Investigation of potential hazards in the Rhode Island jewelry industry.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jones JH ; Slovin, Donald L.
• Description:
  A preliminary survey was conducted to evaluate incidence and severity of occupationally related diseases among workers in the costume jewelry industry (SIC-3911, SIC-3915) in Rhode Island. Casting, soldering, and electroplating processes were investigated in 15 facilities by walk through surveys, employee interviews, and detailed studies involving environmental and biological monitoring during January, June, and December 1980. Employee interviews did not reveal any patterns of acute or chronic illness among any group of employees except for dermatitis in electroplaters which was attributed to exposure to nickel (7440020). There were no respiratory complaints. Some cases of excessive exposure to silica (14808607) and to lead (7439921) in casting and to cadmium (7440439) in silver solder operations were found. Two workers had elevated urine cadmium concentrations. Workers often did not know what compound they were working with and were not aware of potential toxicities. Other deficiencies in safety and health practices included inadequate use of personal protective equipment, lack of emergency shower and eye wash facilities, smoking in work areas, and lack of required physical examinations. The authors conclude that most exposures in the costume jewelry industry are to well recognized hazards that could be reduced by engineering controls, personal protective equipment, and education programs.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Environmental Monitoring Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Solvents Workplace
• Keywords:
  Field-study Industrial-education IWS-128-40 Medical-surveys Metallic-poisoning Metalworking NIOSH-Author NIOSH-Survey Occupational-exposure Region-1 Safety-education

  More +
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Studies ; Industry Wide
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 5 ; Rhode Island
• 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:
  1-30
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00135153
• 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, IWS 128-40, 1983 Apr; :1-30
• CAS Registry Number:
  Nickel (CAS RN 7440-02-0) ; Quartz (SiO2) (CAS RN 14808-60-7) ; Lead (CAS RN 7439-92-1) ; Cadmium (CAS RN 7440-43-9)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1983
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  3911; 3915
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:668c1588bfa9a74c3100b13a78f5c0a3ce8f012264311aa4949b91417ac8258d62b005635712f6e7449836379f75ed9664e2809274345c154153c6e7f7cf012a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/179660/cdc_179660_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.08 MB ]