Document oeVL35RgrZEwGYOnZ0LaE2rNX

CONTENTS LABOR SESSIONS Occupational Health Hazards -- Environmental.......................................Paul . Toth 3 Occupational Health Hazards--> Medical Aspects. .Herbert K. Abrams, Mi). 5 Some Observations on Occupational Dermatoses................Paul P. Boswell, M-0- 12 The Year's Prosres* 'n Labor Safety...........................................................Uoyd D. Utter 16 Safety U a Man Size Job............................................................................................J. . Trainer 17 Safety Is Our Challenge...........................................................................George M Harrison 22 Presentation of Labor Safety Awards........................................................Uoyd 0. Utter 25 How We Wort On a Joint Basis............................................................................Jack Moye 28 How We Wort On a Joint Basis in Accident Prevention Programs............................................................Thomas J. Caint Jr. 29 How We Wort with Labor Unions in Oregon.................................IPm, A. Callahan 30 Other Practical Approaches for Worting Together in Safety........................................................Mrs. Pauteen J,, Field 34 Officers of the Labor Conference, 1961-62................................................................................. 39 Other Volumes in 1961 National Safety Congress Transactions.................Back Cover Labor Safrty OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH HAZARDS -- ENVIRONMENTAL By PAUL K. TOTH Eng., Michigan Department of Health, Eloise, Mich. It has often been said that anything taken into the body in too large a quantity may be considered a poison. The problem then becomes one of de fining the limits or quantity of substance a person can taken into his body with out producing deleterious effects on his health and well-being. For many of the dusts, gases, vapors, and fumes encoun tered in the environment of our work rooms in industry, there are limits that are referred to as maximum allowable concentrations (MAC). These limits arc based on an eight-hour day exposure and are nothing more than bench marks or guides which enable an industrial hy gienist to properly evaluate the extent of an exposure and to determine whether or not a potential health hazard is present. The list of maximum allowable concen trations can be obtained from the Ameri can Conference of CJovemmental Industrial Hygienists. 1014 Broadway. Cincinnati 2, Ohio, or if you have access to the American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal of August, 1961, you will find it there. When we say these values arc bench marks, we mean that more factors arc con sidered in evaluating an exposure than Just the finding of a certain amount ox con taminant in the air. Factors such as skin absorption, accumulative effect or sensitizing properties of the suspected material must also be considered for proper evaluation of the exposure. Now let us consider but a few of the many toxic materials one may be exposed to in different industrial en vironments. Lead Lead, I'm sure, we are all familiar with, yet it is this familiarity that gets us into trouble with this metal, because we choose to forget the fact that it is an accumulative poison. The maximum allowable concentra tion for lead is 020 milligrams per cubic meter, and the little we take into our sys tem today that is in excess ot this value is added on to the little we take in to morrow until the body can no longer safely hold the burden. Chronic lead poisoning will develop among employees exposed dur ing the course of their work to excessive levels of lead dust or fume. Clinical mani festations may appear as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, general sickness, irritabil ity, dizziness, and headache, and unless the afflicted person has biological tests taken for lead absorption, the diagnosis may be missed completely until more severe symp toms develop. Taking appropriate action when blood lead levels indicate an absorption of 0.08 millij^rams of lead per 100 gTams of whole blood is essential for the prevention of lead poisoning. Recommended action is to re move the employee from further exposure and to review the area of operation to make sure that all engineering controls and safety precautions are satisfactorily in use. Obviously good engineering control is re quired to prevent the lead from being dis persed into the workroom. In addition, good personal bvgiene is required to farther re duce exposure. Finally, biological u*sts, pref erably blood leads, are required to ascer tain any shortcomings in either of the first two control measures. Cadmium Cadmium metal, either as a plating on parts or the solid metal itself, will volatilize when heated above 600 F to produce a toxic brownish-yellow cadmium oxide fume which has no pronounced odor or immedi ate effect but its inhalation may induce after a few hours or much less depending upon the concentration of exposure a pain ful and sometimes fatal pneumonitis. The maximum allowable concentration of this material is listed as 0.1 milligrams of fume per cubic meter of air and only by means of a well-engineered exhaust system are we able to control any operation generating the fume to a value below this level. 3