High risk groups in oil shale workforce
The workforce risks of a hypothetical one million barrels-per-day oil shale industry were estimated. The risks for the different workforce segments were compared and high risk groups were identified. Accidents and injuries were statistically described by rates for fatalities, for accidents with days lost from work, and for accidents with no days lost from work. Workforce diseases analyzed were cancers, silicosia, pneumoconiosis, chronic bronchitis, chronic airway obstruction, and high frequency hearing loss. A comparison of the workforce groups under different risk measures (occurrence, fatality, and life-loss expectancy) was performed. The miners represented the group with the largest fatality and the most serious accident rate, although the estimated rates were below the average industry-wide underground mining experience. Lung disease from inhalation exposure of about the nuisance dust threshold limit value presents a significant risk for future concerns. If future environmental dust exposure is at the 100 ..mu..g/m/sup 3/ alpha-quartz level, safety improvements in the mining sector are of prime importance to reduce the oil shale worker's life-loss expectancy. 11 references, 1 figure, 11 tables.
- Research Organization:
- IWG Corp., San Diego, CA (USA); Colorado Univ., Denver (USA). Dept. of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6926434
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-15610; ON: DE84013225
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Health and environmental effects document for oil shale: 1984
Risk of dust-induced lung disease in oil shale workers
Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
MINERS
HEALTH HAZARDS
OIL SHALE INDUSTRY
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
PERSONNEL
ACCIDENTS
BRONCHITIS
FORECASTING
INJURIES
LIFE SPAN
NEOPLASMS
NOISE
OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE
PNEUMOCONIOSES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM DISEASES
RISK ASSESSMENT
SENSE ORGANS DISEASES
THEORETICAL DATA
DATA
DISEASES
HAZARDS
INDUSTRY
INFORMATION
NUMERICAL DATA
040700* - Oil Shales & Tar Sands- Health & Safety
560306 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology- Man- (-1987)