Document mbBb4w6xL4DNvx788N72YJkJb

430 PNEUMOCONIOSIS ABSTRACTS Ministry or Labour and National Seevice. FACTOME3. Annual Report oi the Chief Inspector o! Factories tor the Year 1947 JBarnstt. (j. P.]. Cmd. 7621. 127 pp., 11 figs. -1940. Londons H.M-3.0. In the drive for increased industrial production new methods are being introduced, and in particular mechanized handling systems and automatic systems of feeding and charging machines are being much more widely adopted. In the brick industry the installation of mechanized handling and transporting appliances has obviated much heavy manual work. Mechanization in the construction of buildings saves manpower and tends to reduce the number of the less serious accidents, but it creates other and serious accidents, and the use of hand tools accounted for 10 per cent. Molten metal or other hot or corrosive substances caused about 4 per cent of the accidents. There are striking differences in the proportions of fatal accidents in the different kinds of premises which are covered by the Factories Act. In building operations and works of engineering construction one accident in thirty-nine proved fatal, at docks and warehouses the proportion was one in 113, and in factories it was one in 3U0. A slight increase in the number of accidents due to carbon monoxide is reported, and is is remarked that a fuller realization of the insidious dangers of the gas is necessary on the part of both managements and workers. Sulphuretted hydrogen is also underrated in industry. It caused fourteen accidents, with 1*3 :> can;v Q cad-. CO reso-- r=r ?--j LU i 13*2. Os, with exn:. t*a SAdnj C3 oneQ_ ob&t- Q_ *** iiik,er:r '0,0 o 'CC intli pol* risks, e.g. easily transportable hoists have been devised without proper regard to safety. In ironfounding, also, mechanization is increasing, and this will probably reduce the dust-hazard. But the increase in mechanization is not wholly beneficial. The use of mechanical moulding machines in foundries, and the increasing use of hydraulically and pneumatically seven fatalities, in the year under review. Amongst ten cases of gassing by nitrous fumes there was one fatality. The victim was a former collier known to have silicosis. He and another man. while repairing a leak, were exposed to the fumes which were evolved for about a minute. Although his companion finished the task, the victim stopped .v nil LU by uj o th; F*i.LU O. rai: operated devices on machine tools and in the wood work. He appeared to have recovered without o oworking industry, involve new risits of trapping and visiting the works surgery, and he finished the shift, art ^ crushing. Likewise the use of electronic apparatus but next morning he was very ill and died from brings its risks--electric shock, high-frequency burns, pulmonary oedema. Silicosis was confirmed at the and dangers arising from the failure of a component post-mortem examination. The exposure which and the consequent ios of control of machinery. killed the silicotic subject was easily tolerated by his The number of notifiable accidents at premises fellow worker. th*r covered by the Factories Act was 9-2 per cent smaller The section of the report which deals with indus in 1947 than in 1946. Fatal accidents were 1*6 per trial diseases includes a review oi notifications of cent more numerous in 1947. The Factories Act lead-poisoning from 1900 to 191G. The total numbers requires the notification of accidents from premises of coses notified during the first four decades of this other than those commonly regarded as factories. period were 6,U33, 4.129. 3,023, and 1,053. In the M;n . These include docks and warehouses, and building final seven-year period of 1940 to 1 DIG the number sites and works of engineering construction. The was 413, which is at the rate of 507 cases per ten accident risks at such places are not the same as in years. In October, 1947, the Pottery (Health) factories, and since the work of building and engin Special Regulations were gazetted. Ooe object of eering construction is subject to irregular fluctua this code is to prohibit the use of other than low- tion the met hud of comparing the totals of accidents solubility or leadless glazes after specified dates. from year, to year, does not give a true picture of Hence, it is appropriate tuat this report should include the position in factories. Accordingly, tables and . an interesting note ou the historical background of graphs are given which sec out for the eleven years, this embargo. 1937 to IDs", the separate accident statistics for Epithelicmatous ulceration accounted' for 203 factories, docks and warehouses, building operations, cases with three deaths--forty-two cases fewer than Du: trv'A *l + fur ciori * btv: and works of engineering construction. For factories only, the number of accidents per 1,000 persons employed rose from a minimum of twenty-eight In 1039 to a maximum of forty-three in 1942. Thereafter it declined, and in the last three years the rates were thirty-seven, thirty-four, and twenty-nine. Except in the last two years of the period reviewed, the acccident rate for boys was higher than that for men, but in 1947 the boys' rate was thirty-three per 1.000 employed, and that for men thirty-eight. In the last two years of the period 29 per cent of the accidents were caused by handling goods, 1C to in 1946. With 296 cases, chrome ulceration showed a very large increase. Two hundred and twelve of these occurred at one factory where aluminium houses were prefabricated by the process known as "pylumiaizing." This is a non-electrolytic chrome pro cess to which no code of Special Regulations applies. Appropriate precautions have now been instituted. Deaths from silicosis and asbestosis were about as numerous os in 1910. The number of deaths from the pueumoconiusis of coal miners reported was 230, _ as compared with seventy-eight in 1916. In twenty-three years, from 1!)21 to 1946. 