Handbook of Occupational Safety and Health, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER 1RECOGNITION OF HEALTH HAZARDS IN THE WORKPLACE

MARTIN R. HOROWITZ

Analog Devices, 21 Osborn St., Cambridge, MA, 02139

and

MARILYN F. HALLOCK

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bldg. 56–235, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA, 02139‐4307

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Although employment in the United States is shifting from manufacturing to the service sector, manufacturing continues to employ in excess of 20 million workers in workplaces that present both traditional and new occupational health hazards. To understand the nature of these hazards, the occupational health professional must understand not only the toxicology of industrial materials but also the manufacturing technology that defines how contaminants are released from the process, the physical form of the contaminants, and the route of exposure. Physical stresses including noise, vibration, heat, and ionizing and nonionizing radiation must also be evaluated. Twelve specific unit operations representing both large employment and potential health hazards to the worker have been chosen for discussion in this chapter; these unit operations occur in many different industrial settings. This chapter is based on the previous reviews of the subject (Burgess 1991, 1995) as well as original scientific literature. The purpose of this chapter is to help the reader recognize potential health hazards that may exist in specific operations and industries. Other chapters in this text cover the evaluation and control of the recognized ...