Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-87-419-2010: Dresser Industries; Berea, Kentucky

Details

• Personal Author:
  Deitchman, Scott D. ; Hartle, Richard W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to an emergency request, an evaluation was made of an outbreak of illness at the Dresser Industries (SIC-3823), Berea, Kentucky. Employees noticed during the workday (a Friday) a foul odor which caused numbness and tingling of the lips, tongue, and extremities
  
  burning of the nose and throat
  
  light headedness, weakness, and dizziness. Seven of the eight workers were hospitalized. The following Monday additional workers were taken ill, and the request was made for help. The company manufactured various types of pressure gauges for use in a variety of applications. A total of 379 workers were employed at the facility. Results of air quality testing at the site identified several types of compounds including solvents, odorants, and lubricants. All were in airborne concentrations of generally less than 1 part per million. Physicians reviewed the cases of the hospitalized workers. Questionnaires were administered to employees concerning symptoms and observations. The authors conclude that it was not possible to identify the initial stimulus for the outbreak
  
  it was possible that a single day of exposure to an unknown agent, perhaps related to the connection of a new sewer system, may have contributed to the symptoms. The fallout from this event was a facility wide anxiety and stress reaction, generating a collective stress syndrome.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Air Pollution Air Pollution, Indoor Mass Behavior Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Air-quality Attitude Collective Stress Syndrome Group-behavior Hazard-Confirmed HETA-87-419-2010 Measuring And Controlling Instruments NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 4 Psychological-stress

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA874192010
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:
  23 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00194437
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB91-104638
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, Ohio: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 87-419-2010, 1990 Feb ; :1-25
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1990
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3823 - Process control instruments - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7355050b1f552ddbf26daa8215d5fc87870c514a3941b5b1919e3fc686080c4f7c5079bedfb7d9937f5b21167d5081afe75434054527a8021ca4484e928ff09d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171758/cdc_171758_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 278.30 KB ]