Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-93-0510-2462: Ross Mould Inc.; Washington, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Fatone, Peter ; Kelly, John E.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the American Flint Glass Workers Union Local 146, an investigation was made into possible hazardous working conditions at Ross Mould Inc. (SIC-3544), Washington, Pennsylvania. Employees were reportedly experiencing numbness in their fingertips from the use of the power equipment. The company manufactured molds used in the production of glass containers. At this site, castings made of iron or bronze are machined into molds and then ground polished and deburred using power hand tools. Videotapes were made of the work activities and interviews were held with the workers. Measurements were made while 21 tools were used by nine employees. The mean hand/arm vibration (HAV) experienced by the workers was 28 meters per second squared (m/sec2) expressed as 4-hour equivalent exposures. Mean HAV ranged from 18 to 40m/sec2 for the three different job titles that were evaluated. The limit recommended by the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists was 12m/sec2. The authors conclude that a potential health hazard existed from overexposure to hand/arm vibration. The authors recommend that a medical monitoring program be instituted, and measures should be taken to reduce exposure to vibration.
• Subjects:
  Dust Ergonomics Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Vibration
• Keywords:
  Hand-arm Vibration HAV Hazard-Confirmed HETA-93-0510-2462 Industrial-factory-workers NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Occupational-exposure Occupational Vibration OSHA Region 3 Power-tools Raynaud's Phenomenon Segmental Vibration Special Dies And Tools, Die Sets, Jigs And Fixtures, And Industrial Molds Vibration-disease Vibration-exposure Vibration White Finger

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA9305102462
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  58 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Doyle, Tom ; Tubbs, Randy L. ; Van Gilder, Tom ; Wasserman, Don
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00223304
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB95-171294
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 93-0510-2462, 1994 Oct ; :1-57
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3544 - Special dies, tools, jigs & fixtures - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f2fbf6cd5321e0052b9716a67f6c6e549dbd9b4c3b020273c96d746490ab95eaeb17460daaf39e0d318e448db8a50fd00c69a4a18808b59ffde42b16c4c815a6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171321/cdc_171321_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.49 MB ]