The epidemiological characteristics of welders' pneumoconiosis in Tianjin in 2001-2020 / 公共卫生与预防医学

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of welders' pneumoconiosis cases reported from 2001 to 2020 in Tianjin, and to provide a scientific basis for formulating prevention and control strategies for welders' pneumoconiosis. Methods A database was established based on the data of all welders' pneumoconiosis cases reported in Tianjin from 2001 to 2020，and SPSS 24.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results (1) From 2001 to 2020，there were 376 cases of welders' pneumoconiosis reported in Tianjin，with 356 new cases (91.05%). There were fewer progressed and death cases, which were 13 and 7 cases, respectively; (2) The number of new cases showed a trend of increasing firstly and then decreasing with the reporting year. The dust-exposure years were concentrated from 1970 to 1989，with the number of cases accounting for 69.94% of the total; (3) The median dust-exposure year of welders' pneumoconiosis new cases from 2001 to 2020 was 25.92 years. The median diagnosis age was 54.30 years old，which increased with the reporting year（F=20.23，5.13，P0.05）; (5) The main industries were general and professional equipment manufacturing industry and ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry. Conclusion The incidence of new cases of welder pneumoconiosis in Tianjin is relatively low and has significantly decreased in recent five years. The age of diagnosis and length of service for dust exposure are on the rise, indicating that the incidence of pneumoconiosis among welders has been effectively controlled. However, the impact of welding fumes on workers' health cannot be ignored. The control and engineering governance should be strengthened to reduce the impact of welding fumes on workers' health, and to achieve the goal of ultimately eliminating welders' pneumoconiosis.

Awareness and utilization of personal protective equipment among small-scale welders in Cross River State, Nigeria: a descriptive cross-sectional study

Objective:Rapid urbanization and industrialization in the many low-and middle-income countries means that there is a growing demand for the welding industry. Previous studies in Nigeria, and other low-and middle-income countries have reported a significant discrepancy between awareness and consistent and appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE). This study assessed the awareness and utilization of PPE among small-scale welders in Calabar South, Cross River State, Nigeria. Methods:This study was conducted in Calabar South Local Government Area using a descriptive cross-sectional design. Data collection was with an interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire, and an observation checklist was used to monitor the use of PPE among small-scale welders. Results:One hundred and sixteen small-scale welders were surveyed with a mean age of 34.9 ±9.1 years. Almost 90% of respondents had completed at least primary education. Eighty-one respondents (69.8%) were aware of PPE. Three-quarters of respondents (61/81) knewPPE protected the user from injury. The most frequently identified type of welding PPE among the respondents aware of PPE, were safety goggles (38.3%), hand gloves (25.9%), safety boots (19.8%), and coveralls (9.9%). 83.6% had access to PPE at work. However, only 14.4% reported using PPE consistently. Observation revealed that the PPE most frequently used, sunglasses, were not the recommended welding goggles.Conclusion:The low utilization of PPE calls for stricter enforcement of occupational health and safety regulations among welders in the informal sector, including implementing PPE awareness programs.

An analysis of work-related musculoskeletal disorders and ergonomic loads in male welders in shipbuilding industry / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

