NUMBER OF EMPLOYES IN SPECIFIED WAGE GROUPS, COMPENSATION CASES CLOSED IN 1914-16-Continued

TABLE 9.

TABLE 9. NUMBER OF EMPLOYES IN SPECIFIED WAGE GROUPS, COMPENSATION CASES CLOSED IN 1914-16-Continued

PART II.

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES IN MINNESOTA.

This investigation was made for the purpose of ascertaining to what extent the persons engaged in the various industries of the state recognize distinct disease risks in their various occupations. No attempt was made at a close, detailed investigation of occupational disease risks, because such an investigation could not be carried through except by a large use of expert medical men, and our funds would not permit the employing of such men. But we believe that the results attained are worth serious consideration.

Occupational diseases in their various phases are rapidly becoming topics of general discussion. People are inquiring into their nature and causes. Medical authorities are taking a more active interest in the subject. Conferences have been held, commissions appointed, and elaborate, scientific investigations reported. This information has in turn been utilized by the daily press and various current publications and spread among the people. The occupational disease movement has therefore been almost entirely an educational campaign up to the present time, although a few laws on the subject have been passed. The various writers have been trying to let both the employers and employes know the dangers that beset their work. The burden of their teachings has been: "At least one-fourth of the 13,000,000 cases of sickness among those engaged in industrial employments in the United States can be prevented if we insist."

There has been a law upon the statute books of this state for two years requiring every physician to report all cases of poisoning from lead, phosphorous, arsenic or mercury, anthrax or compressed air illness which they may be called upon to attend, to the department of labor. This law is similar to a law in force in many other states. If one was to estimate the number of cases of occupational diseases occurring in this state each year by the reports sent to the department of labor under this law his estimate would enumerate but a negligible number of cases. Everyone familiar with our industries knows that the problem is much more serious than would thus appear, and in order to arrive at more definite conclusions concerning the disease hazard among our industries the present investigation was made of various industries in the Twin Cities. The conditions in the two cities are unquestionably typical of those in the state.

Those industries were selected for investigation which had been found in other states to produce specific industrial diseases or disabilities. The information was gathered from personal interviews with employers and employes and examination of workshops and factories. The employers took a fair attitude and assisted us in every way possible in our efforts to get at the truth. No medical examinations of employes were made, however, and the investigation was therefore more superficial than those in other states.

LEAD POISONING.

Lead poisoning is beyond a doubt the most common of the industrial poisonings with which we have to deal in Minnesota. It enters in some form or other into a large number of trades and manufacturing processes. In some trades the workmen handle only a very small quantity of lead and the dangers of their being poisoned are correspondingly lessened, while on the other hand, there are workmen who work constantly with lead and in large quantities, as smelters, refiners, makers of red and white lead, and the manufacture of storage batteries and paint. The only one of these represented in this state is the paint industry. The quantities of lead used in any of our other industries is comparatively small. The investigation for lead poisoning was therefore limited to paint factories, printing estabishments, car shops, brass foundries, and shot and solder works.

A noticeable thing in some paint factories was the rigid rules enforced by superintendents and foremen concerning personal cleanliness of men and

condition of workrooms. One factory had a well-equipped ventilating system installed with exhausts running to all parts of the workrooms, which removed all dust or fine particles of lead that might be floating about in the air. The floors were kept clean and no little piles of dry lead or paint were allowed to accumulate to dry out and be ground into dust by men walking on them. Every man was provided with a locker for his clothes and plenty of warm water and soap were furnished. All were compelled to wash and clean up before eating lunch or leaving at night. The men were not permitted to eat in the workroom. All the employes were instructed by the superintendent concerning the dangers from lead poisoning and given certain rules to observe during their period of employment with him. He is very anxious to prevent lead poisoning. He suffered a severe attack when learning the paint business and fully realizes the danger. As a result of his strict precautions and his modern equipment, he has never had a case of lead poisoning among his men since he has been employed as superintendent.

In direct contrast with this factory was another and smaller paint factory. Here the provisions for ventilation were very poor, the floors were covered with a heavy coat of old paint, mineral colors and lead. Yet in spite of these conditions the superintendent said that in his thirteen years' experience in the paint factory he had never had an attack of lead poisoning nor had a man suffer from that cause. I asked how he explained it, and he said, "I always take care of myself; wash before eating lunch and before leaving the shop at night, keep my nails clean and take care that as little lead gets into my system as possible. As far as possible I make the men, especially those handling lead, observe the same rules.” Most of the paints mixed here, however, were mineral and earth colors. There was comparativly little lead used.

Most of the paint factories were well ventilated and lighted. When handling dry lead the men wore respirators and in each factory one or two men handled all the dry lead and did the mixing. These men were well acquainted with the dangers attendant upon that kind of work and took every precaution to avoid exposing themselves too freely.

