explosion has occurred is known to miners as “after-damp,” and is much
dreaded on account of its poisonous properties. A careful examination,
recently undertaken by the writer,[137] of the bodies of the men and
horses killed in three colliery explosions resulted in showing that in
almost every case, whether or not there were burns or other injuries,
the actual cause of death was carbonic oxide poisoning. In many cases,
however, the burns or other injuries would certainly have proved fatal
apart from the carbonic oxide; and the result of a rough estimate was
that, on an average of the three explosions, about 23 per cent. of
those killed had received burns or other injuries sufficient to cause
death. Only 46 per cent. were burnt or injured.
The symptoms of the rescuers who encountered after-damp were clearly
those of carbonic oxide poisoning. Their lamps continued to burn in the
poisonous air, and in some cases men were found dead with their lamps
either still burning, or with the oil burnt out. The fact that a lamp
continues to burn, which is an excellent test of the safety of air
vitiated by black-damp or fire-damp, is thus no test of the safety of
air vitiated by after-damp.
In the case of the great colliery explosions which cause such wholesale
destruction of life, the explosion is almost invariably one of
coal-dust, started either by blasting at dry and dusty places in the
mine, or by small explosions of fire-damp. Slighter explosions may
be due simply to ignition of fire-damp. When fire-damp or coal-dust
ignites in presence of excess of air, the products of combustion are
simply carbonic acid and water, along with a little sulphurous acid in
the case of coal-dust. The reaction occurring when fire-damp ignites
under these conditions is represented by the following equation:--
CH_{4} + 2O_{2} = CO_{2} + 2H_{2}O.
The after-damp from such an explosion in air would consist of 88.3
per cent. of nitrogen and 11.7 per cent. of carbonic acid; and with
coal-dust a slightly higher proportion of carbonic acid would be
present. When, however, the proportion of air present is insufficient
for complete oxidation a certain amount of carbonic oxide is produced
in place of part of the carbonic acid. As much as 4.5 per cent. may be
present in the after-damp of an explosion of fire-damp. In a colliery
explosion the fire-damp or dust must always be very irregularly
distributed in the air, so that in some places there will be an excess
of air, and in others an excess of fire-damp or dust. At many places
the excess of gas or dust must be so great that no explosion at all
can occur. The after-damp is thus a variable mixture of nitrogen,
carbonic acid, and carbonic oxide, together with much air, and, in
the case of dust explosions, a little sulphurous acid or sulphuretted
hydrogen, and various products of the dry distillation of coal. These
latter products give after-damp a characteristic unpleasant smell. The
fact that sufficient oxygen to support life is left along the track
of an explosion is shown by the fact that the bodies do not present
the appearances seen in the rapid death which ensues in an atmosphere
devoid of oxygen. Probably about 2 to 5 per cent. of carbonic oxide
is usually contained in the pure after-damp of a colliery explosion.
The gas met with by rescuers some hours, or perhaps days, after the
explosion, is, of course, a mixture of after-damp with the black-damp
and fire-damp which has accumulated in consequence of stoppage of the
ventilation through the air current being short-circuited.
The action on men and animals of after-damp depends practically upon
the carbonic oxide contained in it. Pure after-damp, containing no air,
would of course cause death just as rapidly apart from the action of
the carbonic oxide: but such after-damp unmixed with air is hardly met
with.
Carbonic oxide or carbon monoxide (CO) is a very poisonous gas. Judging
from experiments on animals, air containing anything more than 0.4 per
cent. would, after a sufficient time, always cause death in a man,
though anything over 0.2 per cent. would in many cases prove fatal.
It has practically no smell or irritating properties by which its
presence might be readily recognised, and its action is peculiarly
slow and insidious. The first symptoms of carbonic oxide poisoning are
usually dizziness, shortness of breath, and palpitation following any
unusual exertion. Sometimes there is drowsiness, and sometimes unusual
excitement similar to that produced by alcohol. When more of the
gas is absorbed there is great failure of muscular power. The least
exertion causes dizziness and fainting, and any serious exertion may
prove fatal. At the same time the mind becomes more or less confused,
although the person affected is not himself aware of any mental
failure. The senses are also affected, and frequently there seems to
be greater or less insensibility to pain, as miners who are partially
stupefied by carbonic oxide are not infrequently seriously burnt by
their lamps. The loss of muscular and sensory power gradually becomes
more and more complete, until at last consciousness is entirely lost;
and finally, with further absorption, death quietly ensues. There is no
pain or serious discomfort at any stage. Recovery from slight carbonic
oxide poisoning is usually accompanied by severe headache, nausea, and
depression. When consciousness has been lost for a considerable time,
recovery is very slow and uncertain. Death may occur from pneumonia
after two or three days; and a variety of severe mental symptoms may
persist for long periods. In cases where much muscular exertion has
been attempted during exposure to the poison the heart appears to be
often seriously affected.
In order to understand the very peculiar features presented by carbonic
oxide poisoning it is necessary to consider the mode of action of
this gas. The oxygen absorbed from the air in the lungs is normally
taken up in the form of a loose chemical combination with the red
colouring matter (hæmoglobin) of the blood corpuscles, and so carried
by the circulation to the tissues, where it is used up. The hæmoglobin
not only combines with oxygen, but is also capable of forming a much
more stable compound with carbonic oxide, and, as was shown by Claude
Bernard, hæmoglobin which is saturated with carbonic oxide cannot take
up oxygen. Hence, when the hæmoglobin of a living animal is saturated
to a certain extent with carbonic oxide, sufficient oxygen cannot be
conveyed from the lungs to the tissues, and death occurs from want
of oxygen.[138] Carbonic oxide has no other action than that due to
its interference with the oxygen supply through the blood. Apart from
its property of combining with the hæmoglobin it is a physiologically
indifferent gas, like nitrogen; and it has no action on lower animals
which do not possess hæmoglobin. The symptoms produced by it are
therefore essentially the same as those described above as due to
deficiency of oxygen in the air breathed. No noticeable symptoms are
produced until the hæmoglobin is about a third saturated with carbonic
oxide, and death does not usually occur until about 70 or 80 per
cent. saturation has been reached. When, therefore, not much carbonic
oxide is present in the air, a considerable time elapses before a
sufficient quantity of the gas has been absorbed to produce symptoms.
