Investigation on the current status of silica dust hazard in workplaces in Jiangxi Province / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the current status of silica dust hazard in workplaces of Jiangxi Province. METHODS: The level of silica dust in the air of workplaces, occupational health examination of the dust-exposed workers and diagnosis of occupational disease in 1 557 enterprises in Jiangxi Province were investigated and analyzed. RESULTS: The 1 557 enterprises were included in eight industries, and the main types of enterprises were non-coal mining, ceramic products manufacturing and stone processing industry(a total of 85.16%). There were 4 029 jobs/positions that were involved in exposure to silica dust in these workplaces. Among them, the exposure concentration of time weighted average(C_(TWA)) of total dust and respirable dust exceeded 21.52% and 20.55%, respectively. The posts where the total dust and respirable dust that exceed the standard were found in the quartz sand processing industry, non-ferrous metal smelting industry and stone processing industry, that were the top three among the eight industries(all P<0.01). Among the 828 posts with C_(TWA) of respiratory dust exceeding the standard, the C_(TWA) exceeding rate of mild-, moderate-and high-hazardous jobs were 3.87%(156/4 029), 1.66%(67/4 029) and 15.02%(605/4 029), respectively. Among 23 643 dust-exposed workers, the detection rates of occupational contraindications and suspected silicosis were 2.06% and 1.51%, and the prevalence of silicosis was 1.21%. CONCLUSION: Silica dust hazard in workplaces of quartz sand processing industry, non-ferrous metal smelting industry and stone processing industry are serious in Jiangxi Province. The supervision and management of occupational health should be further strengthened to guarantee the occupational health of workers.