Occupational Diseases Reported in Ohio, 1928 to 1932 HE Ohio Division of Industrial Hygiene which was established newly-established Bureau of Occupational Diseases with Dr. Emery R. Hayhurst as consultant and acting chief. Dr. Hayhurst has supplied the report for the year 1932 showing the compensable diseases reported to the bureau for the 5-year period, 1928-32, as well as the reports of noncompensable industrial diseases during the same period. The following table shows the number of cases of compensable diseases reported in Ohio for the years 1928-32. During these years no cases of anthrax or glanders were reported, or of poisoning from mercury, phosphorus, carbon dioxide, manganese dioxide, or radium. 1 Specified as infection or inflammation of the skin on contact surfaces due to oils, cutting compounds, or lubricants, dusts, liquids, etc. Although noncompensable occupational diseases are reportable to the Ohio Department of Health under the law and should form the basis of legislative action extending the schedule of compensable diseases, the number actually reported is not large, as neither the attending physician nor patient receive any fee for reporting such cases. A table showing noncompensable diseases lists only 57 such cases in 1932, although 38 causative agents are specified, while in addition 33 cases of disease reported as due to occupational exposures were reported. In the latter cases the causative agent was not clear or definite, and there was some personal predisposition, climatic condition, or other unnamed factor present in the given case. F INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS Accidents in Manufacturing Industries, 1926 to 1932 IGURES collected and compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its annual survey of accidents in manufacturing industries show an increase for 1932 in both frequency and severity rates. An average of 19.55 injuries was sustained in the combined industries during 1932 for every 1,000,000 man-hours worked, as against 18.85 in 1931, an increase in the frequency rate of 3.7 percent. An average of 2.86 days was lost through the injuries received in 1932, including standard schedule allowances for deaths and permanent disabilities, for every 1,000 man-hours worked, as against 2.59 in 1931, an increase in the severity rate of 10.4 percent. Continued curtailment of industrial activity was responsible for a decided reduction in employment during 1932, and the diminished exposure to the hazards of industrial life naturally resulted in a substantial reduction in the total number of industrial injuries, but, as shown by the frequency rates of the Bureau, the total number of injuries did not decline so rapidly as the man-hours of exposure. The difference in the frequency rates for the 2 years is presumably, at least partly, due to a let-up in safety activities-a common but unfortunate result of economy programs so that unsafe conditions or practices were not eliminated or improved. Such neglect would naturally lead to a proportionate increase in accidents and, aside from the standpoint of human relations, would in the end prove far more expensive than the cost of the necessary safety work involved. Other information received by the Bureau shows that, while the usual accident-prevention work was continued in many establishments, safety activities were curtailed greatly in others through reduction in safety personnel and maintenance personnel, or in funds for upkeep and repair of working places. The question of continued and energetic accident-prevention work is especially important at the present time. Renewed industrial activity, with the attending employment of many workers in tasks with which they are not familiar, will greatly increase the occupational hazards, even where conditions are rendered as safe as possible. Reduction or laxness in safety work will increase these hazards still further, exact their toll of injuries and suffering, and prevent efficient and economic operation of the industry. A distribution of accident frequency and severity rates for the combined manufacturing industries in 1932, by extent of disability, is shown in table 1, with comparable yearly rates for the 6 previous years. These rates were computed from the records for all establishments covered by the survey of the Bureau, and weighted according to the total number of wage earners employed in each of the industrial groups, as given in the reports of the United States Bureau of the Census. TABLE 1.-ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, 1926 TO 1932 (WAGE EARNERS ONLY) Trend of Accident Frequency and Severity Rates The average frequency rate for the combined industries declined. from 24.16 in 1926 to 22.52 in 1928, but advanced to 23.98 in 1929. It started again on a downward trend and dropped in 1931 to 18.85, its lowest level, then rose in 1932 to 19.55, making the total decrease for the period 19 percent. The average severity rate declined and advanced alternately, from 2.62 in 1926 to 2.86 in 1932, an increase for the period of 9 percent. The fluctuations in the yearly rates are presented graphically in the chart on page 1389, which shows the trend of the average frequency and severity rates for the combined manufacturing groups during the 7-year period, 1926 to 1932. The industrial accident surveys of the Bureau are limited to wage earners and do not include clerical employees, as the accident hazard for that group is entirely different. The surveys covered approximately 33 percent of the total wage earners in the respective industrial groups in 1926, 34 percent in 1927 and 1928, 38 percent in 1929, 37 percent in 1930, 44 percent in 1931, and 37 percent in 1932. Individual industry rates, by extent of disability and by years, were computed from records of establishments in the States which furnished data for all accidents resulting in disability extending beyond the day of injury. It has been found that this selection constitutes a fairly representative cross-section for each of the industries covered, and that comparable rates for the various industries could not be computed otherwise. It must, however, be taken into consideration that in using only such records several important States are omitted from this individual compilation, and that neither the number of full-year workers nor the actual number of accidents in any one industry is comparable with the same item for another industry. Only the frequency rates and severity rates are comparable. The individual rates are shown in detail in table 2, by extent of disability and by industry and years. TABLE 2.-NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SEVERITY RATES FOR WAGE EARNERS IN SPECIFIED INDUSTRIES, 1926 TO 1932 [Frequency rates are based on 1,000,000 hours' exposure, severity rates on 1,000 hours' exposure] Number Industry and year Agricultural imple year Num- Fre- Se- Num-, Fre- Se- Num Fre- Se Num- Fre- Seworkers ber quen- veri- ber of су ty of cases rate rate cases су ty of rate rate cases quen- veri- ber quen- veri- ber quen- veri су ty rate rate of ey ty cases rate rate |