Industrial hygiene and occupational health studies in Australian (New South Wales) shipyards

Our plain-English summary of Industrial hygiene and occupational health studies in Australian (New South Wales) shipyards, by A. Bell (Environmental Research, 1976).

The study

• Author: A. Bell
• Journal: Environmental Research
• Published: 1976;11(2):198-212
• Cited by: 6 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. 002261).

Summary of the article

This paper, presented as an address, described occupational health enquiries and evaluations carried out in shipyards in the previous few years by the Division of Occupational Health and Pollution Control of the Health Commission of New South Wales, Australia. The commonest problems were welding, noise, asbestos and solvents. In welding investigations, done mainly at the request of union representatives, four were judged hazardous. Total fume in the breathing zone frequently exceeded 15 mg/m3 when men welded over coated surfaces. In standardized tests of seven paints welded in a small compartment of a tug, the threshold limit was exceeded in the welder's breathing zone eight times out of ten. With local ventilation working, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, manganese, zinc and chromium did not exceed threshold limits. With it off, all manganese and zinc values exceeded them. In most noise assessments there was considerable risk of noise-induced deafness. Of 21 asbestos work situations investigated between 1968 and 1972, five were judged unsatisfactory and dust control was recommended. These included hand cutting and edge smoothing of dry laminated asbestos board, boring holes and jigsaw cutting of board, wet spray application of asbestos, and air discharged from a local exhaust system. Unsatisfactory practices were still frequently seen. The author also reported three cases of lung mesothelioma in welders outside shipyards who had used homemade rods wrapped in crocidolite. Tests with an unused packet gave 16 to 18 fibers per cubic centimeter. Four solvent incidents in which workers were overcome were described. The author concluded that Australian shipyards, though comparatively small, had potentially dangerous work situations.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This article was an address by an author from the Division of Occupational Health and Pollution Control in New South Wales, Australia. It described workplace investigations the Division had carried out in shipyards in recent years, covering welding fumes, noise, asbestos and solvents. Of the welding situations listed, the Division judged four hazardous. In standardized tests welding painted plates in a tug compartment, the total fume limit was exceeded in the welder's breathing zone in eight of ten tests. For asbestos, the Division investigated 21 work situations and, judging them from the point of view of a potential asbestosis hazard, found five unsatisfactory, including hand cutting of dry laminated asbestos board and wet spray application of asbestos. It made dust control recommendations for these. The author reported still frequently seeing practices such as blowing down protective clothing with compressed air. The author also noted three cases of lung mesothelioma in welders, not shipyard workers, who had used homemade crocidolite-wrapped welding rods during the Second World War. The author concluded that Australian shipyards had, from time to time, potentially dangerous work situations.

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 (an address) of industrial hygiene investigations and evaluations carried out by a state occupational health agency in shipyards
• Who was studied: Work situations and workers in New South Wales, Australia shipyards and dockyards investigated by the Division of Occupational Health and Pollution Control; the asbestos investigations covered 21 work situations dated 1968 to 1972 in the table
• Exposure: Welding fumes (including welding over coated surfaces), noise, solvents, and asbestos from shipyard work: shaping fire retardant board, spraying limpet asbestos, cutting laminated asbestos board, machining "ferrobestos", removing old lagging, wet application of a mixture of amosite asbestos, cement and oil, and cutting asbestos sheets
• Main results:
  • Of the welding investigations listed, carried out mainly at union request, the Division concluded that four were hazardous
  • In the standardized painted-plate welding tests, the total fume limit was exceeded in the welder's breathing zone in eight of ten tests, by a maximum of 5.5 times
  • With the ventilation system off, all manganese and zinc values in the first series of welding tests exceeded the threshold limit values; with local ventilation working, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, manganese, zinc and chromium did not exceed them
  • Of 21 asbestos work situations investigated, judged from the point of view of a potential asbestosis hazard, five were considered unsatisfactory: hand cutting and hand edge smoothing of dry laminated asbestos board, boring holes in and jigsaw cutting board, wet spray application of asbestos, and the asbestos content of air discharged from a local exhaust system
  • The Division still very frequently saw unsatisfactory asbestos practices: blowing down protective clothing with compressed air, gross contamination of work area floors, and working without an approved respirator
  • The author knew of three cases of lung mesothelioma in welders, not shipyard workers, who in one factory during the Second World War used homemade welding rods made by wrapping crocidolite (80%) around the flux
  • When one unused packet of these crocidolite-wrapped rods was used in a well ventilated workshop, breathing zone asbestos concentrations were 16 to 18 fibers per cubic centimeter
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that Australian shipyards, although small compared with certain American yards, had from time to time potentially dangerous work situations

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Shipyards and maritime work.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Industrial Hygiene, Dust Control, Asbestos Millboard, Mesothelioma, Crocidolite, Fibers per Cubic Centimeter (f/cc).

Related studies

• Shipyard health problems — B.G. Ferris (1976)
• Industrial hygiene perspectives in control of asbestos exposure — W. Reitze (1979)
• Asbestos exposure control at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard — R.R. Beckett (1976)
• Surveillance of Australian workplace Based Respiratory Events (SABRE) in New South Wales — K. Hannaford-Turner, D. Elder, et al. (2010)
• The hygiene standard for chrysotile asbestos — J. Peto (1978)
• Hygiene standards for asbestos — S.A. Roach (1970)

Browse more research in Environmental Research, or return to medical research.