Section 75 (2) of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, Requires That,

where lead or other poisonous substance is used so as to give rise to dust or fumes, meal-room accommodation shall be provided. The question, as a rule, is easily decided, but there are border-line cases where doubt may arise, as, for example, in letterpress printing factories in regard to dust, and in soldering operations in regard to fume. Operations in the composing-room undoubtedly give rise to dust, and in stereotyping and casting the débris trodden underfoot causes dust to rise. In linotype rooms, however, in the present state of knowledge, a difficult burden of proof would rest on the person who sought to show that dust or fumes were present to such an extent as to justify action under the section. And the same view holds, in our opinion, in regard to soldering.

=Lavatories.=--The usual requirement for this in nearly all regulations is:

The occupier should provide and maintain in good repair for all persons employed in lead processes--

(1) Suitable lavatory accommodation, including at least one lavatory basin for every five such persons, fitted with a waste pipe, or placed in a trough having a waste pipe, and having a constant supply of hot and cold water laid on; or alternatively troughs of enamel or similar smooth impervious material, fitted with waste pipes without plugs, and having a constant supply of warm water laid on, and affording a length of at least two feet of trough for every five such persons.

(2) Soap, nail-brushes, and a sufficient supply of clean towels, renewed daily.

Discipline, and responsibility placed on some one person to see to the cleanliness of the lavatory appliances and adequate supply of the necessary means for washing, can alone insure proper use of them by the persons employed. The workman has so narrow a margin of time in which to get his breakfast and dinner that he cannot be expected to wash if facilities for doing so fail. The alternative of an enamelled iron trough with jets of warmed water is in our experience much the most satisfactory installation where the number employed is more than five or six. Provision of soft soap or of soap in the form of powder, and nail-brushes nailed to the table, hinder peculation. Wooden stands for holding wash-basins present almost invariably a most uninviting appearance unless covered with sheet lead.

Well-equipped wash-hand basins with hot and cold water laid on close to the work-place are sometimes provided in addition to the lavatory proper. If looked after they are valued and used, but if not they become converted into receptacles for oddments.

Type common on the Continent.]

Roller towels should be at least 15 square feet in area for every three persons employed, and renewed daily.

The merits of soluble sulphides in “akremnin” soap have been advanced on the ground that the lead is converted into the insoluble black sulphide, which is thereby made visible to the eye, and the sight of which will, it is hoped, still further stimulate the desire to wash. Probably such lead as remains on the hands after well washing with soap is so closely adherent to the skin as to render risk of contamination of the food in this way negligible. Dr. Robertson, Chemist of the Royal Gunpowder Factory at Waltham Abbey, has found that results as good as those to be obtained from use of akremnin soap (and without any discoloration of the skin) are obtained from use of a solution made up as follows: Sal ammoniac added to saturation to a solution containing 8·5 c.c. of commercial hydrochloric acid (specific gravity, 1·15) per 100 c.c. of water. The procedure adopted at Waltham Abbey is--(1) Usual washing with soap, water, and a nail-brush; (2) scrubbing with the special solution by means of a nail-brush dipped in it; (3) rinsing in water; and (4) washing with soap and water.

Sommerfeld, from his wide experience, considers that pumice-soap, with the addition of turpentine, is the best cleansing material lead-workers can use.

=Baths.=--Provision of bath accommodation is required under the special rules for white-lead factories and the regulations for electric accumulators. In several factories, however, baths are provided for the use of the workers. They naturally make for improvement in general health, but we cannot regard provision of them, any more than cloakrooms and mess-rooms, as likely to influence materially incidence of lead poisoning in a factory. The three requisites of (1) convenience and quickness, (2) comfort, and (3) regular use, can best be secured by the use of shower baths in place of slipper baths. The advantage they have are--(1) Initial cost of installation is less; (2) economy in space; (3) economy in water; (4) economy in time required for bathing; (5) no worker comes into contact with water used by another; (6) cleansing must be from the head downwards. Danger of scalding can be absolutely excluded by use of valve levers, so placed in relation to one another that steam cannot be turned on until the cold-water valve has been opened, and the heater can be so arranged that the water is not raised above a definite temperature.

=Separation of Processes.=--Lead processes should, as far as possible, be carried on in such a way that there is aerial disconnection of one process from another. Separate workrooms, although desirable unless very small, may not always be possible, but by exhaust ventilation processes may be arranged so that dust is not a source of danger to persons working elsewhere. Instances could be given where, in paint and colour works, persons employed in the grinding of earth colours, in which no lead entered, succumbed to attacks of plumbism from contiguity of the plant with that for grinding lead colours. Threading up of castor runners on a wire previous to dipping used to be done, prior to 1901, in the dipping-house itself, with the result that some severe cases of poisoning occurred. By the rules of 1901 the process was required to be done in a place separate from any place where dipping (or other scheduled process) was carried on, and very few cases have occurred since. And if exhaust ventilation is relied on, Duckering’s experiments (p. 206) show the attention to detail necessary to prevent air charged with lead dust being drawn to the spot by the fan. The need for separation of processes becomes less in proportion as the cubic space of the room increases, and dust and fumes are locally removed.

=Age of Employment.=--The same considerations as have been stated above govern this point also. Wherever lead dust or fumes arise, whether exhaust ventilation is applied or not, persons of either sex under eighteen years of age are probably rather more susceptible to attack by reason of natural failure to appreciate the risk run. When periodical medical examination in addition to exhaust ventilation has been adopted, the age limit can safely be reduced to sixteen. Where handling only of metallic lead and ordinary soldering with an iron are done, risk of contracting plumbism is so remote that an age limit may be unnecessary.

