Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-84-454-1890: International Association of Fire Fighters; Cincinnati, Ohio

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anderson, Kern E. ; Singal, Mitchell ; Tubbs, Randy L.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  In response to a request from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), medical screening was conducted on 460 fire fighters from fire departments (SIC-9224) in 38 states, the District of Columbia and Canada at an IAFF Conference. Questionnaires, pulmonary function tests and audiometric tests were administered. Of those who smoked, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and chest tightness were significantly more prevalent in participants with occupational smoke inhalation than for those without occupational smoke inhalation. Differences were not significant among those who did not currently smoke. Of the 453 fire fighters who had pulmonary function tests, 16 had a restrictive pattern while 26 had an obstructive pattern. No statistical association was noted between pulmonary function and years worked as a fire fighter. Some degree of hearing loss was noted in 272 of 419 individuals. A statistically significant effect on average hearing ability with the number of years in the fire services was noted. The authors conclude that the fire fighters demonstrated an increased risk of developing occupationally induced hearing loss. The authors recommend that programs for hearing conservation be implemented in fire departments including audiometric testing periodically. Use of hearing protective devices should be mandated for firefighting operations that exceed a noise level of 90 decibels-A.
• Subjects:
  Ear Firefighters Hearing Loss Hearing Loss, Noise-Induced Lung Noise Occupational Health Respiratory System Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety Sense Organs Smokers Tobacco Products

  More +
• Keywords:
  Audiometry Cigarette-smoking Fire-fighting Fire Departments, Including Volunteer Firemen Hazard-Confirmed Hearing-loss Hearing Conservation Hearing Loss HETA-84-454-1890 Lung-function NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report Noise-induced-hearing-loss OSHA Region 5 Pulmonary-system-disorders Pulmonary Function Testing Smoke Inhalation

  More +
• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA844541890
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:
  20 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Melius, James ; Bates, Donald F. ; Morris, Linda J.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00181811
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-106553
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HETA 84-454-1890, 1988 May ; :1-19
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  9224 - Fire protection - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2868f80ba2d6b9eb6e9ba077fbe46e862d7391bebc94e0c17485b2b1ee92c7750086c18f2a0607b6f2820394bbca24b64e4b03c11fec4d53acefe73770af7f2d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/171901/cdc_171901_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 4.48 MB ]