Document pm792O3dab2Zvj8Md6x7vwjR7

FILE NAME: Engineering (ENG) DATE: 1934 Mar DOC#: ENG022 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Trade Journal Article - Workmen's Compensation for Silicosis O ccident Preuention Health Conseroation Thirty-third Year-- The Pioneer Publication in Its Field Fire Preuention SAFETY ENGINEERING " The Magazine of Safety" ' with which hat been combined: Protection Engineering. Conservation and Fire Prevention. ARTHUR C. CARRUTHERS, Editor HARRY deG. ARMAND, Business Manager WE DO OUR PA Jtr Vol. L X V II, No. 3 C O T IT E T IT S March, 1934 EDITORIAL OBSERVATIONS: Industry Must Organize Against Occupational Disease ............................................................. 87 A Challenge to the Automobile Industry .. 88 New York City's Drive Against Tenement Fire T r a p s ....................................................... 89 An Explanation .................................................. 89 ACCIDENT , An Analysis of Automobile Accidents in 1933 ......................................................... . 91 The French Meet the Problem of Accident Prevention ........................................................ 96 Protection of Workers in the Soviet Republic --by Henry W. Alexander ......................... 97 Driver, Occupant and Pedestrian ................. 99 New A. S. A. Standards Required in P. W. A. Contracts--by Cyril Ainsworth .............. 100 Ladder Accidents--by John Russell, J r ......... 101 FIRE: Fire Losses Decline as Property Values Go Down ................................................................. 103 The Crippling Effect of Intangible Fire Losses ............................................................... 107 The Death Penalty for Arson ......................... 108 HEALTH: The Pathology of Various Dust Diseases-- by LcRoy U. Gardner, M.D............................ 109 The Diagnosis of Silicosis--by Adelaide Ross Smith, M.D...................................................... 113 Controlling Dusts in the Drilling of Rock-- by R. A. B rack ett............................................ 116 How Compensable Is Disease?--By F. Rob ertson Jones ..................................................... 117 Misleading Factors in Respirator Efficiency Tests--by Philip Drinker ............................. 119 Workmen's Compensation for Silicosis (Con tinued from February) ............................... 120 INDUSTRIAL NURSING: Searching for the Truth .................................. 123 The Family History .......................................... 123 An Outstanding Hazard in Industry ......... 123 Tuberculosis Among Food-Handlers ............. 123 Infection Following AccidentalInjury ____ 124 A Model Labor Code ........................................ 124 A Spray Painting Code in New York ......... 124 Published Monthly by Safetij M aqazine P u Elish in q C o rp o ratio n Editorial and general offices, 45 john Street, New York, N. Y. Publication office, 34 N. Crystal St., E. Stroudsburg, Pa. A R TH U R C. CA RR U TH ER S. President H ARRY deC. ARM AN D , Secretary A U S TIN F. H A N C O C K , Vice President Contents of previous issues of S a fe t y E n g in e e r in g can be found by consulting the Industrial Arts Indes in your library. Entered as Second Class Matter January 7, 1930, at the post effiee at East Stroudsburg, Pa., under the act of March 3, 1879. S U B S C R IP T IO N S ; $3 a year in advance. In Canada, $4.00. Foreign subscriptions, $4.50. Single copies, 2 5 c 120 SA FETY ENGINEERING , M arch 1934 " Of the two valves used on most respirators, that on the exhalation side is the more important. Ii the in halation valve follows the filter and does not close at the start of exhalation, some re-breathing will result, but a leaky valve does not admit dust to the face. On the other hand, if the exhalation valve does not close automatically, as exhalation stops, dust may enter the face piece whether inspiration has begun or not. . . . Valves should not be tested by taking violent breaths as that is when they 'are least likely to leak, but should be tested at low air flows when the pressure differences which cause them to open or close are least." Urges Practical Tests In concluding, Mr. Drinker said: "While the labora tory test (for facial fit, comfort and interference with vision) has its uses, it is by no means infallible and the writer personally believes it should always be ac companied by as practical a man test as can be devised. It is well to bear in mind that the penetration of a few per cent may mean a visible deposit inside the face piece, and may easily indicate that although the filter is doing all that was expected of it, the weather is still breathing too much dust." WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION FOR SILICOSIS Report of the Committee on Pneumonoconipses of the American Public Health Association (Continued from February) T HE Refractories Scheme covers