In

Lead poisoning among printers, while not as common as among painters and paint workers, is nevertheless found in occasional cases. We found one case of lead poisoning where the owner of a job printing establishment had been suffering for about three months. The first symptoms he noticed were a gradual loss of weight, accompanied by a ravenous appetite. spite of the large amount of food he ate he lost weight. After a short time he felt pains similar to rheumatism in his arm and shoulder, and for some months his forefinger and thumb on that hand pained more or less constantly. He tried numerous doctors and remedies but their efforts did not seem to help him. In about six weeks' time he was confined to his bed with almost a total loss of strength in his hand and wrist and with severe pains in his arm and shoulder. The loss of weight and strength continued until it was almost impossible for him to stand alone. About this time his doctor discovered the blue line on his gums and diagnosed the case as lead poisoning. Under proper treatment he began at once to improve and in a few weeks was able to be up and about his home. He took regular exercise in the open air and spent most of his time out of doors and soon began to gain in weight. The pains left his shoulder and strength returned to his wrist and hand. When last seen he complained only of his thumb and forefinger, which still pained him occasionally. When asked how he had contracted the disease he at once attributed it to breathing the fine particles of lead and dust which collect in the bottoms of type cases. The office where he worked is located in a basement with poor facilities for ventilation, low ceilings and few windows.

This was the only case of lead poisoning found among printers. In almost every shop visited there were one or more persons, however, who claimed to know people that had suffered from lead poisoning and a few were found who had undergone attacks at some time in their lives.

In one of the stereotype rooms of a large Twin City daily paper were

two men who had suffered from attacks of lead poisoning while in the employ of this paper. One man was incapacitated for about six months and the other for about ten weeks. The stereotype room is located in the basement of their building with no provisions for ventilation. They have from five to seven men at work in a room less than 20 feet square. During working hours three furnaces are kept going constantly. The only ventilation and light come from the small windows over the sidewalk and the coal hole. The foreman's office, the coal bin and one machine are located together under the sidewalk, making it necessary to use artificial light all the time. The entire room is ventilated through the coal hole. No effort had been made to provide hoods or exhausts for removing the fumes from the metal pots, and the open pots allowed all the heat, gases and fumes given off to escape into the room. The men all complained of these fumes and of the effect upon their health. In warm weather the extreme temperature in this room made it necessary for the men to work stripped to the waist. Prostration from heat was alleged to be a common occurrence.

All the metal used was handled by hand. The skimmings from the pots were thrown in a corner or on the ash pile to be cleaned out at rare intervals.

The composing room of this same plant was badly littered. The linotype machines were crowded together with barely enough room between them to permit one to operate or adjust them. The room was poorly ventilated and overcrowded, with almost all the fumes from the metal pots escaping into the air and subjecting every employe in the room to the dangers of poisoning. This was by far the worst condition of affairs found among any of the printing and publishing establishments investigated.

During the past decade there has been a great change in the conditions surrounding the printer. The cellar print shop has almost ceased to exist. As a general rule we find in its place printing and publishing done in modern and well-ventilated and lighted buildings. Most of the larger firms have their own buildings built along the most approved lines and particularly fitted for their class of business.

The real import of these facts as concern our state is that the health, life and limb of the employe in the printing business is being safeguarded as never before. It is the exceptional employer who is content to have his men work in unsanitary or dangerous places, and proper protective legislation would therefore affect only that unfair class of employers who make undue profits at the expense of their employes or who have to resort to such working conditions to maintain themselves in competition. The state would be better off if they were forced out of business. The more progressive employers have acceded to the demand of the men or, in many cases, have supplied safeguards on their own initiative, realizing the advantages in increased efficiency of the men which must necessarily result, as well as the humanitarian side of the matter.

CAR SHOPS.

The men

There are two well-known places about car shops where men are exposed to the risk of being poisoned by lead, viz.: the paint shop and brass foundry. The interior decorating of railroad coaches has long been recognized as one of the most dangerous branches of the painter's trade. must work in small compartments sand-papering paint heavy in lead. This soon fills the air of these poorly ventilated coaches with clouds of paint dust, which the worker is constantly breathing into his system. "The most dangerous part of the painter's work consists in rubbing with sandpaper the coats of white lead paint after they are dry so as to roughen the surface and prepare it to receive another coat." This is a process which is gradually giving way to the use of mineral paints and enamels.

In one of the largest car shops of the Twin Cities the only lead paint used is for lettering and painting signs. All the rest of the paints used were mineral paints and enamels. As a result they have never had a man laid off on account of lead poisoning. In all the other shops lead paints were quite generally employed, but there was no record showing whether