Document deZ4Yj84eDLprL51mbGemg2Q

10 Industrial Hygiene Newsletter Volume 8, Number 2 Massachusetts Holds ~Worker Heafth Conference Through the cooperation of the Mas sachusetts Division of Occupational Hy giene and the Merrimack Valley Nurses Club, an outstanding program was ar ranged for the Merrimack Valley Con ference for Health Workers in Industry, held on November 22, 1947, in Lowell. Much of the planning was done by Mrs. Sarah E. Almeida, R, N., State indus trial nursing consultant. Highlights of the conference were talks on "Interdepartmental Relation ships'' by Prof. Herman H, Erase, Lowell Teachers College; "Combating Absenteeism" by Dr. Robert B. O'Con nor, Liberty Mutual; "Expanding the Medical Department" by Dr, Benjamin Lambert, Sylvania Electric Products, Lowell; and "Emotional Illnesses" by Dr. Warren Stearns, psychiatrist and professor of sociology at Tufts College, Particularly stimulating were the dis cussions in groups led by authorities on each subject. Leading industrial health workers and educators in the region attended this meeting, including nurses covering plants having a total-worker population of 32.000. Industrial Health Conference to Meet in England, 1948 The Ninth International Congress of Industrial Health is scheduled to con vene in England, September, 1948. Meetings are planned for both general and special sections to be held from September 12 to 17. All communica tions should be addressed to: The Secre tary, The Ninth International Congress on Industrial Medicine, 14 Hobart Place, Westminster, London, S. W. 1, England. COSTS OF INDUSTRY'S HEALTH FACILITIES Dr. C. O. Sappington summarised the findings of a 2-year plant-to-plant sur vey in a speech titled Administration Functions and Costs of Industry's Health FaeUUies given at the Industrial Hy giene Foundation meeting iD Pittsburgh, Pa., Nov. 20, 1947, He said, in part: "The findings from this 2-year field study, covering 278 plants in 33 States, help piece together the story of what industry is doing about the health of its employees and bow this is being done, "Administration.--Taking the person in charge of the health or medical service as an example of administrative policy, we find physicians in charge in half of the groups, nurses in 6 percent, and other persons in 43 percent. How ever, in the largest plant grouping (10,000 employees and over) physicians were in charge in 90 percent of the cases. "Taking another example of the administrative relationships, in more than one-third of all establishments, reporting was done direct to top manage ment by the health department; the ti'iree divisions of safety, industrial rela tions, and health were administratively on a par in approximately 40 percent of all plants; and the health depart ment had the final word on health problems in approximately 43 percent of all plants. "Functions.--Comparing those func tions which have been well established over some period of time with those which are newer, there was great varia tion in both types according to popula tion groupings in the different sized plants; but those functions not so well established (that is, newer) showed greater variations in the size break downs. Preplacement examinations showed the highest percentage in all groups (72 percent); retum-to-work examination after illness or injury (65 percent); provision for dispensaries (61 percent) and periodic examinations (60 percent). The largest plants of 10,000 employees and over showed high pluralities (above 90 percent) in ail of these functions, while the smallest plants (under 500 employees) showed less marked but nevertheless definite pluralities in the doing of preplacement, periodic, and return-lo-work examina tions. Less than half of the smaller plants provided dispensaries. "Justification.--Benefits may be di vided or classified as economic, profes sional, and social. Economic Benefits `' Prompt treatment--prevention of infection and other complications. "Early control of disability. "In-plant service more economical. "Decrease in spoilage. "Better control of medical, hospital, and insurance expense. "Good care more economical than high compensation rates. "Healthy worker more productive, "The manager of a chemical plant figures that a sick absence costs the com pany at the rate of a dollar an hour. On this basis, obviously any reduction in sick absence is bound to add up to a sizeable sum over a large group of work men for the period of a year. Good working conditions reduce labor turn over, A conservative figure is that each turnover case costs a 'Company $100. On the basis of the dollax-an-hour figure for absences, and $100 per case for turn overs, the company found that it saved $4.08 for every dollar it had spent for industrial health." Los Angeles Holds Indus trial Health Conference Los Angeles' first industrial health institute was an all-day meeting held at the Riviera Country Club last Novem ber 18. The institute was sponsored jointly by the Industrial Health Advi sory Committee ol the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and the Section of Industrial Medicine and Surgery of the Los Angeles Medical Association. Some of the speakers and their sub jects were: Car! Peterson, M. D., Secretary, Council on Industrial Health, American Medical Association, "History and Economic Aspect of Industrial Health"; F. E. Poole, M. D-, medical director, Lockheed, Rexall, and others "Organization of Plant Health Ser vices"; A. A. McDermott, supervisor of plant hospital, Warner Bros. Studio, "Industrial Nursing": Henry L. Clark, General Motors Corp., "Manage ment Views Industrial Health Pro grams"; and, E. F. Stegen, M. D., National Physicians Committee, "In dustrial Health and the Community." SPNY 000322