Objective@#To investigate the prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) in male welders in different work areas of shipbuilding industry based on their operational working position and body position characteristics and to analyze the operational positions and ergonomic loads.@*Methods@#In February 2017, 412 male welders from the hull and block work areas of a large ship factory were selected by stratified sampling. The prevalence and effects of WMSDs within a year were investigated using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire, and a rapid exposure checklist was used to obtain the ergonomic load index by comprehensive scoring; the exposure-response relationship between the ergonomic loads and WMSDs symptoms of subjects in the hull and block work areas was evaluated.@*Results@#Among the male welders working in the hull work area of shipbuilding industry, WMSDs occurred more commonly in the neck, lower back/waist, and legs, accounting for 53.16% (126/237) , 51.90% (123/237) , and 41.77% (99/237) , respectively; among those working in the block work area, WMSDs occurred more commonly in the lower back/waist, wrist, and legs, accounting for 52.57% (92/175) , 49.14% (86/175) , and 45.14% (79/175) , respectively. There were significant differences in the distribution of cases of pain within the last 7 days and one month, pain lasting more than one month, or absence from work due to pain within a year in the four positions between the two work areas (P<0.05). In the hull work area, high and extremely high exposure levels were mainly seen in the neck, lower back/waist, and legs, accounting for 76.79%(182/237), 69.20%(164/237), and 59.49%(141/237), respectively; in the block work area, high and extremely high exposure levels were mainly seen in the lower back/waist, wrist, and legs, accounting for 77.71%(136/175), 50.29% (88/175), and 46.29% (81/175), respectively. The detection rates of WMSDs in these four positions significantly increased as the exposure levels rose (P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#The WMSDs of male welders working in the hull and block work areas of shipbuilding industry occurs more commonly in the lower back/waist and legs. The risk of WMSDs symptoms increases with the rise of ergonomic load.

Morbidity patterns among the welders of eastern Nepal: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Welding process has many hazards that the welders are exposed to resulting in numbers of health effects and diseases. Safety measures and practices among welders are important ways of preventing or reducing the health hazards associated with this occupation. We conducted this study to find out the morbidity patterns among the welders working in eastern Nepal. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted among 300 welders using semi structured questionnaire. Morbidity categories were classified based on symptoms experienced in past 6 months. RESULTS: All the welders learned welding by apprenticeship, without any formal health and safety training. Injury was the most common problem at work followed by skin problems and eye symptoms. Age of the welders, duration of employment & welding hours per day were associated with the morbidities among the welders. CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for occupational health services for welders in Nepal. While further research may be required to make policy recommendations, the current study provides a baseline morbidity burden among these welders to look for interventions to promote health and safety at work for this neglected group of workers in Nepal.

Renal Dysfunction among Arc Welders in Benin City, Nigeria-A Pilot Study.

Objective: Occupational exposure to liberated fumes and gases during welding process could be hazardous to the kidneys. The objective of this study was to screen and identify associated factors for renal dysfunction in arc welders. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted in 36 arc welders selected by simple random sampling from a sampling frame of registered arc welders in Egor local government area in Benin city. Twenty-two consenting age-matched controls were recruited from the maintenance department of University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin city. A proforma was used to obtain vital clinical information and participants’ blood and urine samples were collected for biochemical analysis. Results: There was no significant difference in the mean age, body mass index, blood pressure reading, serum creatinine, eGFR, lipid profile between the arc welders and controls. However, proteinuria was significantly commoner in the arc welders compared to controls (p<.001). Likewise, the fasting blood glucose level was also significantly higher in the arc welders compared to controls (135.93±53.92 mg/dL in welders, 97.67±29.28 mg/dL in controls, p =.01). The majority of the arc welders (66.7%) had chronic kidney diseases (CKD) stage 1 compared to 54.6% of the controls. However, a little below half of the control had CKD stage 2. About 11% of the arc welders had CKD stage 3 while none of the controls had CKD stage 3. Conclusion: Proteinuria, a useful indicator of CKD is commoner among the arc welders compared to the apparently healthy controls. Therefore, there is a need to create awareness among arc welders for early CKD screening in view of the occupational exposure to toxic metals.

