Safe Decompression Schedules for Caisson Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Edel PO ; Kindwall EP ; Melton HE
• Description:
  A 3 year program designed to evaluate new decompression tables for compressed air workers is described. Development of tables from commercial diving data is reviewed, along with the general considerations and procedures used to compare these and OSHA tables using human subjects. Specific methods are described for whole body nitrogen washout studies and ultrasonic bubble detection experiments. The authors conclude that little difference exists between the decompression schedules given by these decompression tables and OSHA tables; however, the decompression tables are significantly better than the OSHA tables since they combine the use of oxygen and stage decompression which have synergistic effects in increasing nitrogen elimination during decompression. The schedules may be difficult to implement because of added equipment costs and the need to retain caisson crews. Appendices are included which present tables for oxygen and air, rules for the use of oxygen during decompression of compressed air tunnel workers, employee safety guidelines, inspection check lists for safety engineers and physicians, and a report and evaluation of the need for interim decompression schedules to replace OSHA schedules for tunnel workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Decompression Sickness Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Diseases Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Bone-disorders Decompression-sickness Deep-sea-workers Disease-prevention Divers Hyperbaria Hyperbaric-environments NIOSH-Grant Occupational-diseases
• Series:
  Grant Final Reports
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Final Grant Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 5 ; Wisconsin
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  OEP - Office of Extramural Programs
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-123
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00135184
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB85-103612
• Citation:
  St. Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 1983 Dec; :1-123
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1984
• Performing Organization:
  Hyperbaric Medicine St Luke's Hospital 2900 W Oklahoma Avenue Milwaukee, Wis 53215
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19800201
• Source Full Name:
  St. Luke's Hospital, Milwaukee Wisconsin
• End Date:
  19830430
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:676e222f93ce5128dde3e8fe03a294b3142b3bc697b43d55ccc0c96897670f66ef15871f5c5a452e115873ee91553568ef0c6bf44725d78c5bbb4e6eca953de6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/217719/cdc_217719_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.94 MB ]