A man possesses on an average a weight of blood equal to ¹⁄₂₁ of his
body-weight, or about 3 litres, and the hæmoglobin of this blood
requires about 600 c.c. of carbonic oxide to saturate it. He breathes
when at rest about 5 litres of air per minute. Hence, supposing that
the air contains 0.2 per cent. of carbonic oxide, which is about the
minimum quantity which will produce death, he can absorb only 10 c.c.
per minute at the most. It must thus take at least twenty minutes,
and actually takes a good deal longer, for distinct symptoms to be
produced. During this interval, which will, however, be shorter when
the man is breathing more rapidly in consequence of muscular exertion,
he may advance far into an atmosphere poisonous from the presence of
after-damp, and may consequently be unable to return.
It might be supposed that the presence of any proportion, however
small, of carbonic oxide in air would ultimately prove fatal from
gradual absorption of the gas by the blood. Actually, however, there
is a maximum limit to absorption with any given percentage of carbonic
oxide in air; for although the affinity of hæmoglobin for carbonic
oxide is much stronger than for oxygen, yet if both gases are present,
the hæmoglobin is shared between them in proportion, not only to the
relative strengths of their affinities for hæmoglobin, but also to the
relative percentages present of the two gases. Hence, although the
affinity of carbonic oxide for hæmoglobin is nearly four hundred times
as great as that of oxygen, yet if the percentage of carbonic oxide is
very minute as compared with the percentage of oxygen, only a little of
the hæmoglobin will combine with the carbonic oxide, and consequently
no symptoms of poisoning will be produced, however long the exposure
may be. Thus with less than about .03 per cent. of carbonic oxide in
the air, the blood will never absorb enough of the gas to produce
distinct symptoms; and with less than .2 per cent. life will hardly be
endangered, although very severe symptoms may be produced.
In recovery from carbonic oxide poisoning, the gas is driven out
from the blood through the lungs in consequence of the preponderating
influence of the oxygen of the air; and in the course of several hours
the blood will be again practically free from carbonic oxide. An hour
of breathing fresh air will usually suffice to remove any dangerous
excess of carbonic oxide, but if, as often enough happens in persons
who have been rendered unconscious, the breathing is shallow, a much
longer time may be needed unless artificial respiration has been
employed. Carbonic oxide is not oxidised within the body, so that the
only way in which it can be got rid of is through the lungs. The blood
from which the carbonic oxide has been expelled is in no way injured.
The expulsion of carbonic oxide during recovery from poisoning can be
greatly hastened by the inhalation of pure oxygen, since its influence
in driving out carbonic oxide from the blood is about five times as
great as that of air, which only contains 20.9 per cent. of oxygen.
Inhalation of oxygen has also another and immediate effect, however.
In addition to the oxygen taken up in combination with hæmoglobin, the
blood takes up in the lungs a little oxygen in simple solution, just as
an equal volume of water would do. When pure oxygen is breathed, the
quantity of this dissolved oxygen is increased five times, and is then
sufficient to afford an important immediate supply of oxygen to the
tissues. If an animal be placed in oxygen at two atmospheres’ pressure,
carbonic oxide can be administered without harming it, since although
its hæmoglobin becomes completely saturated with carbonic oxide, its
blood carries enough oxygen in simple solution to support life.
The cause of death in carbonic oxide poisoning can always be determined
by examining a drop of blood taken from the body, and comparing it
with normal blood from a healthy person or an animal. The normal blood
is diluted with water until the tint of the solution appears yellow;
the suspected blood is then diluted until its _depth_ of colour
appears about the same. If death was due to carbonic oxide poisoning
the latter solution will appear pink instead of yellow. By taking
advantage of this difference of tint the percentage saturation of the
hæmoglobin can readily be determined. Death often occurs, however, some
hours or days after removal from the poisonous atmosphere, and in this
case the blood will be free of carbonic oxide. Blood saturated with
carbonic oxide has a red colour similar to that of arterial blood,
hence the lips, cheeks, and other parts of the bodies of men who have
died from carbonic oxide poisoning have often a pink colour similar to
that seen in life.
In consequence of the restricted oxygen supply to the tissues during
prolonged exposure to carbonic oxide, serious changes may be produced
in the brain, heart, and other organs, and as a result of these changes
recovery does not occur at once when the carbonic oxide disappears from
the blood. Unconsciousness may persist, or relapses may occur, and
death is not unfrequent several days after exposure to the poison.
The prompt recognition of the presence of carbonic oxide or after-damp
in air is of much practical importance. As already remarked, the fact
that a lamp continues to burn is no proof of the safety of air in which
after-damp may be present, and elaborate chemical tests are hardly
applicable in ordinary practice. A small warm-blooded animal, such
as a mouse, or perhaps still better a small bird, may, however, be
used to indicate the presence of any dangerous proportion of carbonic
oxide. The oxidation processes in the small animal are enormously
more rapid than in a man: consequently the small animal breathes and
absorbs carbonic oxide much more rapidly. It therefore shows symptoms
of poisoning in a fraction of the time necessary in the case of a man,
although it is only about equally sensitive to a given percentage of
the gas. Hence by watching the animal, timely warning may be obtained
of the presence of enough carbonic oxide to cause danger to life. It
must be remembered, however, that the animal may show no very evident
signs when sufficient carbonic oxide is present to cause very distinct
and unpleasant symptoms in a man, and that these symptoms may be
aggravated to a dangerous extent by muscular exertion, such as that of
hurrying back towards fresh air. Another circumstance which tends to
suddenly intensify the symptoms of carbonic oxide poisoning is exposure
to cold air, and this should be avoided as far as possible with persons
who have begun to feel the effects of the gas.
When a man has been rendered unconscious by exposure to carbonic oxide
or any other suffocative gas, the first thing to do, after his removal
from the contaminated air, is to apply artificial respiration without a
moment’s delay, if the breathing has stopped or is feeble.
_Smoke._--Some of the most disastrous accidents in mines have
been due to the poisonous action of smoke from underground fires.
Fires may occur from an intensification of the spontaneous oxidation
of coal, iron pyrites, cotton waste, etc., from the careless use of
lights, from engines underground, or in consequence of an explosion of
gas setting fire to brattice cloths, igniting blowers of gas, etc. In
any case the occurrence of a fire underground is a source of extreme
danger, especially when the timbering has become ignited. If the fire
occurs on, or spreads to, an intake road the ventilation current
carries the smoke over the mine, killing all those who are unable to
avoid it. Smoke which has travelled some distance in a mine appears
to lose its pungent smell, and deposits the suspended particles which
ordinarily render it visible. This greatly increases the danger, as
there is then nothing to give warning of its presence. Thus in the case
of the Snaefell accident in 1897 a number of men descended into the
shaft without their suspicions being in any way aroused until they had
gone too far to be able to return.