=Wall Surface.=--Wherever walls are likely to be splashed, as in dipping rooms and enamelling workshops, the inner surface of the walls should be of glazed bricks or tiles or enamelled plates, any of which help also in increasing the light necessary in such rooms. If, on account of the cost, such perfectly smooth material is impracticable, the walls should be painted with oil colour, which will enable them periodically to be wet-cleansed. Dusting the walls is to be deprecated. Hence accumulations of dust and débris on ledges, rafters, beams, roofs, etc., should, in our opinion, only very occasionally be cleaned down. We consider that the risk from one big cleaning down is less than that from repeated small ones. (See p. 218).

=Floors.=--These should be smooth and impervious. Wood flooring can hardly be regarded as coming within this category; it is unsuitable where lead processes are carried on. Preference must be given to floors of concrete and the like material, which can be washed down easily rather than swept. Frequently the dust raised in sweeping the floor has determined an attack of lead poisoning. No objection can be raised to wooden grids and iron roll matting placed on the concrete floor for the workers to stand on. Cold feet and transference of lead dust by the boots are lessened by their use. Where traffic is heavy, as is often the case in lead works, vibration is set up with wooden floors, and dust disseminated. In smelting works cast-iron plates are serviceable as flooring.

=Instruction of the Worker.=--Too much stress cannot be laid on this point. To insist upon it, however, is useless unless the occupier has installed the necessary exhaust ventilation, and equipped his factory with the other essentials for enabling the workman to guard against dust and free his hands of adhering lead, in whatever form. When this has been done, then the worker himself can do something.

Often he creates dust unnecessarily. In shovelling out of a cask with spade or trowel, in order to get out the last trace of the material to be transferred, he generally gives it a knock, which causes dust to fly so sharply as to escape the exhaust; or he removes the implement quickly from the exhaust, before it has been completely emptied and while dust is still being given off. He will use a brush to clean his bench in preference to cleaning it by a wet method. The printer may hold type between his teeth. Many workers bite their nails. Moustache and beard may be fingered, and because of this workers may even be advised to be clean-shaven. They may chew or smoke constantly while at work, and will frequently eat with unwashed hands.

Notices enjoining care and cleanliness may be, and often are, hung up in the workrooms, or a leaflet, such as the one here printed, is handed to the worker on his first examination by the surgeon. Nothing, however, can take the place of actual verbal instruction from occupier, foreman, and fellow-worker impressed with the importance of the matter.

LEAD POISONING: HOW CAUSED AND HOW BEST PREVENTED.

Unless great care is taken, work in lead and lead compounds is injurious to health, because the lead enters the system and causes lead poisoning.

Danger is greatest from breathing leady dust or fume, but eating with unwashed hands, and biting nails or putting such things as sweets or pipes into the mouth while the fingers are soiled with lead, all help to cause poisoning.

Many workers in lead have a blue line round the edge of the gums, but the first actual symptoms of the injurious action of lead on the system are costiveness, colicky pains in the stomach, headache, and marked paleness. Occasionally headache is associated with epileptic fits, a very serious condition, which may be followed by loss of sight. “Wrist-drop,” loss of power in the muscles moving the fingers and wrist, results sometimes from lead poisoning, and may cause permanent disablement from work. It does not usually come on until after a person has worked in lead for some years.

Lead, even if absorbed in small quantities, has a tendency to remain in the system, and if care be not taken it will go on accumulating, so that in time the health may become permanently damaged, even without any definite attack recognized as lead poisoning.

Girls and boys, because they are not so likely to observe the necessary precautions as grown-up people, should be closely watched. Women should be especially careful, as the injurious effect of lead in them may seriously interfere with the healthiness of their children.

As lead does not enter the system through the pores of the skin, it can in great measure be avoided by--

1. Taking special care to avoid raising dust. It is to the interest of everyone to see that ventilating arrangements are in order for carrying dust away at the point where it is produced.

Any little cloud constantly made at work is sure, if breathed, to set up lead poisoning. Where lead colours are used wet, danger arises from the splashing of the material and its subsequent drying into dust.

2. Paying scrupulous attention to cleanliness of the hands, face, teeth, and clothing. The hands and nails should always be cleaned with soap and nail-brush before food is eaten, and it is a wise practice also to wash out the mouth. The teeth should be brushed at least once a day, preferably before the evening meal.

3. Never commencing work on an empty stomach. Food containing fat, such as bacon and milk, is suitable.

Overall suits, if worn, should never be shaken to rid them of dust. They require washing at least once a week.

Aperient medicine, such as Epsom salts (one or two teaspoonfuls in water), can be taken once or twice a week with advantage by lead-workers.

Experience shows that the habits and home life of the workers influence their liability to lead poisoning. Intemperate persons are the first to fall victims. Those who begin work on an empty stomach incur additional risk by so doing.

Carefulness while at work, and cleanliness, offer the best means of escaping attacks of lead poisoning.

Those who work in lead should keep in mind every hour of every working day the importance of not breathing lead dust and not carrying lead to the mouth in any way.

Medical advice should at once be obtained if signs of lead poisoning present themselves.

REFERENCES.

GEORGE REID: Memorandum on Mess-room Accommodation: Appendix XXV. of the Potteries Committee’s Report, vol. ii., 1910. Cd. 5278.

TH. SOMMERFELD: Die Bekämpfung der Bleigefahr, edited by Leymann, p. 76.