Health Hazard Evaluation Report: HETA-82-273-1239: Spectrum Control, Inc.; Fairview, Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boxer, Peter A. ; Hartle, Richard W.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The cause of an outbreak of illness among workers at Spectrum Control, Incorporated (SIC-3675), Fairview, Pennsylvania, was investigated on May 27 and 28, and June 21, 1982. The investigation was requested by an employee and by the management on behalf of 230 workers, after repeated worker complaints of dizziness, headache, nausea, and mental confusion. Previous air sampling results were reviewed, and workers completed medical and occupational history questionnaires. Earlier environmental sampling did not reveal hazardous concentrations of any chemicals. More female than male employees reported symptoms. Workers who reported symptoms attributed their illness directly to work exposures, and more frequently reported the belief that the illness could recur. The ill workers also reported the presence of a peculiar odor in the workplace. More than half reported hearing about the symptoms in others before becoming ill themselves. The authors conclude that the illness outbreak was not due to any workplace exposure. They suggest that the outbreak was a mass psychogenic phenomenon brought on by workplace stress. Recommendations are better worker education and better communication between management and employees.
• Subjects:
  Dust Electricity Environmental Exposure Environmental Monitoring Mental Health Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Air-quality-measurement Electrical-workers Electronic Capacitors Electronic Coils, Transformers And Other Indicators Hazards-Unconfirmed HETA-82-273-1239 Industrial-exposures Mass Psychogenic Illness Mental-stress NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation NIOSH-Technical-Assistance-Report OSHA Region 3 Stress-induced Illness

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• Subseries:
  Health Evaluation and Technical Assistance (HETA)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHETA822731239
• 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:
  32 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00127604
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB84-172907
• 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 82-273-1239, 1982 Dec ; :1-30
• Editor(s):
  O'Neal, Terry R.
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3675 - Electronic capacitors - (SIC) ; 3677 - Electronic coils and transformers - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2e6f28e4672420f05aba72aec20a41ff38b5fae9e8e61ea040bd098cec5a8c13015da7a6715bc4231d45954849d7a5b3c41112897569ea13d363ae5ec6ac446c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173062/cdc_173062_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.97 MB ]