Safety of workers with neurological disabilities - reply.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Rossol M
• Description:
  Concerns regarding a previously published paper (Estill, C. F., and A. B. Spencer, American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal 57(1):43-49, 1997; NIOSH-00231445) describing methylene-chloride (75092) overexposure of furniture stripping workers were presented in this letter to the editor. The expressed concerns were related to the workers in the original study who were neurologically compromised individuals in a sheltered workshop under the auspices of the Association for Retarded Citizens. The author of the letter expressed the opinion that, due to their disabilities, these workers should not have been exposed to furniture stripper in any amounts unless certain issues regarding their medical and social histories and their abilities to understand the hazards presented by such work, to take appropriate protective measures, and to recognize and communicate the development of symptoms had first been resolved. The ethics of placing neurologically compromised individuals in programs involving potential overexposure to neurotoxic chemicals was questioned. Estill and Spencer responded that although the study described in the original paper was performed at a sheltered workshop, the individual who performed the furniture stripping was not neurologically compromised. Additionally, the management stressed keeping clients out of the areas for furniture stripping, which were also under negative pressure relative to the rest of the workshop. Other workers who were not stripping furniture consequently were not also exposed. Estill and Spencer acknowledged that the concerned author raised some interesting and important questions relative to worker exposure and practices for those with neurological disabilities. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Interior Design And Furnishings Nervous System Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  NIOSH-Author; Occupational-exposure; Furniture-repair; Furniture-workers; Neurotoxins; Organic-compounds; Neurotoxic-effects; Handicapped-workers
• ISSN:
  0002-8894
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  57
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00239176
• Citation:
  Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 1996 Jun; 57(6):576
• CAS Registry Number:
  Dichloromethane (CAS RN 75-09-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1996
• NORA Priority Area:
  Neurotoxic Disorders ; Neurotoxic Effects
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7dc847c09aedf140bc731323e8446b4703641ae07d6ad9e7b7238120dab30b8f7dcaa9b938d34d035f87873a0fe7fec262d5d13dcaf290925445e82b6de3b57d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/247916/cdc_247916_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 168.02 KB ]