Industrial Arts Index in vour h l t a r v Irli itrred as Second Class .Matter January 7, 163,i, at the post oilier at East jtr-.udsl'urr, Pa, n-incr thr act of Manli M 1879. S U B S C R I P T I O N S ; ?3 a year in advance. In Canada, $3 30. Foreign subscriptions, J 4. Single cop.es, 2ic <-i t i i  :/y.w / ^/ VCt .1 X g.hL,|.NLL-lU,Nk. ."U; . * The Very Least an Employer Should Know about Dust and Fume Diseases By FREDERICK WILLSON, M.D. Preident, Willnon Product, Inc., Heading, Pa. THlv,,harm wrought, in, industry fey diseases due to inhalation of dust and fumes is, as yet, not so well recognized as are those visible injuries caused by industrial accidents. Nevertheless, the em ployer who has at heart the welfare of his workmen and the best monetary interests of his company should wish to have some information on this subject, that he may not err through ignorance of the danger of dust and fumes or of the liability under the law which he must always face. Although industrial respiratory diseases are not in cluded in Workmen's Compensation Acts in most states, employers arc in no sense relieved thereby from their and responsibility. Probably one of the most in- * ivc of recent opinions bearing on this subject is i Judge Cutler sitting in the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey. Judge Cutler said: "It was the duty of the defendant company to exer cise reasonable care that the place in which it set the deceased at work, and the system or method adopted by it for doing the work, should be reasonably safe for the plaintiff, and free from latent dangers known to the defendant company, or discoverable by an ordi nary prudent master, under the circumstances. It was also the duty of the defendant company to exer cise reasonable care and skill to provide safe ma chinery and appliances in which the deceased was em ployed, and in keeping such machinery and appliances in a reasonably safe condition for such use, including the duty of making inspections and tests at proper intervals while he was so employed. If the defendant failed to perform this duty, and the plaintiff con tracted the disease from which he died by reason of such neglect, the plaintiff can recover unless the de ceased assumed the risk of his employment, or was guilty of what the lasv terms contributory negligence." The above opinion [daces great stress on "reasonable arc" and, of sours, no employer can observe reason. t t . care unless be bas at least a little knowledge about ^ '.urc of dust and futnc hazards. 'V, nay be saiu, first of all. that large and heavy par ticles of earthy and metallic matter generally do nm constitute a respiratory hazard, because such particles being large, do not remain in suspension in the air am even when breathed by workmen are almost iiicnriahb caught on the mucus membrane of the nasal and pharyngeal passages. Such large particles may unpleas antly dry the secretions, causing the workman to hawk or spit, but the inconvenience occasioned is so marked that the nose and throat are soon cleared of these large particles of dust. In other words, large dust particles continue a source of local irritation instead of lung irri tation. Foreign particles in the air become dangerous to hu man beings when their mass is so slight that they readily remain in suspension in the atmosphere. Such [articles when subjected to measurement generally indicate a size under 5 or 10 microns (a micron equals 1/25.000') and arc therefore so minute as separately to be invisible, although when in great concentration such dust can be detected in the atmosphere in the form ot a cloud, and in the accumulations of powdery material which settle on everything and everywhere. Under 5 microns in size dust particles readily pass through the mouth and nose, traverse the bronchial pas sages and lodge in the alveolar tissue, from which re mote parts of the lung structure they cannot be dis lodged by hawking or coughing. Suspended matter in air may come under the classifi cation of fumes as well as dust. Fumes signify, "Liquid or solid particles from 0.2 to 1 micron in diameter formed by physico-chemical reactions such as distilla tion, condensation and combustion. Acid mists, ammo nium chloride, lead, zinc oxide, and the like, can be produced in the form of fumes." Naturally, the more concentrated the quantity of dust and fume in suspension in the atmosphere the greater the danger to which the workman is exposed and the smaller the particles the greater the likelihood that en trance into the lung interstices will ensue. T h e size o f particles in prolonged suspension in the air is more likely to be u n d e r .i microns than m e r ; probably the most d a n gerous sort of dust is that ranging from 2 microns to 0.5 micron, nr smaller, because, ns j m t stated. lliC'e i m palpable particles readily remain in suspension in the air. The