Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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The New Col (Editor's Note: This is the first i: ing with various aspects of the neu ministration Cotton Dust Standar 27). The new OSHA cotton dust stan missible exposure limits (PEL) foi cotton is being processed, also estj on the employer, with a number ol article will address the requirem education and training, work prac DUST MC This section requires the complet cotton is processed no later than S Monitoring, or measuring of the the air, is done by a cone-shape Elutriator. Possibly, you have seen Indus! department operating the Dust Si tinuing. EMPLOYEE EDUCA1 This section requires that by ? provide a training program for all e ton dust is present. We have com plaining the new standard, the Co ployees' responsibilities which will next several weeks. WORK PI rpi j 11? r a ? i * i ne ueaanne ior esiannsning an< work practices to minimize exposi dust is present, is June 27, 1980. We are near completion of writ job classification. Work practices 1 exposed to cotton dust. For new e before the employee is placed on 1 The new cotton dust standard i will be included; wherever applica 1. Compressed air blow-down cle means are available. Where com] respirators will be worn by the er Employees whose presence is not will be required to leave the area 2. Cleaning of clothing or floors 3. Floor sweeping will be perfori designed to minimize the dispersa 4. Cotton and cotton waste will removed or otnerwise handled by not feasible or possible to do so. W used will be the method which redu hie. MEDICAL SI The medical surveillance portioi medical surveillance program mus who work in areas where cotton di 1981. We have had an ongoing pulmon Clinton since the summer of 191 ministered more than 9,800 pulmor 1,900 of the tests are given yearly. 1 as well as periodic testing of all c dust areas. The pulmonary function test is 1 of ability. Those few people who ha1 porarily decreased lung function. The periodic testing of current ei ft on Dust Stan n a continuing series of articles dealr occupational Safety and Health Add which became effective on March dard, in addition to establishing perr employees working in areas where iblishes other requirements imposed F effective dates for compliance. This ents of dust monitoring, emnlovpp tices and medical surveillance. )NITORING don of monitoring of all areas where September 27, 1980. amount of respirable cotton dust in d instrument known as a Vertical :rial Hygenial Technicians in your impler. Our initial surveys are conHON AND TRAINING lune zt, i?bu, eacn employer must mplovees in all work areas where cotpleted a slide show presentation exmpany's responsibilities and the embe shown to all employees during the IACTICES i implementing a written program of ire to cotton dust for each job where ten work practices program for each will be reviewed with each employee rrmlnvpps thp rpvipw will taWp nla/?o the job. equires that the following practices ble: aning is prohibited where alternative tressed air blow-down is necessary, nployees performing the blow-down, required to perform the blow-down during the cleaning operation, with compressed air is prohibited. Tied with a vacuum or with methods 1 of dust. be stacked, sorted, baled, dumped, mechanical means except where it is herever it is not feasible, the method ces exposure to the lowest level possi JRVEILLANCE fi of the new standard states that a >t be implemented for all employees ist is present no later than March 27, ary function surveillance program in r5, during which time we have adlary function tests. At present, about rhis includes pre-employment testing urrent employees working in cotton basically a test of breathing capacity ^e a reaction to cotton dust show temmployees consists of measurement of dard and How forced expiratory volume (FEV-1) i (FVC) before the employee enters t work week following at least 35 h( The test is repeated during the wo more than 10 hours after the begin short form respiratory questionnai plovees working in cotton processin completed when the annual pulmo Dr. Galphin Writes: Facts Abou During the past few years, much has been written about a lung ailment known as Byssinosis. However, most people both inside and outside the textile industry do not have a very clear understanding of what byssinosis is. Adding to this lack of understanding has been the use of the term or nickname "brown lung" to describe byssinosis. This is an incorrect description nor is there anything that shows on an X-ray that indicates the lung condition. Byssinosis is caused by something in the raw cotton dust trash, which is composed of leaves, bract, stems, bolls, and other organic and inorganic matter. This trash is crushed and becomes airborne in textile plants during the processing of the cotton. Tests indicate that only a small percentage of the people who are exposed to raw cotton dust develop this lung ailment. The symptoms are tightness of the chest accompanied by coughing or shortness of breath on the first day of the work week. Over a period of years, the symptoms may be worse but if diagnosed in time, the condition is reversible. Advanced byssinosis is almost always accompanied by other respiratory conditions such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema and nearly all who have byssinotic symptoms are also smokers. 4 11 -/ -.1 ' ' aw oi mese iaciors maKe it extremely difficult to diagnose byssinosis and only About the '^Hf j^M r V^S^r M Dr. Robert Galphin Page 3 it Affects Us ind forced vital capacity of the lungs he work-place on the first day of the >urs of non exposure to cotton dust, rk shift, no sooner than four and no ning of the work shift. In addition, a re is completed annually on all emg departments. The questionnaire is nary function test is conducted. it Byssinosis specialists in the field of pulmonary medicine are qualified to make such a diagnosis. Diagnosing byssinosis and reactors to cotton dust is accomplished by: (1) Studying the person's medical history including smoking habits, (2) a medical examination including lung function testing, and (3) considering the number of years exposure to cotton dust and the levels of exposure. It is important to understand that the number of employees who react to the cotton dust is small. Even fewer develop byssinosis and those that do, can be detected in time to prevent a disabling condition. There are still some unanswered questions about byssinosis. We don't know what the agent is in the dust that causes this ailment in certain people. Research to date has failed to identify it. We also don't know why some people are affected by the cotton dust while most are not. Clinton Mills has taken significant steps to reduce the dust levels and to protect employees and eliminate the bvssinosis problem. These include the use of engineering controls, such as ventilation and filtration systems; cotton dust measurements; work practices; periodic testing of lung functions of all employees and where necessary, medical examination and evaluations. i Writer... Dr. Robert Galphin is a specialist in internal medicine and pulmonary disease from Columbia. Galphin, who will be working closely, as an unbiased outside party, with Clinton's pulmonary function testing program, has been interested in the problem of byssinosis for many years. He has conducted extensive I research on the disease while on the faculty at the Medical College of South Carolina. He served eight years as director of the Pulmonary Service and Pulmonary Function Lab at Charleston Hospital and was head of the Pulmonary Teaching Service at Richland Memorial Hospital for five years. Dr. Galphin served as president nf tKo Qnil K P o??/\linQ |w? v?iv i^v/uvu vai viuia niuiatlt Society and holds membership in the American College of Physicians. the American College of Chest Physicians and the American Thoracic Society.