the processes con nected with the getting, handling, moving, breaking, crushing, grinding, and sieving of refractories material containing not less than 80 per cent total silica in mines, quarries, factories and workshops; and all processes in the manipulation of such material in the manufacture of bricks or other articles containing not less than 80 per cent total silica, excluding natural sand and indus tries where the processes are only occasionally carried on and iron and steel works. Death, total disablement or necessity for change of work, when certified by a medical board to be due to silicosis, or silicosis and tuberculosis, are compensable. The disease is presumed to be due to the occupation when the employee has worked in it for five years, and the burden of proof to the contrary is on the employer. The payments are made, under this scheme, from a compensation fund established by the employers them selves and maintained by subscriptions levied upon em ployers engaged in the industry without the interven tion of an insurance company. The fund is called the Refractories Compensation Fund, Ltd. The Secretary of State controls the rates fixed by this fund. The Sandstone Industry Scheme covers workers in mines and quarries getting and manipulating ganister, gritstone and quartzite rock, but excluding rotten stone and natural sand. Mines or quarries which come under the Refractories Scheme are excluded from this scheme and employers who satisfy the Secretary of State, by means of evidence based on chemical analysis, that the sandstone worked contains not more than 50 per cent of silica, free and combined, may be exempted. In all other respects, including the compensation fund ar rangement, this scheme is very much the same as that of the Refractories Industries. The Metal Grinding Industries Scheme as well as the Various Industries Scheme, differs from the above schemes chiefly in the fact that the claims for compen sation are made in the same manner as for other per sonal injuries under the workmen's compensation act and the employer may insure against them in the usual way instead of through any special fund charged against the industry. The Metal Grinding Scheme cov ers workmen employed in the grinding of metals with a grind stone composed of natural or artificial sandstone and glazing of metals where carried on in the same room as grinding, except in file manufacture where the grind ing wheel is entirely enclosed and the metal immersed in water, and except where these grinding processes are only occasional. Sand-buffing is excluded from this scheme as it is provided for under the Various Indus tries Scheme. Workmen coming under the other sili cosis schemes are also excluded from this one. The processes covered in the Various Industries Scheme are : 1. Mining and quarrying in silica rock, i. e., quartz, quartzite, ganister, sandstone, gritstone, and chert, but not including natural sand and rotten rock; 2. Drilling and blasting in silica rock; 3. Rock drilling or blasting in any sinking pit or staple pit in coal mines, or operating drilling, cut ting, or breaking machines in coal mines; 4. Sawing, planing, dressing, shaping, cutting or carving of silica rock; 5. Breaking, crushing, grinding, sieving, mixing or packing of silica rock or dry quartzose sand; 6. Handling or moving above; 7. Breaking, crushing, grinding of flint or flint ma terials and handling, moving, sieving, mixing or packing of ground flint or flint materials. The following specified processes in certain trades are also covered under the Various Industries Scheme: Foundries and metal works: Crushing or grinding of silica rock or silica bricks or articles containing not less than 80 per cent to tal silica; freeing steel castings from adherent sand or other siliceous substances, except work done on the foundry floor; sandblasting of metal or metal articles by means of compressed air with the use i' l u i u t ) i y i r r O M m i HINUIINEEKIINL 121 of quartzose sand or crushed silica rock or flint. The getting and manipulating of granite (including any igneous rock) : Dressing of stone by masons for building, civil en gineering, or monumental purposes, but not kerb dressing if workman is employed wholly or mainly on such work. Potteries : Milling of flint or crushing or grinding of silica rock or dried quartzose sand ; Any process incidental to the manufacture of china or earthenware including sanitary earthenware, electrical earthenware, and earthenware tiles, up to and including the preparation for glazing, but ex cluding underglaze decorating and modelling and mould making where those processes are carried on in separate rooms; Polishing, sorting, or grinding on any power driven wheel in connection with the grinding of glost ware and tile slabbing. Tin mines: Any operation underground ; breaking or crushing of the ore or the containing rock above ground or any handling or moving incidental