Cuidados com a saúde dos soldadores nos estaleiros brasileiros: uma revisão integrativa / Welders' health care in shipyards Brazilians: an integrative review

Este estudo impulsionou-me a desvendar, sobre os cuidados com a saúde dos soldadores nos estaleiros brasileiros, os quais fazem parte de um enorme contingente de trabalhadores especializados com vasto conhecimento nos processos de soldagem, os quais encontram-se expostos no seu dia-a-dia a vários riscos ocupacionais, além dos acidentes de trabalho, doenças profissionais e as pressões geradas pelo capitalismo global da produção. O objetivo geral é pesquisar se existem estudos brasileiros publicados no Brasil no período entre 2010 e 2016, com foco nos riscos ocupacionais e nos efeitos à saúde destes soldadores. Os objetivos específicos desta pesquisa são os de identificar, interpretar e apresentar as evidências que emergem destes estudos científicos, através da análise qualitativa realizada nas bases de dados LILACS, MEDLINE , SCIELO e periódicos da Capes foram selecionados 06 estudos que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão e exclusão estabelecidos. Na discussão percebeu-se a dificuldade no relacionamento entre empregadores e trabalhadores, o descaso com a saúde dos soldadores, a falta de capacitação, Equipamentos de proteção coletiva (EPC) e Equipamentos de proteção individual (EPI) inadequados e inexistentes, ambientes de trabalho inseguros, dificuldade de acesso dos pesquisadores aos estaleiros, pesquisadores de áreas distintas desenvolvendo trabalhos sobre a mesma temática de forma multidisciplinar, interdisciplinar e transdisciplinar. Conclui-se que existe a necessidade de ampliar os investimentos em pesquisas sobre segurança e saúde dos soldadores nos estaleiros, aperfeiçoar os estudos, desenvolver EPC e EPI ergonomicamente adequados visando a melhoria nas condições de trabalho, mais ação política empresarial na gestão de pessoas, intensificar a capacitação e o aumento de estudo de forma multidisciplinar, interdisciplinar e transdisciplinar

The present study impelled me to an insight into the health care of welders in Brazilian shipyards, as they are part of a large contingent of specialized personnel, with extensive knowledge in welding processes. They are exposed daily to various occupational hazards, besides occupational accidents, occupational diseases and the pressures generated by the global capitalism. The aim of this study is to investigate if there are Brazilian studies, published in Brazil between 2010 and 2016, focusing on occupational hazards and health effects involving welders. The specific targets of this research are to identify, interpret and present the evidences that emerge from these scientific studies. For this, qualitative analysis was carried out in the LILACS, MEDLINE and SCIELO data bases, and also Capes papers. Six studies were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria established. In the discussion, we can observe the difficulty in the relationship between employers and workers, neglect with welders' health, lack of training, inadequate or non-existent personal and collective protective equipment (PPE and CPE), unsafe working environments, difficulty for researchers to access shipyards, researchers from different areas developing works about the same topics in a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary way. We concluded that there is a need to increase investment in research on the safety and health of welders in the shipyards, to improve studies and to develop PPE and CPE ergonomically adequate in order to improve working conditions, more business policy actions in people´s management, to intensify training and the increase of study in a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary way

An Evaluation of the Ventilatory Function in Shipyard Welders Using the Lifetime Cumulative Exposure to Welding Fumes / 대한산업의학회지

Objectives:This study was conducted to evaluate the ventilatory function in shipyard welders using the lifetime cumulative exposure to welding fumes. METHODS: Ventilatory function tests were performed on 241 male welders at one large shipyard,exposed to welding fumes for over five years,and was compared to 80 male control subjects. Ventilatory function indices, such as forced vital capacity(FVC), one-second forced expiratory volume(FEV 1), ratio of FEV 1 to FVC(FEV 1%), maximal mid-expiratory flow(MMF), peak expiratory flow rate(PEFR)and maximal expiratory flow at 50 and 75% of expired FVC(FEF50 and FEF75), were obtained by analyzing forced expiratory spirograms and maximal expiratory flow-volume curves that were simultaneously measured by an Impulse ocillometry(IOS)program in the standing position. RESULTS: FEF50 and FEF75 expressed as a percentage of the predicted values were significantly lower in the exposure group than in the controls, and the MMF tended to decrease.The means of all the ventilatory indices,expressed as percentage of the predicted values, were not significantly increased at the current exposure levels. The MMF, FEF50 and FEF75, expressed as a percentage of the predicted values, were significantly decreased with an increase in exposure duration.Only the FEF75 , expressed as a percentage of the predicted value, was significantly decreased with an increase in the cumulativeexposure to welding fumes(C1). The FEF75, expressed as a percentage of the predicted value, was significantly decreased with an increase in the cumulative exposure to welding fumes(C2). The above parameters were calculated to consider the current exposure level, exposure duration, application of the ventilatory system, production rate, personal protection evice, electrode and welding wire. The MMF and FEF50, expressed as a percentage of the predicted value, tended to decrease. The proportion of workers with abnormal MMF, FEF50 and FEF75 were significantly increased with an increase in the cumulative exposure to welding fumes(C2). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that the MMF, FEF50 and FEF75 are sensitive and practical indices for the evaluation of the ventilatory function of workers exposed to welding fumes, when the lifetime cumulative exposure(C2) is considered as a factor affecting exposure.

