A labor-management occupational health service in a construction industry

Our plain-English summary of A labor-management occupational health service in a construction industry, by I.R. Tabershaw, W.C. Cooper, J.L. Balzer (Archives of Environmental Health, 1970).

The study

• Authors: I.R. Tabershaw, W.C. Cooper, J.L. Balzer
• Journal: Archives of Environmental Health
• Published: 1970;21(6):784-8
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher
• In J-M's library: Johns-Manville's company medical library held a copy (J-M no. 002465).

In plain English

This article described an occupational health program for insulation workers in 13 western US states, run jointly by their union and contractors. It was a program description rather than a new study. The region had about 2,200 insulating workers in 11 local unions. Citing their own earlier research on San Francisco area insulators, the authors reported that men with more than 20 years in the trade had approximately eight times as many lung cancer deaths as expected. Deaths in that study group included two pleural mesotheliomas. Of 480 workers, 386 had chest x-ray films, and 93 (24%) showed definite changes consistent with asbestosis. The share was higher among men who had entered the trade earlier. The authors stated that most workers' time-weighted average exposures did not exceed levels then regarded as safe, and that recommended levels should be lowered. The program was financed from 1966 by 2 cents an hour from labor and management. It covered medical surveillance, industrial hygiene and education. The authors concluded it may serve as a model for other construction trades.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Descriptive report of an occupational health program, which also presents mortality and chest x-ray data from the authors' earlier research
• Who was studied: Members of the insulators' union (International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers) in the Western States Conference: about 2,200 insulating workers in 11 local unions across 13 western states, 1969. The mortality data came from a study group of 594 San Francisco area insulating workers, followed from 1946 through 1965. The x-ray data came from 480 workers.
• Exposure: Asbestos dust in insulating work in commercial buildings, heavy industry and marine construction and repair. Fiber types were not named. The heaviest exposures occurred during tear-out of old insulation, sawing and fabricating, pounding asbestos blocks and mixing muds. Per the authors' earlier work environment study, insulators in San Francisco worked less than half their time with asbestos-containing materials.
• Main results:
  • From the authors' earlier study: San Francisco area insulating workers with more than 20 years in the trade had approximately eight times as many lung cancer deaths as expected.
  • In the mortality table (deaths 1946 through 1965), the respiratory cancer deaths included two pleural mesotheliomas.
  • Of 480 workers, 386 had chest x-ray films, and 93 (24%) had definite changes consistent with asbestosis.
  • The proportion with x-ray changes rose with time in the trade. Among men who entered in 1941-1945, 33 of 101 with films (33%) had changes. Among those who entered in 1961-1965, 1 of 49 (2%) had changes.
  • Despite high dust surges during some operations, the time-weighted average exposures of most workers did not exceed levels then regarded as safe. The authors stated this had led to unjustified complacency about insulators.
  • The authors stated that recommended exposure levels should be lowered, should relate to fibrous asbestos rather than total dust, and should address brief heavy exposures as well as averages.
  • In 1966 contractors and the union set up a fund financed by 2 cents an hour from labor and management. The resulting program had three parts: medical surveillance, industrial hygiene and education. It included periodic examinations by approved local physicians and a campaign against smoking.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that the program developed for insulators may serve as a model for other construction trades.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors stated they could not accurately define past exposures.
  • The authors noted that no quantitative studies had been reported on other hazards these workers face, such as other insulating dusts, solvents and noise.

Related studies

• Comparison of U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards and German Berufsgenossenschaften Guidelines for Preventive Occupational Health Examinations — K. Straif, M. Silverstein (1997)
• Occupational health in Australia — W.O. Phoon (1998)
• Swedish approaches to industry-wide studies: the construction industry — A. Englund (1991)
• Mortality patterns among electrical workers employed in the U.S. construction industry, 1982-1987 — C.F. Robinson, M. Petersen, et al. (1999)
• Asbestos examinations for construction workers: a workable alternative — M.D. Whorton (1986)
• Job tasks, potential exposures, and health risks of laborers employed in the construction industry — G. Burkhart, P.A. Schulte, et al. (1993)

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