The poisonous constituent of smoke is carbonic oxide. This was
clearly established in the case of the Snaefell accident, where
the timbering had caught fire.[139] A sample of the poisonous air
collected by Mr Williams, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Mines, was found
by the writer to contain 1.1 per cent. of carbonic oxide. Mr Williams
fell over unconscious just after obtaining the sample, and was only
restored through the prompt application of artificial respiration
by his colleague, Mr Jones. Further evidence that carbonic oxide is
the cause of death in underground fires was afforded by the medical
examination of the bodies by Dr Burkitt in the recent fire at Whitwick
Colliery.[140] There can be little doubt that carbonic oxide poisoning
is also one of the most frequent causes of death in fires above ground.
The writer recently examined the body of a man found dead in a sitting
position in a house which was partially burnt in Oxford. Carbonic oxide
poisoning was the cause of death. There were only a few superficial
burns which had apparently been inflicted after death. The smoke from
burning or smouldering wood is particularly dangerous, as the gas
distilled from wood may contain about 30 per cent. of carbonic oxide,
the large proportion of oxygen in wood favouring the production of
carbonic oxide.
As regards the symptoms produced by smoke nothing need be added to what
has already been said under the heading of after-damp.
_White-damp, Gob-stink, Fire-stink._--Under one or other of these
names is included by miners the poisonous gas given off from coal which
has heated from spontaneous oxidation. Some seams of coal, such as
the thick coal in South Staffordshire, or the Bulhurst seam in North
Staffordshire, are particularly liable to heating, which readily occurs
where the coal has become more or less disintegrated. If the coal is
not actually red-hot there may be no distinct smell, and the poisonous
gas would come under the designation of “white-damp.” The name
“gob-stink” is derived from the fact that the heating usually occurs in
the waste coal of a goaf or gob (the area from which the workable coal
has been removed). The origin of the name “white-damp” is less clear.
Practically speaking, white-damp and gob-stink, or fire-stink, have the
same properties as after-damp, and the poisonous constituent is again
carbonic oxide, which the writer has found to be present in various
samples. Occasionally, however, sulphuretted hydrogen is also present
in formidable proportions. The latter gas is extremely poisonous, as
little as .07 per cent. being capable of causing death. Air containing
0.2 per cent. kills warm-blooded animals within one and a half minutes.
Its presence may be detected not only by its characteristic smell of
rotten eggs, but also by the fact that when present in the proportion
of more than about .01 per cent., it causes smarting of the eyes and
general irritation of the air-passages.
_Gases from Explosives._--The gases from some explosives are
extremely poisonous, from the presence in them of carbonic oxide,
sulphuretted hydrogen, or nitric peroxide. In coal mines, when the
ventilation is everywhere good, it seldom happens that there is
trouble from the gases from explosives; but in metalliferous mines and
underground quarries cases of poisoning are not uncommon.
Gunpowder gives off on ignition carbonic acid and nitrogen, along
with a variable, though much smaller, proportion of carbonic oxide
and sulphuretted hydrogen, either or both of which gases may produce
symptoms of poisoning.
Of the “high” explosives, nitro-glycerine, blasting gelatine, and
roburite yield on detonation only carbonic acid and nitrogen, whereas
gun-cotton, tonite, gelignite, and carbonite also give off carbonic
oxide, and therefore require more care when the ventilation is
defective.
The most serious accidents in mines from gases from explosives have
been due to the accidental burning of high explosives, such as
dynamite or gun-cotton. When substances of this class burn quietly
instead of detonating, nearly the whole of the nitrogen is given off
as nitric oxide (NO) instead of as free nitrogen. The nitric oxide at
once combines with the oxygen of the air to form nitric peroxide, which
is a very dangerous gas. Even when a charge is detonated for blasting
purposes it may happen, particularly with badly made or roughly
handled explosives, that part burns quietly and forms nitric peroxide.
The latter is an irritant gas, but when sufficiently diluted may be
breathed for some time without the person exposed to it being aware
of his danger. Under such circumstances bronchitis of a very acute
character is apt to occur after a few hours, and death often results.
In the gold mines in India and the Transvaal, accidents involving the
loss of as many as twenty men at a time have sometimes occurred in this
way from dynamite catching fire underground, and serious injury to
health may easily be caused by the fumes of imperfectly detonated high
explosives where the ventilation is bad.
JOHN HALDANE.
CHAPTER XXXIX
QUARRIES
_Introduction._--Man is essentially a builder, and Nature has
prepared for him material in abundance and rich variety. Quarrying or
stone-getting is an occupation of great antiquity. Its early records
are evidenced in the relics of man’s labour in prehistoric days.
Through all the ages human ingenuity and skill have been at work
freeing the closely-fettered rocks and fashioning them for uprising.
A thorough investigation of our subject would make an acquaintance with
geology and practical mechanics desirable, but in the present article
it will only be possible to deal with the matter in its immediate
relation to health, and its public importance will be evident when it
is remembered that something like 94,000 individuals are engaged in
connection with quarries in the British Isles alone.[141]
_Definitions._--A quarry (L.O.F. _quarrière_, F. _carrière_, L.L.
_quadraria_, _quadratus_) is an excavation, pit, or place from which
stone or rock material is separated by digging, cutting, blasting, or
similar processes.
For legal requirements a quarry is defined as: “A place in which
persons work in getting slate, stone, coprolites, or other minerals,
and any part of which is more than 20 feet deep.”[142]
It will be readily seen that the depth limit in the legal definition
introduces a factor which goes far to lessen a proper application of
the law, and it is desirable that such restriction should be abandoned.
_Varieties of Quarries._--Quarries vary greatly in respect to
their size, depth, and the nature of the material worked. In some
instances the quarry is superficial in its extent, readily accessible
and easily worked from the surface. In other cases the quarry is deep,
can be reached only by shafts or ladders, and its working necessitates
elaborate means for the elevation and removal of the materials when
separated from the native rock. Of the stones quarried for building
purposes we may distinguish: 1. Enduring stones, which are used for the
major part of the structure; 2. Shaping stones, which are principally
utilised for ornamentation.
Of quarried materials the uses may be exceedingly varied, chalk being
worked for the making of lime, china-clay for the purpose of pottery,
graphite for pencil manufacture, and so on.
Quarries are perhaps best classified according to the nature of the
rock they yield. We can distinguish the following:--
Alabaster
Basalt or Whinstone
Brickearth
Chalk
Chert
China-clay
Clay
Flint
Freestone
Graphite
Gravel
Gypsum
Limestone
Marl
Porphyry
Sand
Sandstone
Shale
Serpentine
Slate
Of each of the above class of quarry much might be said, would space
allow, concerning: (_a_) geological character of the rock; (_b_)
localities where the various forms of quarry are to be found; (_c_)
uses of the quarried materials; (_d_) special methods of working
employed in some of the quarries; and (_e_) particular dangers
connected with certain forms of quarry. But for the purposes of this
article it will be desirable to deal with the subject in its general
aspects only.