thereto. Workmen in any process covered under the other silicosis schemes are excluded from this scheme. The Asbestos Industry Scheme covers asbestosis in breaking, crushing, opening, grinding, mixing or siev ing of asbestos or any admixture of asbestos, and all processes in the manufacture of asbestos textiles ex cept where processes are only occasional and where asbestos is impregnated with an adhesive binder. In other respects this scheme is similar to the fore going scheme. No special compensation fund is estab lished but claims are paid for as for other personal injuries under the workmen's compensation act. In connection with each of these schemes, there are also regulations issued by the Secretary of Slate under the Factory and Workshop Act applying rules for pre ventive measures to the group of industries involved. No. 40 of 1919 and the Miners' Phthisis Amendment Act No. 35 of 1924 and consolidates the other acts and amendments. The most important provisions for con trol of dust are the detailed regulations for the use of water sprays and water drills, special rules regarding blasting, ventilation (covering the number of cubic feet of fresh air to be supplied per person), and inspection, including dust sampling. Dust masks were tried, but proved unsuccessful in strenuous underground work. Compensation is paid through a fund raised by tax ing certain listed mines where the dust is of a nature to produce silicosis. The assessment is fixed to meet the cost of compensation. It is levied in amounts pro portional to the wages, to the silicosis rate, and to the income tax in each mine. This fund is administered by the Miners' Phthisis Board. In computing the silicosis rate, each or all of the following may be considered : the actuarial experience, the prevalence of silicosis as shown by periodic medical examinations, the dust sampling investigation in each mine, and the mine inspectors' re ports of conditions. The Act sets up a medical board which is known as the Miners' Phthisis Medical Bureau. It is the func tion of this Bureau to examine and certify all European applicants for underground work to be physically fit and free from any disease of the lungs and respiratory organs; to examine all European miners every six months to determine and report all cases of the three compensable conditions: (1) simple silicosis, (2) tuberculosis wdth silicosis, and (3) simple tuberculosis, and to examine at intervals, when necessary, those suspended from employment on account of silicosis and Union of South Africa: The whole situation in the South African mining fields is admirably described in detail by various offi cers, each in charge of a special department of the ad ministration, in the Report of the International Sili cosis Conference at Johannesburg, August, 1930. Min ers' phthisis (silicosis) has been the subject of intensive study and much legislation ever since the appointment of the first commission in 1902 to inquire into the ex tent to which the disease prevailed among the gold min ers on the Rand. Four commissions have reported on conditions and compensation, the latest report having been published in 1930. Nine acts dealing with compensation for persons suf fering from miners' phthisis (silicosis) and for their dependents have been passed, the latest one and the one at present in force being the Miners' Phthisis Acts Con solidation Act, No. 35 of 1925, as amended by Act No. 38, 1930. This law repeals the Miners' Phthisis Act, M OST CENTRALLY LOCATED ONE BLOCK FROM 4 m LASALLE STATION, POST OFFICE, AND BOARD OF TRADE. $900 450 ROOMS Mm UP WRITE. FOR FOLDER CH 1CAGO Just say to advertisers. "I saw it in S A F E T Y EN G IN EER IN G " yl22 SAFETY ENGINEERING , M arch 1934 those awarded compensation to determine whether or not the disease has progressed to a further stage. A Medical Board of Appeal was established in 1925 to which cases are referred when there is dissatisfac tion with the decision of the Medical Bureau. Simple silicosis" is defined to mean silicosis without recognizable or overt tuberculosis; "tuberculosis with silicosis," silicosis with overt tuberculosis; and "simple tuberculosis," tuberculosis of the respiratory organs without detectable silicosis. For purposes of compensation, the stages of disease are classified and a miner is deemed to have or to have had silicosis (a) in the ante-primary stage, when it is found by . tbe bureau that the earliest detectable specific physical signs of silicosis are or have been pres ent; whether or not capacity for work is or has been impaired by such silicosis; . (b) in the primary stage, when it is found by the Bureau that definite and specific physical signs of silicosis are or have been present and that capacity for work is or has been impaired by that disease, though not seriously or perman ently ; " (c ) in the secondary stage, when it is found by the Bureau that definite and specific physical signs of silicosis are or