Workmen'S Compensation In Pulmonary Disease

Our plain-English summary of Workmen'S Compensation In Pulmonary Disease, by C.L. Sutherland (1932).

The study

• Author: C.L. Sutherland
• Published: Journal Of State Medicine 40:709-716 (1932)
• Type of article: Journal article
• Our copy: from Johns-Manville's own medical library, J-M no. 003258. The article is still under copyright, so we describe it here rather than post it.

In plain English

This paper, read at the Belfast Congress, was not a research study. It described the British workmen's compensation rules for two dust diseases of the lungs. Silicosis comes from silica dust. Asbestosis was defined in law as fibrosis of the lungs due to asbestos dust. The author described the Medical Board that certified these diseases, its fees, and the compensation schemes for silica industries and the asbestos industry. The Asbestos Industry (Asbestosis) Scheme came into force on June 1st, 1931. It covered named jobs, including preparing asbestos for manufacture, making asbestos textiles and insulation slabs, and making and repairing asbestos mattresses. It did not apply to people who had left the industry before May 1st, 1931. Workers in some asbestos jobs were examined every year, and those found to have asbestosis were suspended from the work. The exemptions from suspension that the author described applied only to certain workers with silicosis. An X-ray examination was described as essential to diagnosis. The author concluded that the Board's information was of value as an indication of the need for preventive measures.

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 account (a paper read at a congress) of the statutory compensation regulations for silicosis and asbestosis in Great Britain; not a research study
• Who was studied: Workers in Great Britain employed in industries and processes covered by the silicosis and asbestosis compensation schemes, including the asbestos industry, as of 1931
• Exposure: Silica dust and asbestos dust. The asbestos scheme covered the preparation of asbestos for manufacture, asbestos textiles, insulation slabs, making and repairing asbestos mattresses, and dry sawing and grinding of asbestos articles. No fiber types are named.
• Main results:
  • Asbestosis was legally defined as fibrosis of the lungs due to asbestos dust
  • The Asbestos Industry (Asbestosis) Scheme came into force on June 1st, 1931, and did not apply to those who left the industry before May 1st, 1931
  • Periodic examinations in the asbestos industry took place every year
  • At periodic examinations, a worker found to have asbestosis or silicosis was suspended, except where the stated exemptions applied. The exemptions the article describes all concern certain workers with silicosis, for example older, long-serving workers with silicosis only in the refractories industries. The article gives no exemption for workers with asbestosis.
  • A radiological examination was an essential part of diagnosing silicosis or asbestosis
  • Disablement claimants paid a reduced Medical Board fee of £1 10s. with a certificate from the Regional Medical Officer; without one, they paid the full cost of £8
  • Compensation figures were given only for silicosis schemes. In the refractories industries (about 3,000 workers), £128,835 1s. 6d. had been paid from 1919 to the end of 1931. In the sandstone industry (about 10,000 workers), £17,095 9s. 5d. had been paid up to the end of 1931.
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that the information collected by the Medical Board, while not academic, was of value as an indication of the necessity of preventive measures. The author also noted serious economic difficulties in compulsorily suspending skilled workmen.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The author described the paper as only a very rough summary and referred readers to the Schemes themselves for detail

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Silicosis, Fibrosis, Asbestos Textiles.

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