_Methods of Working._--In early days men were content to labour
patiently with primitive methods and inadequate tools. The modern use
of explosives, and the introduction of various mechanical contrivances,
have, however, done much to accelerate the getting of stone: and such
measures have led to accidents and conditions inimical to health.
The methods of quarrying and the operations immediately concerned
therewith may be grouped under:--(_a_) Mechanical, or the application
of various mechanical contrivances; (_b_) Blasting, or the use of
explosives.
In spite, however, of the introduction of machinery and explosives,
it would seem that the risk of accidents and exposure to conditions
detrimental to health have not been very appreciably increased,
although, of course, the process of quarrying has been greatly
facilitated, and such works extended. In most quarries, both in this
country and abroad, the wedge and hammer are still the chief agents
employed in the getting of stone. For rocks in levels or distinct
seams, as in the case of the millstone grit, probably the wedges afford
the best methods. A procedure called the “plug and feather” method, and
working on the principle of the incline plane, is sometimes employed.
According to an ancient procedure, after the hole was drilled, dry wood
was inserted, and the expansion after moistening with water employed to
split the rock. Another custom was to fill the bore-hole with quicklime
and water.
Explosives are, however, extensively employed, and their use proves
fruitful as a source of accidents. In many quarries with stone in flat
layers, after boring the holes by hand, or the aid of machinery, only
sufficient explosive is used to split but not to break or shatter the
rock, its further separation being accomplished by wedge and hammer.
Blasting is commonly used for all rocks not found in seams, and hence
explosives are largely employed in granite and marble quarries. In
slate quarries also, especially in Wales, blasting would seem to be the
favourite method.
Among the more important explosives used in quarry work are the
following:--
Blasting gelatine
Dynamite
Fulminate of mercury
Gelatine dynamite
Gelignite
Gunpowder
Roburite
Tonite
_Pathology._--The quarryman, from the nature of his work and the
circumstances under which it has to be carried on, is necessarily
exposed to influences which may (1) excite or (2) predispose to morbid
conditions, and in not a few cases it is difficult, if not impossible,
to sharply distinguish between them.
The pathological lesions resulting from the action of the causal agents
may be best considered under the customary headings of (1) Accidents,
and (2) Disease.
_Etiology._--The exciting agents may be classified according to
their nature into:--(1) Mechanical; (2) Thermal; (3) Chemical; (4)
Electrical; (5) Biological.
The predisposing agents act by (1) influencing the condition of the
individual, and (2) by modifying the character of his environment.
Without entering into details we may simply enumerate such points as
heredity, sex, period of life, constitution, temperament and previous
disease, as modifying the health tendencies of the individual; while
climate, social standing, education, form of occupation, and habits are
all influential in modifying the environment.
Of accidents occurring in connection with quarries, a study of the
published returns will show that these may be best considered as to
whether they arise (1) inside, or (2) outside the quarry proper.
Quarry accidents may thus be grouped:--
1. _Those which occur inside the quarries_--
(1) From falls of ground and detachment of rock. Such may occur
(_a_) from beyond, or (_b_) at the person’s own working place.
(2) By blasting. Accidents are here particularly liable to occur
(_a_) while charging or tamping, (_b_) from stones projected
by shots, (_c_) from miss-fires.
(3) During descent or ascent to a deep-seated quarry, accidents may
arise from (_a_) falling from paths, steps, or ladders, while
climbing; or even (_b_) when ascending or descending by machinery.
(4) Accidents may also arise from a miscellaneous group of causes,
such, for instance, as--
The breaking of ropes or chains, the mismanagement of machinery, boiler
explosions; in connection with inclined and engine planes, railways,
tramways, or sidings, from falling from ledges, or by injury with the
ordinary quarry implements.
2. _Those which occur outside the quarries_--
The chief of these arise in connection with machinery, from the use
of hot liquid or molten metal, by boiler explosions, from the escape
of gas, steam, or metal, on inclined and engine planes, railways,
tramways, or sidings.
It will thus be seen that the accidents arise chiefly from mechanical
agencies, or from the misuse of explosives. Thermal causes lead to
burns and scalds. As electricity comes into more general use, injuries
from this agent are likely to be met with.
The dangers from mechanical conditions depend upon: (1) the situation
and material of the quarries; (2) the implements and machinery used.
Dangers in connection with the use of explosives arise: (1) while
conveying explosives; (2) during the thawing of explosives; (3) from
changing or stemming holes; (4) allowing access of sparks from lamp
or candle; (5) by the use of iron or steel tools, or by using wooden,
brass, or copper tools; (6) premature explosions are liable to arise
from the use of squibs or straws, and sometimes from the so-called
safety fuse; (7) delayed explosions; (8) unramming shots; (9) blows
from stones projected by shots.
Exceptional accidents may also arise, as, for instance, where an
acetylene gas apparatus used in the quarry work suddenly exploded.
The nature and extent of the injuries met with in quarrying vary
greatly. Burns and scalds may occur from contact with the boilers and
steam appliances used in many large quarries. Contusions of greater or
less severity are necessarily common. Crushes may arise from falling
rock or entanglement in machinery. Dislocation of joints sometimes
occurs from falls or similar accidents. Eye injuries are somewhat
common from granite chips or particles of steel, and they also occur
where dressing of stone is carried out at the quarries. Fractures arise
from falls and the giving of the ground. Lacerations, superficial or
deep, and involving skin and muscular structures, arise not only in
connection with the actual quarrying, but in the use of the machinery
which is now so frequent in large quarries. Sprains are not uncommon
in connection with falls and the like. Wounds may arise from various
circumstances, and may be of any degree of severity.
_Diseases._--After having made extensive inquiries with a view to
ascertain the extent of actual disease which may be fairly considered
as incidental to quarrying, we are drawn to the conclusion that such
work, generally speaking, is not necessarily detrimental to health.
The medical officers and managers of most of the large quarries from
whom we have sought information are decisive in considering quarrying,
as usually carried out in this country, a fairly healthy occupation.
Of course quarry-workers are liable to many of the ailments to which
all labourers are more or less prone, and their habits and social
customs are not always such as to maintain a high degree of physical
vigour.
Unfortunately, in many parts the quarrymen are thriftless and drunken.
Their homes also are often ill-built and ill-kept. A neglect of habits
of cleanliness is, in many instances, only too apparent. In some parts
of the country the quarrymen are of poor physique, which arises,
according to local opinion, from too early marriage, intermarriage,
excessive tea-drinking, and poor diet.