have been present, and that capacity for work is or has been seriously and permanently impaired by that disease or when it is found by the Bureau that tuberculosis with silicosis is or has been present." Compensation may be claimed for silicosis or tubercu losis occurring in a miner who has at any time worked underground in a scheduled mine for a period of two years or who can satisfy the Miners' Phthisis Board that he contracted silicosis in such a mine. Compensation benefits are granted in graded lump sums calculated on the basis of wages earned in cases in the ante-primary and primary stages or cases of tuberculosis without silicosis. Cases in the secondary stage are awarded a monthly pension based on wages earned. A miner who is found to have silicosis in the secon dary stage or tuberculosis with silicosis, on periodic medical examination, is suspended immediately from un derground work. A miner who is found to have simple silicosis has the option of taking an award and leaving underground work or remaining at work and postpon ing his award. A miner who remains at work, how ever, for more than three months after he is notified tnat he has silicosis, forfeits all right to an award dur ing his life beyond that to which he would have been entitled when he was first notified. A miner, however, who has been granted a lump sum award and ceases underground work in the listed mines within three months of his notification that he had silicosis is en titled to further award of a monthly allowance if his disease progresses to the secondary stage of silicosis or to tuberculosis with silicosis after he stops work. I he dependents of a miner are entitled to an award of the monthly allowance after his death if the miner was entitled to it or if the Bureau certifies before or after death that he had secondary stage silicosis or tuberculosis with silicosis or that he died from silicosis or any other cause with which silicosis was present and was a predisposing factor. For the purpose of the Act, the expression "tubercu losis" is defined to mean tuberculosis of the lungs or of the respiratory organs. A person is deemed to be suffering from tuberculosis whenever it is found by the Bureau either: ' (a) that such person is expectorating the tubercle bacillus, or (b) that such person has closed tuberculosis to such a degree as seriously to impair his working ca pacity and render prohibition of his working underground advisable in the interest of his health." 11 a miner is suspended for tuberculosis not complitated by silicosis he benefits as though he had silicosis m the primary stage. The grounds upon which this action is taken are that the initial physical examination is so strict as to exclude practically all those who are infected with tuberculosis at the time of application for work, there!ore it may be assumed that the disease was contracted during the employment and possibly due to it. Such a miner is a source of infection to others in the mine and for this reason it is deemed justifiable to suspend him and to compensate him. boi compensation purposes, tuberculosis associated " ith any clinical stage of silicosis is considered as sec ondary stage silicosis. Native laborers: Compensation, based on wages, is also awarded to native laborers (who outnumber Euro pean miners by about ten to one). Mine medical of ficers--not the Medical Bureau--are responsible for both initial examination and periodic supervision of the natives. lh e periodical examination as prescribed by the Regulations consists of two parts: each native employee is weighed, obligatorily every three months, actually ac cording to the general practice once in six weeks; an addit.onal separate stethoscopic examination is made of all natives who have worked upon any one mine for a period of five years or more. Any native found to have lost 5 pounds between two successive examinations, or t> pounds between 3 successive examinations is ex amined stethoscopically by the mine medical officer. In addition, rather recently the Chamber of Mines has in stituted an annual radiographic examination of all na tives who have worked on any mine for 5 years or more. Any native suspected by a mine medical officer of having silicosis or tuberculosis is sent forward for a "benefits" examination by the Medical Bureau. Although the period of work of native laborers i> gradually becoming longer, even at present few remain exposed to risk long enough to contract silicosis. On (C ('i it m u c ii o n ptu/e l>(>) 1*26 SAFETY ENGINEERING March, 1934 (Continued from page 22) the other hand, the native laborers quickly contract simple tuberculosis in an acute form and become a source of infection for the silicotic European miners. Statistics: In the annual reports of the Miners Phthisis Medical Bureau accurate statistics of silicosis and tuberculosis among the Rand miners are available as far back as 1917-1918. Prior to that statistics had been compiled and estimates made of the prevalence of the disease by the various commissions of investigation, but the information was admittedly incomplete. The consensus of opinion based on the statistics in the report of the Commission of Enquiry 1929-1930 was that, all things considered, there has been a marked decline in the new cases of simple silicosis produced in the mines in 1928-1929. The following table is quoted to show the attack rates: S T A T E M E N T I. Comparison of Attack-Rates percent for Simple Silicosis at Certain Durations of Underground Service and at the Periods Stated 1918-20 1920-23 1928-29 Attack Rates, percent, for Simple Silicosis At Fifth Year .. 