Asbestos hazards in naval dockyards

Our plain-English summary of Asbestos hazards in naval dockyards, by P.G. Harries (The Annals of Occupational Hygiene, 1968).

The study

• Author: P.G. Harries
• Journal: The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
• Published: 1968;11(2):135-45
• Cited by: 68 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. 003955).

In plain English

This conference paper, presented in 1967 and published in 1968, was a descriptive account by an author at H.M. Dockyard, Devonport, of asbestos use and hazards in the four home Royal Naval dockyards, which employed some 50,000 civilians. It was not a formal study. The author described a shift from 1950 away from magnesia lagging containing 15 per cent amosite and toward amosite sections made almost entirely of asbestos. Sprayed asbestos, nearly all blue fibre, was used until 1963. Example fibre counts showed the highest dust concentrations during removal of old asbestos materials. The author stressed that these counts were examples only. In Devonport, the Pneumoconiosis Panel had accepted as having asbestosis in the previous year men from twelve trades who were not recognised asbestos workers. Men in five trades, none of them recognised asbestos workers, had histologically proven pleural mesothelioma. The numbers of men were not given. The author believed exposure was likely higher than in civilian yards. The author described precautions such as isolating the work and air-line hoods, and ended with questions for others to answer. A discussion by other speakers followed.

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 conference paper (no formal study design): a description of asbestos materials, processes, example dust measurements, occupations of affected men, and preventive methods, followed by questions
• Who was studied: Civilian workers in the four home Royal Dockyards (Portsmouth, Devonport, Chatham, Rosyth), some 50,000 civilians, of whom about 17,000 worked afloat and fewer than 450 were classed as asbestos workers; disease cases described were from Devonport Dockyard
• Exposure: Asbestos in ship insulation and other materials. Up to about 1950: asbestos mattresses, 85 per cent magnesia sections containing 15 per cent amosite, and asbestos cloth, with some crocidolite. From 1950: amosite sections consisting almost entirely of asbestos. Since 1963: calcium silicate sections containing 12 to 15 per cent amosite. Sprayed asbestos, nearly all blue fibre and sometimes amosite, was used until 1963. Exposure came from both applying and removing these materials.
• Main results:
  • In the author's dust sampling, the highest dust concentrations occurred during removal of old lagging and other asbestos materials, rather than during application
  • Devonport Dockyard men from twelve trades who were not recognised asbestos workers had been accepted by the Pneumoconiosis Panel as suffering from asbestosis in the last year. The trades were boilermaker, electrical fitter, engine fitter, engineer, iron caulker, joiner, plumber, rivetter, shipwright, shotblaster, stoker and welder. The number of men was not given.
  • Men at Devonport Dockyard with histologically proven pleural mesothelioma came from five occupations: boilermaker, fitter, labourer on ships, shipwright and welder. None was a recognised asbestos worker, but all had had considerable asbestos exposure on ships under refit. The number of men was not given.
  • Asbestosis, lung carcinoma associated with asbestosis or asbestos exposure, and mesothelioma were all occurring in Devonport Dockyard
  • In trials, wetting lagging during removal considerably slowed the work and made the asbestos debris three times as heavy as when dry
  • Using impervious overalls and air-line hoods, men removed over 500,000 square feet of sprayed crocidolite asbestos from H.M.S. Ark Royal
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the Navy uses many asbestos products in difficult working conditions, that the work often produces high dust concentrations, and that many people working nearby may be exposed. The author also concluded that men other than direct asbestos workers were contracting asbestosis, and believed overall exposure was likely to be higher in Naval dockyards than in civilian yards. The author called for the risks to be more clearly defined.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author stated that the fibre counts were examples only, and that it would be some time before there were enough data for a more detailed picture
  • The author stated that much more sampling was needed before exposures during the application of lagging could be accurately described

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Asbestosis.

Related studies

• Experience with asbestos disease and its control in Great Britain's naval dockyards — P.G. Harries (1976)
• Asbestos dust concentrations in ship repairing: a practical approach to improving asbestos hygiene in naval dockyards — P.G. Harries (1971)
• Royal Naval dockyards asbestosis research project: nine-year follow-up study of men exposed to asbestos in Devonport Dockyard — C.E. Rossiter, J.R. Heath, et al. (1980)
• UK Naval Dockyards Asbestosis Study: radiological methods in the surveillance of workers exposed to asbestos — G. Sheers, C.E. Rossiter, et al. (1978)
• UK Naval Dockyards asbestosis study: survey of the sample population aged 50-59 years — C.E. Rossiter, P.G. Harries (1979)
• Correlation between fibre content of the lungs and disease in naval dockyard workers — J.C. Wagner, C.B. Moncrieff, et al. (1986)

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