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helpful if an unbiassed statement on the effects of the noise then in progress
could be obtained. The following is an extract from the report kindly supplied
by the Resident Medical Officer dated 13th September, 1933:—
" At least half of the Hospital was practically sleepless for nights at a time.
The chief sufferers were naturally those about to be operated upon and those
whose operations had just been performed. At least two eases awaiting
thyroidectomy suffered acutely, whilst the many cases of head injuries in the
Casualty Ward were to be profoundly pitied. In fact, hospital treatment,
medical and surgical, has been seriously interfered with. On one occasion a
private patient insisted upon leaving the Hospital owing to the disturbance.
Apart from the patients, I found the resident medical officers suffered considerably.
As far as my own duties were concerned, my whole days and nights
for about three weeks were never free from the noise of hammering, and I was
constantly up at night trying to make things bearable.
Please do not think I am making unnecessary complaints, but six automatic
drills working in a line for hours at a time, filling the Surgery, the Wards,
and the Resident Medical Officer's Rooms with dust, has rendered life extremely
unpleasant."
It will be noted that in addition to noise, dust is alluded to as a cause of nuisance.
7. The Medical Officer has consulted the Department of Scientific and Industrial
Research and the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene as to the results
of any investigations of the effects of rock drills on health. The former body is
not concerned with health but expressed willingness to take up the question of
research into the maintenance of roads and methods of repairs, &c.
8. The London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene has been keenly
interested on the health aspect for some considerable time. Dr. Crowden, a member
of the staff, has been working on the subject and has different types of these drills
fitted up in his Laboratory with the stone and concrete medium in which they
operate. His conclusions so far are briefly as follows:—
(1) Among riveters and boilermakers incurable deafness develops in the course
of time. A large proportion of the men arc affected and it is due to the
concussions of sound and sudden changcs of air pressure incidental to
riveting in an enclosed space, e.g., between decks in a shipyard. Road
drillers on the other hand work in the open and apparently are not subject
to deafness.
(2) Riveters and boilermakers suffer from the effects of vibration on their
hands ; a chronic numbness is caused due to interference with the
circulation. These effects were largely dependent on cold; coldness of
the atmosphere and of the handles of the apparatus. In the ease of road
workers the air conducted to the drills is conveyed in comparatively
short pipes and is, therefore, not cooled in long transit. The handles
are not cold and these road workers do not suffer from the disturbance
of circulation mentioned above.
Dr. Crowden has not yet investigated the medical records of hospitals to see
whether there are any grounds for assuming that complaints of nervous or other
diseases arc based on the occupation under discussion.