Health Hazard Evaluation Determination Report HE 78-66-542: U.S. Steel South Works: Chicago, Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brooks, Stuart M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  An occupational and medical questionnaire, chest examination, and pulmonary function tests, were completed on 70 foundry workers to determine any health hazards caused by exposure to silica dust at U.S. Steel South Works (SIC-3312) in Chicago, Illinois on April 19 to 21, 1978. An unidentified source requested the evaluation to investigate the possible occurrence of silicosis among the workers. Nine cases of silicosis were identified through the medical evaluation. Other disorders included allergic rhinitis, chronic bronchitis, wheezing, repeated chest infections, and shortness of breath. Twenty-seven percent of the chest examinations were positive and pulmonary function tests were abnormal in 33 percent of the workers. Six additional cases of silicosis were identified by review of company records. The author concludes that a health hazard due to overexposure of free silica dust existed at this facility in the past and at the time of this evaluation. The current medical evaluation program for workers exposed to free silica is inadequate. An environmental and medical program should be established, including an industrial hygiene program, work safety practices, proper protective equipment, dust monitoring, preplacement and periodic medical examinations, and medical management of employees with suspected or diagnosed silicosis. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dust Environmental Monitoring Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Health Surveys Lung Metals Metal Workers Occupational Health Respiratory System Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Ventilation

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• Keywords:
  Air-sampling Chest X-Ray Foundry Hazard-Unconfirmed Health-survey HHE-78-66-542 Medical-monitoring Medical-screening Metal-workers NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Health-Hazard-Evaluation OSHA Region 5 Pulmonary Function Test Silica Dust Silicosis Steel-foundries

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• Series:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Reports (HHE)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHHHE7866542
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; Chicago (IL) ; 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:
  43 pdf pages
• Contributor:
  Campbell, Grady ; Majors, Marcella ; Kominsky, John R. ; Singal, Mitchell ; Flesch, Jerome P.
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00101019
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB81-143000
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, HHE 78-66-542, 1978 Nov ; :1-43
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1979
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3312 - Blast furnaces and steel mills - (SIC)
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3aeffbe5a5d7cbef7c8d6ebd57a76909f748de8aecb1a8e7ed13b4a83ae40436211b0d8f8d488155c8a9bd00d67e1d79ef27747c64ff59bcc6f2a20913447901
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/173579/cdc_173579_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.93 MB ]