We find that in some rather isolated districts, for instance in
Cornwall, there is considerable intermarriage among the workers, and
some believe that this affords a factor of importance in connection
with the development of phthisis.
That quarrying is by no means a dangerous employment to health is
evidenced by the fact that in many quarry districts old men abound,
many of whom work until over eighty years of age.
We have made particular inquiries regarding workers in limestone, but
even those who are engaged as burners and dressers of the lime seem to
experience no detriment to health, many having worked all their lives
without complaint. Indeed, we learn that at one justly celebrated
lime-works, delicate lads have been sent to work at drawing lime,
and have materially improved in their general health. The fact that
quarrying is necessarily carried on out-of-doors of itself makes for
physical vigour.
Even where dressing is carried out in the immediate vicinity of the
quarry, the sheds are frequently of such a character as to allow of
free natural ventilation, and the ready carrying away of dust almost as
quickly as it is formed. In many places the cutting is done quite in
the open and with no protection whatever.
Brief reference may be made to some of the more important pathological
conditions which, arising in quarry-workers, may be considered as
ætiologically associated with the nature of their labour.
_Affections of the Respiratory Organs._--Lesions in connection
with the lungs and air-passages have long and rightly been considered
the more particular accompaniment of work associated with the
production of dust. But in most forms of quarrying the amount of dust
and its means of access to the respiratory tract must be considered so
limited that serious pulmonary disease is quite the exception.
Where, however, in connection with quarry-works there is also
extensive dressing of soft material like sandstone, or the preparation
of material giving rise to such irritating particles as granite,
changes in the bronchi and lungs are liable to occur. The bronchi
then become the seat of an excessive formation of mucus, and it may
be that a catarrhal process is established which may progress to a
chronic bronchitis, to which will sooner or later be added the usually
associated conditions.
The lungs may absorb more or less of the dust particles which, becoming
deposited in the inter-alveolar and sub-pleural lymphatics, or arrested
in the bronchial glands, give a greater or less degree of pigmentation
to the lung (pneumoconiosis). Should, however, as is very likely, the
particles of stone-dust produce marked irritation, the reaction of the
tissues will lead to the formation of fibrous tissue which may not
only lessen the function of the lungs as blood-aërating organs, but
predispose them to the invasion of the tubercle bacillus.
Quarry workers would appear to be but little predisposed to
tuberculosis, and doubtless the outdoor character of the work greatly
militates against the liability to infection.
_Cardio-Vascular Disease._--The laborious and oftentimes straining
character of the work seems to be influential, at least to some extent,
in initiating and perpetuating states of arterial degeneration, leading
to or associated with cardiac enfeeblement. It is very doubtful,
however, if atheroma and cardiac involvement occur more frequently in
quarrymen than in the sedentary and intellectual workers of the present
day, in whom cardio-vascular regressive changes are only too common.
Indeed, even when cardiac and arterial degeneration is met with in
quarry workers there seems reason to believe that it is more often due
to alcoholic indulgence and other irregular habits than to the nature
and character of the work.
_Cutaneous Lesions._--The skin frequently shows evidence of
exposure to wind and weather and scars from the war with rocks.
_Digestive Disturbances._--The lack of suitable food, irrational
indulgence in tea, or excessive use of alcohol, not infrequently leads
to digestive derangements.
We learn that in consequence of dietetic ignorance in some of the Welsh
quarries, constipation, dyspepsia, hæmorrhoids and hepatic disorders
are common.
_Ear Affections._--It might be thought that the constant vibration
from the use of the hammer and the employment of explosives might prove
detrimental to hearing, but such seems not to be the case.
_Eye Affections._--Injuries to the eyes have already been
referred to and are often serious, but inflammatory or other morbid
processes in the eye are not of frequent occurrence. The action of the
sunlight on some of the light coloured and strongly reflecting rocks
may occasionally produce conjunctivitis, but, generally speaking, the
powers of vision of the quarryman would not seem to be inferior to that
of the ordinary labourer.
_Osteo-arthritis_, whatever may be the nature of its pathology,
certainly affects some of the quarrymen, especially when getting into
advanced life, but they are apparently not more liable than other
labourers. _Rheumatism_, more particularly in its so-called
chronic and muscular forms, may affect quarrymen, and is generally
credited as arising from exposure to damp and cold, which of necessity
during a considerable part of the year forms the daily portion of most
quarrymen in this country. Dupuytren’s contraction of the palmar fascia
and contiguous structures may also be met with.
_Septic Infection._--Considering the frequency of injuries and the
unsatisfactory methods of treating the same, it is surprising that more
cases of serious septic infection do not occur.
_Tetanus._--A quarryman, just like any other labourer,
occasionally contracts tetanus, but infection is quite exceptional.
_Legal Provisions._--Very rightly the working of quarries is under
strict supervision and controlled by legal enactments.
The chief Acts directing their management are:--
1. Quarries Act, 1894.
This empowers the application to quarries of certain provisions of
the Metalliferous Mines Regulations Acts, 1872 and 1875, and the
Metalliferous Mines (Isle of Man) Act, 1891, and arranges that the
Inspectors under the Metalliferous Mines Regulations Acts, 1872 and
1875, shall be Inspectors of the Quarries under this Act. This Act
applies to all quarries 20 feet or more in depth.
2. Metalliferous Mines Regulations Acts, 1872, 1875, 35 and 36 Vict.,
cap. 77, 38 and 39 Vict., cap. 39; and Metalliferous Mines Regulations
Acts (Isle of Man Act) 1891, 54 and 55 Vict., cap. 47, make certain
provisions which also apply to quarries.
3. The Factory and Workshop Acts, 1878 and 1891. These Acts apply
also to quarries, and there have also been introduced certain
modifications in the working of the same. Since 1898 brick and other
works in connection with quarries have come under the jurisdiction of
Inspectors of Factories. This explains why of recent years the number
of individuals returned as engaged in work outside the actual pit,
hole, or excavation has often been less than formerly.
4. Quarry (Fencing) Act, 1887. This provides that where any quarry
dangerous to the public is in open or unenclosed land within fifty
yards of a highway or place of public resort dedicated to the public,
and is not separated therefrom by a secure and sufficient fence, it
shall be kept reasonably fenced for the prevention of accident, and
unless so kept shall be deemed to be a nuisance liable to be dealt with
summarily in manner provided by the Public Health Act, 1875.
Actual getting of clay in case of brickworks is under the Inspector of
Quarries, but in the making of clay-ware under the Factory and Workshop
Act, the local Inspector of Factories exercises supervision.