Hematological Changes of Welders / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: To ascertain whether some result of hematological examination could be as reference data for health management of welders. METHOD: The authors conducted the hematological examination of 1,018 welders and 531 control workers of a shipbuilding industry in Ulsan using automatic blood analyzer. RESULTS: The WBC count of welders was lower than that of control on controlling the age and the duration of employment, but changes of other blood cells were not observed. CONCLUSION: We could use the results of hematological examination such as WBC counts as an indicator for subtle changes of health status of welders.

A Study on the Size of Dust in Workplaces of a Shipyard / 예방의학회지

To obtain the basic information that can be used as a factor for explaining the diversity of welders' pneumoconiosis, the authors measured the concentrations of dust according to the size of dust in 71 workplaces of a shipyard where welders' pneumoconiosis have occurred. The concentrations of dust according to the size of dust showed no difference between workplaces regardless of kinds of work.

Plasma Malondialdehyde, alpha-tocopherol and Erythrocyte Superoxide Dismutase Activity with Blood Level of Heavy Metals in Welders / 대한산업의학회지

We investigated the association between the oxidative stress and the concentration of heavy metals in blood among welders. The study subjects were male manual CO2 welders(N=127) exposed to several heavy metals. The age distribution was from 20 to 63 (GM=33.7) and the geometric mean(GM) of work duration was 4.2 years. We analyze the level of blood lead, cadmium, managese and chromium which was related with the oxidative stress in the animal studies. Blood selenuim, plasma malondialdehyde (MDA), plasma alpha-tocopheol and orythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD) were analyzed as biological markers of the oxidative stress. The results of univariate analysis showed that the plasma MDA was significantly correlated with D-tocopherol (r=0.327) and blood selenium (r=0.313) concentration. But we could not find out any relationship between the erythrocyte SOD activities and those metal concentrations. Neither smoking nor alcohol consumption was related to the level of heavy metals and the oxidative stress biomarkers. As the results of multiple regression analysis with stepwise selection method, 1) the change of MDA level were dependant with the level of alpha-tocopherol and blood selenium concentration (R2=19.7), 2) the plasma alpha-tocopherol level was dependant with MDA and blood chromium concentration (R2=15.6), 3) in case of erythrocyte SOD activity, only the duration of work was significantly selected.

Nasal Septum Perforation of Welders / 대한산업의학회지

Six cases of nasal septum perforation were found among welders during periodic physical checkup in 1997. Considering the size, shape and margin, the perforations were assumed to have been occurred several years before of which the diameter were 8~15 mm. To investigate the cause of perforation, we reviewed the past history of preemployment, the results of annual working environment survey and the material safety data sheets of welding rods and steels with which they have dealt, and analyzed the concentration of several metals of welding fume and the concentration of blood and urinary chromium. In the result, we presupposed that the nasal septum perforations of welders were due to chronic exposure to low level hexavalent chromium and/or nickel, and report these cases with literatures review.