0.74 ... 0.32 0.22 At Tenth Year 8.94 5.00 2.55 At At Fifteenth Twentieth Year Year 14.56 14.13 6.98 7.04 5.31 6 68 The cost of miners' phthisis on the Rand is thought to be 1,000,000 per year, or about 7s 6d per under ground European shift. With regard to the progression of the disease even after removal from exposure, figures given in the re port of Fraser and Irvine at the Johannesburg Confer ence show that at the end of six years out of 895 cases of primary silicosis certified in 1917-1920, 27.6 per cent had died and 21.4 per cent had advanced into the sec ondary stage, while out of 728 ante-primary cases cer tified during the period of 1920-1923, 23.5 per cent had died, 27.2 per cent had survived in the primary stage, and 22.9 per cent in the secondary stage. It is believed that these figures indicate that a change to a more in fective type of the disease has been taking place. The average period from the date of certification to death or progression to a further stage of disease appears to be as follows : ante-primary stage, about 4.6 years ; pri mary stage, 3.8 years ; secondary stage, 7.3 years. The expectation of life however depends upon a dif ferent calculation and is estimated for a miner certified to be in the ante-primary stages as 13.66 years. There is some slight evidence though not enough to be con clusive, that in those in the ante-primary stage who leave the mines the disease progresses as rapidly as in those who remain at work. The incidence of silicosis and tuberculosis among the native laborers on the Rand shows a very interesting contrast to that among the European miners. In Euro peans active simple, tuberculosis occurs in a very small proportion of the compensable cases when first certified, less than 2 percent, while, the great majority of com pensable cases are of simple silicosis. In the natives the majority of compensable cases are simple tubercu losis, sometimes accompanied by silicosis in those of longer service. This is said to be accounted for by a h'gher susceptibility in the African native to tubercu losis and to the fact that his service in the mines is usually much shorter and less steady. slustralia and New Zealand: In Australia, the various slates have dealt with sili cosis and miners' phthisis and pneumoconiosis in differ ent ways. Some states, such as New South Wales and Westein Australia cover compensation for these dis eases in two ways at once: 1. (a) by authorizing the Minister of Labour to make special schemes as in Great Britain (New South Wales), (b) under the workmen's compensation act itself (Western A ustrailia); and 2. by means of a special miners' phthisis act effective only in certain districts (Broken Hill Acts, New South Wales, and Miners' Phthisis Act 1922, amended 1925. and Mine Workers Relief Act, 1933, Western Aus tralia). Queensland also covers compensation for sili cosis in certain specified industries by listing it in the schedule of compensable diseases, as follows: Description of Disease Silicosis of the lungs[ miners' phthisis; pneumoconiosis; pulmonary tuberculosis Description of Employment -, Mining or quarrying or ! stone crushing or cutj tinil Bakers' phthisis Millers' phthisis Baking Flour milling Queensland does not, apparently, have any special miners phthisis act in addition. The Commonwealth of Australia (Employees) Act of 1930 and the Compen sation Act of the Territory of North Australia, 1931, cover "pneumoconiosis" in "quarrying or stone crush ing or cutting" only. South Australia and Victoria do not schedule any of these diseases as compensable, but South Australia schedules "asthma or asthmatic at tacks due to contact with or inhalation of blackwood pine dust." In Victoria investigations in the Bendigo mining district gold fields have established the fact that there is a very excessive mortality rate from tubercu losis among miners. The Mines Act includes a regula tion which states that a jet or spray of water must be directed into machine drilled holes while drilling. Tasmania has no workmen's compensation act cover ing occupational diseases but passed an act in 1929 in tended to cover workmen or their dependents in case of death or total incapacity from certain listed occupa tional diseases in the mining industry only among them