Where washing and dressing of quarried material takes place adjacent to
the quarry, the Inspector of Quarries acts as a Factory and Workshop
Inspector under the Factory and Workshop Acts.
It may be well to point out that there is much need that the legal
definition of a quarry should be amended by abandoning the depth limit.
It is also well to state that even in the case of small quarries,
where only one or two men may be employed, and the stone removed only
for such purposes as road repair, the place is nevertheless a quarry,
and legal enactments must apply. Explosives may be employed only in
accordance with the Explosives Act.
In many indirect ways legislative measures have of recent years
accomplished much in lessening the dangers of quarrying. Thus the
passing of the Workmen’s Compensation Act has led in many districts
to much greater care and supervision being exercised. For instance,
in some quarries it is now forbidden to bring alcoholic drinks into
the quarries during working hours, although formerly it was no unusual
thing to find a lad whose chief work was the fetching of beer for the
workmen.
The Boiler Explosives Act will also, of course, apply to cases
occurring in connection with quarry works.
The systematic examination of boilers is a measure likely to avail much
in lessening the occurrence of boiler explosions.
The Employers’ Liability Act also applies to quarry proprietors.
With regard to further restrictions, it may be pointed out that the
Quarry Fencing Act, which applies to quarries on unenclosed land
within fifty yards of the highway might be well extended in its scope,
so as to provide protection to the public from the only too common
abandoned quarries.
It is also very necessary that those responsible for the conduct of a
quarry should insist on the strict enforcement of rules. An abstract of
the Quarries Act and Special Rules should be printed on enamelled iron
and placed in a conspicuous position in the works. It is of particular
importance that well understood signals be always used in connection
with blasting.
_Prophylaxis and Treatment._--Although quarrying as now conducted
must be considered a comparatively safe and fairly healthy occupation,
there yet remains much to be done to ensure the carrying on of such
work with the minimum of risk and the maximum of efficiency.
Unless constant care is exercised and rigorous inspection carried out,
the results of ignorance and neglect are soon made apparent.
1. _Preventive Measures._--These may be considered as they are
formulated and carried out by (_a_) the State, (_b_) the
Employer, (_c_) the Workman.
(_a_) The State has recognised the risks and dangers incidental
to quarrying, and legislation has to a great extent limited the
dangers arising from neglect and ignorance. The annual publications
of the Reports of the Inspectors and the occasional prosecution of
law-neglecting proprietors give evidence that the enforcement of the
law is in many districts satisfactory, but it may be freely admitted
that further measures of control and increased activity in surveyance
would do much to lessen the accidents still only too common in quarries.
(_b_) The workmen should be well housed and offered inducements to
live rationally and act hygienically. Where possible, baths should be
available. Education in the elements of hygiene should be encouraged.
(_c_) The workman can do much to maintain and retain his own
health. His clothing should be suitable to the form of his work and the
nature of the climate. His diet should be nutritious and appropriate
to the laborious character of his work. Suitable recreation should be
afforded, and temperance and thrift practised. Steps to provide against
accidents, sickness, strikes, and old age will be taken by a thrifty
and thoughtful workman.
A wise workman realises that his best protection lies in his own
intelligence and experience, and no rules or superintendence can
relieve him of his own personal responsibility.
2. _Treatment of Accidents and Ailments occurring in
Quarries._--The workmen engaged in quarries should be trained in the
methods of rendering “first aid” in cases of accident and illness, and
dressings, bandages, splints, and suitable appliances should always be
available.
In most large quarries a medical officer exercises a certain amount of
general inspection as regards hygiene measures, often holds ambulance
classes, and attends in case of accident or sudden illness.
JOHN BROWN.
T. N. KELYNACK.
CHAPTER XL
THE CHEMICAL TRADES
_Introductory Remarks._--Under the title of the chemical trades a
very large number of industries must be included which vary widely in
the conditions under which the manufacturing operations are carried on.
Nor must sight be lost of the great variety of chemicals used in the
arts. For instance, in the department of pure chemicals and drugs for
medical purposes, we find manufacturers who are engaged in producing
small quantities of these substances, with the greatest precautions
for cleanliness and care in the details of manufacture. These articles
may be manufactured in small vessels by the pound weight at a time.
At the other end of the industry we find the manufacture of such
chemicals as are used in very large quantities carried on by tons.
The whole conditions of such a manufacturing process are necessarily
quite different, and we find laboratory fittings replaced by enormous
machinery and great furnaces working under open sheds and turning
out large quantities of material. It is therefore impossible to deal
adequately with an industry of this description, or to give anything
approaching a complete survey of the different conditions of employment
found in it.
Furthermore, we have allied to the chemical trade others closely
resembling it. It is, for instance, a mere arbitrary distinction to
separate the manufacture of pigments from that of chemicals, as many
of the pigments used at the present day are made by means of chemical
processes carried on under similar conditions, and the workmen engaged
in these are exposed to similar risks and dangers. The white lead
industry, for example, is merely a process of chemical manufacture,
although for convenience it is regarded as an industry by itself. There
are other industries in which the danger to health in using certain
chemicals is even more serious than it is to those actually engaged
in their manufacture. For instance, it seems to be far more dangerous
to dip match heads in the composition containing small quantities of
phosphorus than it is to manufacture phosphorus itself, and many cases
occur where lead poisoning results from the use of chemicals containing
lead. The greatest danger seems to be for those who are continuously
engaged in handling these substances in small quantities rather than
for those who deal with the manufacture in bulk. It is evident, then,
that as a matter of convenient classification we must strictly limit
the meaning of the words “chemical trades.”
Dealing purely with the manufacture of chemicals themselves, we may, I
think, lay down this general principle, that there is not necessarily
any danger to the workman in manufacturing the most poisonous
substances, if reasonable precautions are taken. Most chemicals are
made by a wet process, and are crystallised or precipitated from the
solutions, and therefore the danger from the inhaling of poisonous dust
is not present. If deleterious gases are evolved, suitable arrangements
can be made for preventing them escaping into the laboratory: moreover,
we find that firms engaged in the manufacture of fine chemicals usually
prepare a great variety of substances, so that the workmen are not
always engaged upon the same process, and the risk of accumulated
poisoning is diminished.
