II

INVESTIGATION OF INDUSTRIAL DISEASES

Presiding Officer: HENRY R. SEAGER

President, American Association for Labor Legislation NEW YORK CITY

INTENSIVE INVESTIGATIONS IN INDUSTRIAL

HYGIENE

FREDERICK L. HOFFMAN

Statistician, Prudential Insurance Company.

Industrial hygiene is gradually assuming the position of an applied science in its relation to government and the public at large. The nation-wide agitation for effective workmen's compensation legislation and the establishment of state insurance for this purpose in Washington, Ohio, and Massachusetts, emphasizes the necessity for trustworthy information, statistical or otherwise, with regard to the whole question of health and safety in American industry. It is not going too far to say that most of the published information on the subject of industrial hygiene and industrial accidents is of very limited practical value, and much of it is decidedly misleading.

There have been very few intensive studies of the actual conditions under which American industry is carried on at the present time. In the memorial to the President on the appointment of a national commission for the investigation of industrial diseases, practically all the conclusive evidence was derived from foreign sources or intensive and more or less conclusive investigations made in foreign countries. It is most encouraging, however, that within recent years the necessity for such investigations should have been recognized, and mention only requires to be made of what has been done in this respect by the states of Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, etc. The honor belongs to the state of Illinois for having been the first to appoint a special commission to investigate and report upon the subject of industrial diseases, and the report of that commission constitutes a valuable contribution to the literature of industrial hygiene. The publications of the Massachusetts State Board of Health, and of the New York State Department of Labor require also to be mentioned as helpful indications of the direction which in years to come investigations of this kind are bound to take to an increasing extent. The monograph by Dr. Andrews on phosphorus poisoning and the reports by Dr. Hamilton on lead poisoning

are epoch-making documents which separate precisely the field of guesswork opinion from the field of impartially ascertained facts.

The principles which underlie all investigations of this kind are not as yet fully defined. It may be said at the outset, however, that every industry should be inquired into with reference to the health and safety of persons employed therein, but with a due regard to the essential conditions under which such industries can be economically, profitably, and efficiently carried on. It is important in all investigations of this kind that the investigator first make himself thoroughly familiar with the technique of the industry or trade about to be investigated, since whatsoever conclusions may be arrived at, they must be more or less conditioned by the elements of the industry itself. A clear understanding of the technical details of any given industry or trade often requires much patient study and research, but without such an understanding of the methods by which a particular industry or trade is carried on most of the conclusions as to health and safety must be more or less wanting in the essential requirements of absolute accuracy and impartiality.

It is unfortunate for research in the field of American industrial hygiene that most of the textbooks descriptive of industrial or manufacturing processes should be by foreign authorities, just as is the case with regard to textbooks on occupational diseases and the prevention of accidents. Some notable exceptions are the standard works of reference on metallurgical processes and industrial chemistry. The treatise on Industrial Organic Chemistry by Sadtler, and the Outlines of Industrial Chemistry by Thorp, are indispensable to research work in a large number of industries chiefly or partly inclusive of chemical processes of manufacture. The earlier Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines by Ure, in three volumes, and the still earlier Cyclopedia of Useful Arts by Tomlinson, and Chambers' Information for the People, published in 1847, are useful for the purpose of illustrating the methods and processes of manufacture in the past. Some of the descriptive accounts of industrial processes published by the Census Office from time to time since 1880 are of considerable practical value in investigations of this kind, but it is much to be regretted that there should not be a popular treatise on the technology of trades and industries giving, at least in brief outline, an intelligent account of modern methods of manufacture, with particular reference to the safety and health of the employees, and including the smaller, but frequently more important trades.

As illustrations of the textbooks useful for the purpose of obtaining a sound preliminary understanding of the essential factors in industry, I may refer to the treatise on The Manufacture and Properties of Iron and Steel, by Campbell; Modern Copper Smelting, by Peters; The Textbook of Ore-Dressing, by Richards; and Lead and Zinc Pigments, by Holley. For many of the industries excellent monographs have been published by corporations which, by their illustrations alone, render substantial aid to the students of industrial processes in their relation to health and life. I may refer to a short treatise on The Destructive Distillation of Bituminous Coal, with reference to the United-Otto system of by-product coke ovens, which practically constitutes a guide to that rather intricate process which has made the utilization of valuable waste products a commercial possibility. The federal and state geological surveys publish reports which frequently contain interesting observations and suggestive illustrations, but I can only refer to the report of the geological survey of the State of New York on the lime and cement industries. of that state, and to the report on the manufacture of roofing tiles, published by the geological survey of Ohio.

Next to a sound technical foundation it is of some importance that the historical facts of any given industry be taken into account, and while the history of American manufactures has not been brought down to date, Bishop's classical work is still of value, monographs are occasionally printed by institutions of learning, and the report on manufacturing industries by the Census Office also contains much useful information. I can only refer to the excellent monograph on The Printers, by Professor Barnett, published by the American Economic Association, and to the historical account of the English tin miners, by Lewis, published in the series of Harvard Economic Studies.

The most useful sources of information with regard to industrial processes are the technical trade journals, which for practically all of the industries extend over a considerable period of time. These publications, to an increasing extent, take into account the economic and social conditions of labor, and with special regard to wages, hours of labor, etc. The reports and bulletins of the federal Bureau of Labor and of the state departments of labor, moreover, make an immense amount of more or less trustworthy information conveniently available. Such reports of the federal Bureau of Labor as