size of fume pastilles, as already given, ranges from 1 micron to 0.2 micron m diameter. In other words, the smaller the particles the greater the danger: unaware of this fact r n n l n v m and work men SAFETY ENGINEERING No v e ml i f f t 79.7/ :ially warned, are prone to regard such iinas altogether harmless. To the lay mind it seems strange that the human ody reacts so difTerently to the character of these mi.roscopic particles which find their way into the lungs, iomc substances can be inhaled tor considerable periods vith comparatively slight physical etTect, while other ubstances even on brief physical exposure tend to start ullammatory processes in the lung tissue, some kinds A which advance progressively, even ii exposure ceases, iutil death results. All types of tine dust containing `tree silica" as "quartz" are prone to set up intlammaory processes in the lung tissue, serious conditions vhich cannot be completely checked when once started md which result in much physical suffering and in prenature death. Other dust and fumes entering the lungs nay become absorbed into the blood stream and cause ;eneral poisoning with symptoms of bodily ettect varyng according to the toxicity of the substance. Long -ontinued absorption of toxic dust and fumes often re sults in complete disability, ending in death. Scientific knowledge oi the results of dust exposure ias not progressed far enough to exactly predicate the ' ' danger in every kind of dust and fume. The Ji way for an employer is to regard all dust in :nduS>/ as a hazard. Under best conditions it cannot help but be harmful to a degree, while under adverse conditions die shortening of life is almost inevitable. We do know, however, that breathing of dust under the following conditions is seriously harmful: Lead dust and fumes as found in smelting and burn ing operations, pottery- manufacturing, painting, lead tempering, paint spraying, battery, rubber manufacturing and all other occupations in which < lead is an essential material. Arsenic dust and fumes as in smelting, manufacturing insecticides, spraying of fruit trees, and the like. All kinds of operations in which dust of free silica is present, as granite cutting, stone crushing, sand pulverizing, sandblasting, the mixing of glass ma terials and glazes, and so on through a long series of industrial operations. Asbestos and every operation in which it is used. Fur cutting and felting (mercury poisoning). The making and handling of spraying material with , nicotine content. Fumes of zinc and brass, from brass founding, smelt ing, autogenous welding, and other operations of like'character in the presence of zinc. (In this group the results are unpleasant and temporarily incapacitating but not cumulative in effect.) Besides the above operations, unpleasant results may follow exposure to such dusty conditions as cleaning of factory doors and walls in tile presence of germ laden dust; threshing and cleaning of grain, and numberless other operations tending to introduce into the human system irritating and poisonous material. Cooperation Between Employer and Employee A REMARKABLE event has recently taken place at Endicott, New York, where 40,000 persons marched and 150,000 persons viewed the parade in cele bration of fifty years' development of the Endicott John son Corporation, manufacturers of shoes. George F. Johnson fifty years before located in Eudi- rott with no other assets than health, youth and ambi tion to begin work at the bench in a small shoe factory. Today Mr.-'Johnson is chairman of the board of the Kndicott Johnson Corporation which employs 17,001) vorkers with a productive capacity of 135,000 pairs of -hoes per day and running at capacity at a time when -'radically the whole world is in the depths of an eco- lfmiic depression. This "Golden Jubilee" celebration Jt tin- Endicott Johnson workers was honoring George "( un. The whole community joined in the cele- Mr. Johnson has always considered himself as dne the Endicott Johnson associate workers. He has --en the pilot in this great organization and has been 'ot only untiring in advancing the Endicott Johnson . - Secretary of Labor Doak, United States Senator Wag ner, Congressman John L). Clark and many other dis tinguished citizens were present and expressed their ad miration for what George F. Johnson's life has repre sented as a great industrial builder, as a great humani tarian, and in maintaining prosperity and happiness to many thousands of families. This is the type of industrial leadership which any company or community is fortunate to possess, the type that decs not tail and even in the hardest tunes of busi ness depression keep the working force employed and safeguards the community from the suffering of unem ployment. I Old Man Accident Says: "W ith Carefulness, 1 Cannot Succeed; with Carelessness I Cannot Fail"