The experience of scientific chemists in their own laboratories goes to
show that for many years experiments may be carried on with the most
dangerous substances, including gases of a poisonous nature, and that
they may work day after day in an atmosphere frequently loaded with
the fumes of strong acids and other substances, and yet not suffer
any serious damage. In the manufacture of miscellaneous chemicals and
drugs conducted on a comparatively small scale, there is no reason,
I believe, to look for any serious difficulty in making the work
perfectly healthy. Good ventilation and obvious precautions are all
that are really necessary. But when we come to consider the manufacture
of certain chemicals in very large quantities, then we find conditions
which make it very difficult to protect the workmen from injurious
consequences. The heaviest part of the chemical trade is that devoted
to the manufacture of hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, carbonate of
soda, caustic soda, and bleaching powder. These chemicals are usually
made in one establishment, as part of one process, or in establishments
closely allied to each other, and we shall find that there are three
distinct methods of producing some, at any rate, of these chemicals.
_The Le Blanc Process._--To deal first with the process by which
all these substances can be manufactured, and which is the oldest
and still the most important, we shall consider in some detail the
manufacture known as the Le Blanc process, which is carried on in this
country by the United Alkali Company and others. We shall find that the
manufacturing processes necessitate the workman being exposed to the
weather in open sheds, and that he is carrying on operations involving
considerable bodily exertion before furnaces, and is exposed to various
deleterious gases. Probably the fact that his work is carried on in
open sheds, while making him more liable to sudden chills after working
before the furnaces, is, on the whole, beneficial, as he is supplied
in this way with fresh air. In fact it would be impossible to carry on
many of the operations under any other conditions. As has been shown
by statistics, the agricultural labourer, in spite of his exposure to
inclement weather, has the longest life of any class of workmen. We may
say, then, that the chemical worker, as his employment is practically
an outdoor one, has this much to the good; but we cannot compare the
air which he breathes in the chemical works with that which is breathed
on the country farm.
The processes of Le Blanc manufacture are as follows: The first is
the production of sulphate of soda or salt cake. This is produced by
acting upon common salt with sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol. We shall
have to consider the conditions of the manufacture of sulphuric acid
itself, but it will be simpler in the meantime to assume that we have
sulphuric acid supplied to us. Its manufacture is usually carried on in
the same works in which the salt cake is made. The sulphuric acid and
salt are heated on the bed of a furnace, and are raked and moved about
by the man in charge, until the decomposition of the salt is complete,
and it has been converted into sulphate of soda. During this process
torrents of hydrochloric acid gas are set free from the mass, and are
drawn away from the furnace by means of a Root’s blower or some similar
contrivance.
The hydrochloric acid gas has a suffocating and irritating effect when
breathed, and if present in any considerable quantities in the air,
makes it quite impossible for any one to stand the suffocation and
irritation produced. Even in smaller quantities the irritation of the
air-passages is so great that it must in course of time prove injurious
to the workmen. If we could obtain an ideal system, there seems to be
no reason why workmen should be exposed at all to this irritating gas.
The furnaces are, of course, arched in, and the gas is drawn off as it
is generated. The main danger of exposure to the gas comes when the
workman rakes the salt cake from the furnace into barrows, for removal
to the next operation. Here a considerable improvement has been made of
late years. The salt cake is raked into an iron box, which is connected
to the furnace draught, so that the gases are drawn away while the salt
cake cools, and the box is not removed from this position until by this
means most of the fumes of acid have been given off.
Notwithstanding these improvements, hydrochloric acid gas is found
to be present more or less in the neighbourhood of these furnaces.
The state of repair in the furnaces themselves, the condition of the
weather, the amount of moisture in the air, the successful working of
the acid towers, the rate at which the workman is trying to get out his
material, and consequently not allowing it to cool properly in the iron
box--all these conditions are present, and any of them may result in
the presence of a certain amount of gas. It is only necessary to be in
a town like St Helens on a moist evening to realise the fact that from
these various chemical works large quantities of hydrochloric acid and
other gases are evidently escaping.
In order to protect himself to a certain extent from the hydrochloric
acid, the workman either wears a flannel muffler tied over his face,
or he bites a piece of flannel between his teeth and breathes through
it. The fumes of acid quickly cause the teeth to rot away, and it has
been suggested that this biting of the flannel, which gets full of
acid, is one of the main causes of the rotting of the teeth. I have no
evidence, however, on this point. My impression is that the rotting
away of the teeth will take place whether flannel is held between the
teeth or is wrapped over the mouth. Besides being exposed more or less
to hydrochloric acid gas, the man is also working before a furnace
door, in an open shed, and his work is of a very heavy character, so
that he usually wears a minimum of clothes and perspires freely. He is
thus exposed to constant chills, and to the risk of developing some
pulmonary disease.
The custom of the chemical trade is to divide all work of this
character into shifts of twelve hours each, though as a matter of
convenience the workmen sometimes arrange to take shifts of eleven and
thirteen hours. During the twelve hours the workman is supposed to have
sufficient time for his meals, but he does not leave his furnace; his
food is brought to him, and he so arranges his work that he is able,
to get his meal while waiting for the next operation to take place.
His work at the furnace is not absolutely continuous. It would be
impossible for any human being to carry on such heavy muscular labour
continuously. He has to watch the materials, to stir them and rake them
about at the proper intervals, and to remove the charge when completed,
and to distribute a new charge in the furnace. But as the method of
payment universally adopted in the chemical trade is by the quantity
of material turned out, he is naturally anxious to turn out as much
as possible, and he produces with considerable regularity the same
quantity of stuff from day to day.
The amount of labour involved in this would be impossible to a muscular
man who had not been trained to it. The mere exposure to heat would
make it very difficult. But it must not be supposed, that because a
man going to this work for the first time would find the labour and
the heat involved quite intolerable that it is so to the salt cake
worker. The extraordinary power of adaptation which we find in the
human subject enables him to carry out these arduous operations with
comparative ease, and so far does this adaptation go, that the men
working beside him, whose business it is to wheel barrow loads of the
weighed chemicals to the furnace door, can wheel barrows all day, but
could not carry out the furnace operations; while the furnaceman, if
put into the yard, where he has general labouring work to do, will be
found at first very unfit for such toil, and will do the best he can to
get back to his furnace work again.
Besides the long hours involved, the exposure to the heat of the
furnaces tends to make such men heavy drinkers, and I think it is the
universal experience in the chemical trade that such is the case. I
believe that inquiry would show that the quantity of alcoholic liquor
that one of these men can take, without any apparent injurious effects,
is extraordinary. In the end these drinking habits tell, and the result
is that the health of the workman rapidly breaks down.