silicosis, pneumoconiosis, and fibrosis. From the word ing of this act, it would seem, however, that it is more in the nature of a mutual benefit fund than a compensa tion act, since it permits the employers to deduct a (Continued on page 128) '128 SA FETY ENGINEERING March, 1934 SAFETY TREAD COMPANIES ORGANIZE z\ IR A D E association has been formed by the lead ing manufacturers of metal safety treads, it is the Metal Safety Tread Association, and has its offices in New York City. The members are the American Abra sive Metals Company, Irvington, N. J . ; the American Mason Safety Tread Company, Lowell, Mass.; the Safe Tread Company, New York City; the Standard Safety Tread Company, New York City, and Wooster Prod ucts, Inc., Wooster, O. Information and consultation regarding the eradica tion of walkway hazards and the use of metal safety treads will be furnished without obligation upon ap plication to any of the member companies. A NEW KIND OF SAFETY LADDER A NEW kind of safety ladder with a pyramid prin ciple has just been announced by the Security Manufacturing Co. of Bticyrus, Ohio. The ladder is like an ordinary sturdy step-ladder, with the addition of a lateral leg on each side that prevents toppling and re moves the danger of falling, an important factor in the accident rate. Thus besides the four pediments of the ordinary step-ladder, the new ladder has two other points of application to the ground, providing a real pyramid base with six corners. Peace of mind while working on a ladder is assured by this safety apparatus. There is no need to worry that the ladder will careen to one side with a sudden swerve. The manufacturers point out that the lateral legs are folded by means of a ball and socket arrangement work ing with the locking spreader, so that if they should ever interfere with any special use to which the ladder is to be put, they can be quickly dropped out of the way. In other respects, the ladder is every whit as convenient as an ordinary step-ladder. (Continued from page 126) small sum from the wages of the employees as their contribution to the fund. In other respects this act is similar to other miners' phthisis acts in its administra tive set-up including provisions for medical control. New Zealand provides under the Pensions Act (1926. Sec. 32-40) only for miners who are incapacitated for work due to miners' phthisis and for the relief of the families of miners who die from that disease. None of the respiratory diseases caused by dust are scheduled under the New Zealand Workmen's Compensation Act. New South Wales: The details of the somewhat intricate act dealing with dust diseases in the lungs in New South Wales follows: In New South Wales, the Workers' Compensation Act, 1926-1929 defines the word " injury" to include LECTURERS ON OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE T HE series of six lectures on occupational diseases, now being given at the Engineering Societies Building in New York City, under the auspices of the New York Tuberculosis and Health Association and the Committee on Public Health Relations of the New York Academy of Medicine, has so far been addressed by Ur. A. J. Lanza, assistant medical director of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Dr. Henry H. Kessler, medical director of the New Jersey Rehabili tation Commission; Dr. A. D. Lazenby, chief surgeon of the Maryland Casualty Company, and Verne A. Zimmer, director of the Division of Workmen's Com pensation of the New York State Department of Labor. The speakers at the remaining three sessions will be Dr. Adelaide Ross Smith, chief of the Occupational Disease Clinic of the Vanderbilt Clinic; Dr. Leonard Goldwater, chief of the Occuptional Disease Clinic of New York University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College; Dr. Leonard Greenburg, associate director of the John B. Pierce Laboratory of Hygiene of Yale University; Dr. George Baehr, of Mount Siani Hos pital in New York City, and Wesley M. Graff, director of the Safety Engineering Division, National Bureau of Casualty and Surety Underwriters. diseases arising out of or in the course of employment whether of a sudden onset or of such a nature as to be contracted by gradual process other than a disease caused by silica dust. This could be interpreted to in clude pneumoconiosis from various kinds of dust if such cases arise but diseases caused by silica dust are specifically exempted because they are dealt with in the special Silicosis Act of 1920. This act empowers the Minister of Labour to make special schemes for the compensation of fibroid phthisis or silicosis of the lungs or other diseases of the pulmonary organs caused by exposure to silica or other dust (except at Broken Hill Mines) and to establish a fund for this purpose. This is the same method which is followed in the British act for dealing with silicosis. To be continued in future issues of SATH TY P.NGIN IlliR l NG