Health and safety factors of the electronic organization

This paper seeks to address the following:1. The safety of equipment: This will be considered in the context of the health problems generally perceived to be associated with the use of the following devices: VDT technology; keyboard and mouse; printers. 2. The use of the equipment and design of the workplace: Here consideration will be given to human/ergonomic factors(these may also be thought of as the matching of people with the equipment best designed for their safe use) addressing concerns as: Adjusting furniture and equipment to influence good posture; lighting, noise, ventilation and humidity concerns ; fire prevention and protection.

Health and safety factors of the electronic organization

This paper seeks to address the following:1. The safety of equipment: This will be considered in the context of the health problems generally perceived to be associated with the use of the following devices: VDT technology; keyboard and mouse; printers. 2. The use of the equipment and design of the workplace: Here consideration will be given to human/ergonomic factors (these may also be thought of as the matching of people with the equipment best designed for their safe use) addressing concerns as: adjusting furniture and equipment to influence good posture; lighting, noise, ventilation and humidity concerns ; fire prevention and protection. (AU)

Pulmonary function in cement industry workers

Pulmonary function studies, including one second forced expiratory volume (FEV 1.0 percent) and mean transit time, were carried out in 217 persons employed in the cement manufacturing industry. The results showed that abnormal pulmonary functions were positively correlated with the length of employment and dust concentration. The highest incidence of low FEV 1.0 percent, peak expiratory flow rate and mid-expiratory flow rate were found in the high dust areas where the dust concentration exceeded the threshold limit value (TLV) by 2620 per cent. Most of the abnormalities were of the restrictive type. It is suggested that the quartz content of the raw and finished product may be a causative factor in the disease entity (AU)

Environmental factors affecting paracetamol metabolism in London factory and office workers

Paracetamol elimination was measured, using serial saliva samples, in 114 London factory and office workers, 76 whites and 38 Asian immigrants. Use of social drugs such as alcohol, tobacco and the oral contraceptive varied considerably within the sample, being appreciably greater in white subjects. Paracetamol clearance was 21 percent slower in Asians than in whites and half-life 18 percent longer. The total range of clearance was 1.86-6.78 ml/min/kg. Clearance was slower in women than in men, increased with increasing alcohol intake and cigarette consumption, and was more rapid in those women using the oral contraceptive. The effects of alcohol and the oral contraceptive were also found in white subjects alone. The variable found to correlate independently with paracetamol clearance accounted for only 27 percent of the total sample variance, however, and are unlikely to be the major determinants of paracetamol elimination in man (AU)

Relatively benign sickle-cell anaemia in 60 patients aged over 30 in the West Indies

A study in Jamaica of 60 patients with sickle-cell anaemia over the age of 30 years showed that most of them were in full-time employment. Pains in the bones or joints, leg ulceration, and jaundice were the most frequent types of presentation, but only two patients had a haemoglobin level consistently below 6 g./100 ml. Most of the patients were well developed and of average height, and, though the development of secondary sexual characteristics was delayed, there was an average of 2.6 pregnancies per patient. These findings suggest that the course is more benign than has been realized. (AU)