225 deaths from asbestusis came to the notice of the the An A v* Urrpcyir. vcii poi'i u-jii breu e *.`I . vjir* of 17 per cent were due to power-driven machinery. Factory Department. Cancer of the lung was a Persons falling, being struck by falling bodies, or complication in thirty-one (13*2 per cent) of these izet'. stepping or striking against objects were each cases. Lung cancer was more frequent iu the higlu-r responsible for between 7 and 12 per cent of the total age groups. Thus at ages 25 to 31 and 35 to 44, THIS DOCUMENT WAS NOT A RECORD OF PPG INDUSTRIESJNC. DID NOT COME FROM irs FILES AND CANNOT BE AUTHENTICATED BX PRO INDUSTRIES, INC. b1,' _________________ TbB 0007010 l  - "I*,**. - l<- ** \ +'j! * --- v# j m9~ NOTE: THIS D0Cii,f r\'IT DIDI NOT COME FROM fPG PERIODICAL REPORTS BELATED TO PXEtTMOCOXIOSIS 427 4-5 and 5-0 per cent of the rases of asbestosis bod cancer as a complication, while in the next two dacades oi age. and in the group aged 65 and over, the respective percentages of cases with cancer were 15-9, 25-6 and 23-3. On the whole, the health of luminizers, who work with radio-active materials, is good. All were examined clinically and baematologicaliy at least once, and in no case could any disturbance of health observed be attributed to the occupation of luminiziag. Skin lesions have shown a remarkable decrease. Blood examinations of twenty-eight men engaged in extracting uranium from its ore gave results which indicated some hyper-stimulation of the haemato poietic system. The fuel crisis at the beginning of the year forced attention to the need for the thermal insulation of buildings. An example is given oi the saving achieved by applying roof insulation and also arranging for the thermostatic control of the heating system. Floor heating is being used more widely, as is also radiant beating. w factories are generally designed with good artificial lighting, but in older factories there is still much room for improvement. Radiological hazards in industry grow rapidly in importance. In the handling oi radio-active materials there are often present in combination dangers of radiation and dangerous dust or gas. Then the gas or dust-risk is met by the usual methods of total enclo sure or local exhaust ventilation, and suitable screens are arranged to deal with the radiation risks. Much ingenuity is being shown in the designing of such plant. .... Attention is again drawn to the dangers arising from the use oi mechanical-handling appliances. Improved methods of production have their effects on safety. By using automatic feeding devices, jigs and fixtures, much better fencing can be secured. Owing to present building diihcuities many firms have not been able to get the new buildings they want, and have perforce carried on in old and unsuitable buildings. In some urban areas the position is acute. In one London borough there are 2,71-t registered factories nearly all of which ore in `'old" premises, and most of these built as houses. In three other London boroughs there are at least 357 underground factories or parts of factories. Special surveys have been made of working con ditions in the cotton industry and in iron foundries... Increased interest in the design of machinery and In the cotton trade an outstanding question is that equipment is reported, but there is need for much of the removal of dust from card-rooms. An eiieraive improvement in the adaptation of machioery to suit investigation has been arranged which wall include the needs and capacity of the operator. studies of the sir-borne dust, experiments on extrac tion, and biological work. Besides, the -- Thomas BfJ/ord, of oiling the cotton are being considered- 9.** 'trials with the application of teconical t.:e t-J given dust reduction* of aoou* oue-fcal-- ere ilLvtsniT of Lasottr a>`d Mationai. Service. Factories-. Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories ior the Year 1943 ;Barnett. G. P.J. Ctnd. 7639. pp. iv -- 156. 10-49. London: H.1I.S.O. detailed information about the results of the surrey U iron foundries is given. It is remarked *** *vr m the mecbuoiied foundries is there any trol of dual and fumes. ,___ , . Statistical table, conveylnc about industrial accidents are *J During recent years there has been a considerable growth of the advisory side of the Factory Inspector's work. It is becoming the practice of factory occupiers, for example, to invite suggestions from the Depart ment on designs for factories or plants before tley alight decrease in the arcvJeat J T* !? compared with the peeoJ.n. 7*** ^ ** ** nearly ^Jet- power-driven oiabi*ef. 1 ore cited. . .j -ic begin construction. Much work is done within the Department on the sampling and examination of industrial dusts. An example of the value of dust surveys is given. A serious case of bagassosis arose in the shreoJinc was lower -hs* Wl tb* ,ev-` *' *4 * Of yuoaa P*~ ~ the,_S_I`J..,. -- h- i-le*e-e--w-* e--.ua--*-* * * " department of a factory handling bagasse. O'*** counts showed high concentrations of ne dust, os well as many yeast-type organisms. TU# *''-** pointed the way for safeguarding the wotvers bf using a hvdraulic vortex meth--l of opeavig **" breaking up the bacaaie hale, under water. Microscopic examination* have been ** ha a varietv of investigations: the tesrs.ag of poliutioo of the ale In an st-w ** * IwlWt; baematoW-cal studws of W-o-t f^*< ----i-ss lervais o,a*** a ;i> i*r-***t ** Isis'S**! TVs I--------- 1 wS"'- I **+*/ ....... . w ^**1 to* < iters: wam-asiora -f be sections frosa tSe hrs* ewe. -< * repor.eJ W Grant I^ds^J a of lalc-poieuoiivg. * GG 15020 I BB 0007011 | (- K Xfr -1 ^r- by- fTl feNSf 3g?es2El