Industrial hygiene review of three manufacturing facilities in Senegal: findings and key questions

Our plain-English summary of Industrial hygiene review of three manufacturing facilities in Senegal: findings and key questions, by R.M. Lynch, I. Mbaye (New Solutions, 1999).

The study

• Authors: R.M. Lynch, I. Mbaye
• Journal: New Solutions
• Published: 1999;9(4):439-48
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

An industrial hygiene review was conducted in pesticide, asbestos, and cement manufacturing facilities in Senegal to provide the Senegalese Ministry of Labor with recommendations for improving working conditions. Findings show severe under-reporting of occupational illnesses, and major short-comings in terms of worker training, personal protective equipment use, emergency planning, and other traditional industrial hygiene controls. Despite these findings, a comparison between observed conditions and the proposed Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Safety and Health Program Management standard shows that these companies would probably not be considered grossly non-compliant by U.S. standards, and suggests that strong regulatory enforcement of actual working conditions remains a necessity. This analysis also suggests that compliance with the proposed standard would not in itself assure that such dire shortcomings as were observed could not legally exist here in the United States. Key differences between the political economies of developing nations and the United States suggest that improving working conditions requires a comprehensive planning effort addressing poverty reduction, environmental considerations, and economic growth. Three fundamental questions are proposed which should be addressed to improve working conditions in Senegal.

In plain English

This article reported an industrial hygiene review of three manufacturing facilities in Senegal: a pesticide plant, a cement plant and an asbestos-cement formulating facility, chosen by the Senegalese Ministry of Labor. The review used structured interviews with management and union representatives and walkthrough inspections with limited monitoring of noise, total dust and volatile organic compounds. The article did not name the type of asbestos used. Average noise levels were above 93 dBA. General dust levels averaged approximately 2.5 milligrams per cubic meter, against a background of about 0.1. Respiratory protection was mostly dust masks that, by U.S. standards, are not considered protective against asbestos, silica or pesticide dusts, and no facility did fit-testing. No facility had reported any occupational illness to the Department of Social Security in the three years before the visits. At the asbestos plant, spirometry results showed widespread restrictive disease among workers, but the physician was untrained in diagnosing asbestos-related disease. The authors noted that the facilities' representativeness could not be determined. They concluded that more training of physicians and safety specialists, and regulations on exposures, were needed.

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: Industrial hygiene review (structured interviews, walkthrough inspection with limited air monitoring, closing conference) of three facilities, with a policy discussion comparing the findings to a proposed OSHA standard
• Who was studied: Three manufacturing facilities in Senegal (a pesticide manufacturing facility, a cement manufacturing facility and an asbestos-cement formulating facility), selected by the Senegalese Ministry of Labor with the Department of Social Security; dates of the visits not given
• Exposure: Workplace dusts from pesticide formulations, cement and/or asbestos (measured as total dust; asbestos fiber type not named), noise, and volatile organic compounds
• Main results:
  • Noise in each of the facilities: average levels above 93 dBA, peak levels of 108 dBA
  • General dust levels averaged approximately 2.5 mg/m3 (background approximately 0.1 mg/m3)
  • Volatile organic compounds at the asbestos manufacturing plant were estimated at 35 parts per million as hexane, mostly from lubricating oils
  • Respiratory protection was largely dust masks not considered by U.S. standards to be protective for pesticide, asbestos or silica dusts
  • None of the facilities performed respirator fit-testing
  • None of the facilities reported any occupational illness to the Department of Social Security in the three years before the inspections
  • At the asbestos plant, spirometry results showed widespread restrictive disease among workers
  • The asbestos plant physician had chest X-rays and spirometry results but was untrained in diagnosing asbestos-related disease
  • The pesticide plant reported acute pesticide poisoning among approximately 70 percent of its workers in the prior manufacturing season
  • At the cement facility, management knew of no silicosis cases but reported that tuberculosis was becoming prevalent among workers
  • None of the physicians interviewed had formal training in occupational medicine
  • In the authors' assessment, the proposed OSHA Safety and Health Program standard might not characterize these facilities as grossly non-compliant
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that increased training of physicians and safety and health specialists, and regulations governing exposures to hazardous materials, are needed
• Limitations the authors state:
  • It could not be determined how representative the three facilities were of other facilities in Senegal
  • The facilities were probably among the better ones, because they agreed to be visited
  • Air monitoring was limited
  • The authors' recommendations come solely from a U.S. perspective

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Industrial Hygiene, OSHA.

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