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48
Industrial Hazards
Occupational risks cover a wide field and the standard of the
precautions taken against them varies from minimal statutoryrequirements
to taking every possible means to safeguard the
health and safety of employees.
Dust
In those factories where dust is produced, in general, every
effort is made to extract it. The process where this is most
difficult of achievement is sanding of wood in furniture factories
There does not appear to be at the moment a really satisfactory
solution to this problem.
Fumes
In factories where cellulose spraying is carried out as a
routine process, spraying booths are in general use but in only
one case masks were being worn.
Other fumes and liquids encountered include ammonia, nitric
acid, tar and bitumen, cyanide, carbon monoxide, sulphuric acid
and trichlorethylene. The special risks associated with these
agents are in general fully understood and statutory notices
concerning them posted in the various work-shops.
Eyes
The industrial hazards likely to affect the eyes of workers
may be divided into:-
(a) traumatic (physical and chemical)
(b) physiological
(a) includes such conditions as foreign bodies from grinding
and splashes of corrosive liquids. (b) includes conditions
resulting from considerable ocular strain. Two examples encountered
in this survey concerns the manufacture of radio valves and
the process of cutting dies.
In the case of radio valves, lenses are provided for inspection
of the assembled "stems"; but no such aid is given to those
assembling the stems. Another important eye hazard met with is
"arc eye" in welding. Both employers and employees appear well
aware of this risk.
Noise
Processes involving excessive noise, observed during the
survey, include sanding wood, metal beating and engine testing.