We have then four conditions which are acting prejudicially--exposure
to the fumes of an irritating gas, exposure to high temperature from
the furnaces, exposure to cold and chills working in an open shed, and
the tendency to drink heavily when away from work. I have described
these conditions in considerable detail, because the work at the salt
cake furnace is so similar to that carried on in many other operations
in chemical works, that it may be taken as fairly typical. The men
employed in this industry are very largely Irish labourers. If they are
not of Irish extraction, they are principally country labourers from
the surrounding districts. The comparatively high wages earned are, of
course, a temptation. A man may change from salt cake to a black ash
furnace, but he is still engaged in similar operations. The work is
of so peculiar a character, that a man who has once got adapted to it
is not suited for other purposes. When no longer fit for so arduous a
task, we may find him employed in odd jobs about the yard, acting as a
night watchman, or performing some of the many miscellaneous jobs that
require to be attended to in chemical works.
In the earlier inquiries into the effect on health of this and other
processes in the chemical trade, very different opinions were expressed
as to whether the operations which these men had to carry on, while
undoubtedly of a disagreeable character, had really a serious effect
upon their health. I shall not discuss this at the present stage, but I
think it is proved, in spite of the difficulties, which I shall refer
to later on, of obtaining definite statistics on this point, that the
injury to health is of a definite and serious character. I shall also
reserve for general discussion the question as to the long hours of
labour, and how far that may be dealt with and improved.
The salt cake after it leaves the furnace is mixed with limestone and
coal in a black ash furnace. After being heated and stirred in this
furnace for a sufficient length of time, it is poured out in a molten
condition, wheeled away to cool, is broken up, and the soda dissolved
from it in the black ash vats. This operation of decomposing the salt
cake used to be carried on in furnaces worked by hand. Such furnaces
have practically disappeared, and with their disappearance a form of
labour as arduous as the work of the salt cake man has also gone.
Large revolving mechanical furnaces are now used for this operation,
and although the labour of tending these furnaces is arduous, yet the
conditions are very much improved upon those which prevailed in the old
days. No fumes result in this operation, so that the workman is not
exposed to deleterious gases.
After the soda has been dissolved it is subjected to various processes,
according to the product which may be required. It may be converted
into soda ash, into soda crystals, and into caustic soda. All these
operations involve boiling, furnacing, and similar processes, but there
is nothing to be said about them of special interest, except the final
operation in the manufacture of caustic soda.
In order to make caustic soda, the liquors, after treatment with lime,
are evaporated in large cast-iron cauldrons some 15 feet in diameter.
As the liquor gets more and more concentrated, the temperature
keeps rising, until finally the cauldron is full of red-hot caustic
soda, which when it is finished is bailed into iron drums and there
solidifies and is ready for sale. These great cauldrons of red-hot
caustic are, of course, dangerous, as the substance will produce very
serious injuries, if by any accident it gets out of the pot, while a
drop of water will cause it to spurt, and other accidents may happen,
causing similar spurting of this liquid. We find accordingly that burns
are apt to happen in the caustic shop, although they are seldom of a
serious character, and occasionally men have lost their lives from
slipping and falling into the caustic pot.
Some of these cases were discussed in the inquiry which was made in
1893 into the chemical trades, and certain precautions were suggested
for preventing such accidents in future, and were embodied in the
special rules. The most important of these was taking care that the top
of the pot should be at least 3 feet in height above the ground, and
that the brickwork should slope to the top, and should have no ledges
upon it where the workman could place his foot.
But while the manufacture of caustic may and does lead to accidents,
there is nothing in the actual process of manufacture itself which
seems to be injurious to the workman, beyond the exposure to heat and
cold. The work of the caustic finisher is not nearly so continuous or
so arduous as that of the furnaceman. He is usually highly paid, and
requires to be a man of considerable skill, for the turning out of a
white caustic of a high strength depends upon long experience, as well
as great care in its manufacture.
The next process to be considered is the manufacture of bleaching
powder from the hydrochloric acid which was given off during the
operations in the salt cake furnace. In practice there are two ways
of dealing with this substance, with the view to producing chlorine
gas, from which bleaching powder is prepared. Either the hydrochloric
acid is decomposed in large stone-covered vessels, known as stills, by
means of manganese mud, the chlorine gas evolved being carried away
through suitable pipes to the bleaching chambers; or the hydrochloric
acid gas is passed direct from the salt cake furnace, and without
condensation is mixed with proper proportions of air and steam; it is
then decomposed by being brought into contact with specially prepared
material, and the chlorine gas liberated. The first process is known
as the Weldon process, and chlorine gas produced by decomposition of
hydrochloric acid and manganese mud is known as Weldon gas. The second
process is known as the Deacon’s process, and the gas is called Deacon
gas.
I have mentioned both these processes because the method of preparing
chlorine makes a considerable difference in the way in which bleach is
prepared from gas. In order to prepare bleaching powder we must expose
freshly slaked lime to the gas. The lime will then absorb the chlorine
gas, forming a compound known as bleaching powder, from which chlorine
can be very readily evolved, mere exposure to air and carbonic acid gas
being sufficient to cause a slight decomposition to go on.
It is a matter of great importance to the manufacturer to get as high
a percentage of available chlorine into every ton of bleaching powder
that he sells as he can, as the buyer of bleaching powder naturally
objects to paying carriage on a weak article.
As bleach is always slightly decomposing and losing in strength, it
becomes specially important for export purposes, where it may be
exposed to long voyages, to make it as strong as possible before it is
sent away. We have then the production of an unstable compound, which
can only be prepared at full strength, say 38 per cent., by taking
great care in the conditions of manufacture, a compound which is always
slightly decomposing, and which, if the conditions of manufacture
are only slightly altered, will possibly lose rather than gain in
strength in the final stages of its manufacture. For example, in order
to be able to meet the competition from the Continent and America,
it is necessary to turn out this product at as high a percentage of
strength as possible. The bleach below 35 per cent. in strength is not
saleable, except at a very reduced price, while bleach of 38 per cent.
strength is considered to be of the highest quality. It is a matter of
the utmost importance to the manufacturer to obtain this 2 or 3 per
cent. of strength. Many of those who have discussed the manufacture
of bleach, and have talked of improved mechanical processes, have not
realised how difficult and delicate a business the production of bleach
of full strength really is. These facts should be kept in mind when the
chemical manufacturer is condemned for what is called his crude and
old-fashioned methods of making this article.
If we are going to make bleach from Weldon gas, we are dealing with
gas which contains a very high percentage of pure chlorine, and,
consequently, the conditions for successful manufacture are quite
different from those prevailing in the case of Deacon gas, in which
we have only some 7 per cent. of chlorine present. The manufacture of
bleach from Weldon gas is carried on to-day as it has always been, by
spreading lime over the floors of chambers, which are at the present
time usually made of lead, and passing the gas into these chambers,
and allowing it to be absorbed by the lime. These lead chambers are of
varying size, but are usually about 100 feet long, 30 feet broad, and
about 6 feet high. The lime is spread over the floor, and is made up
into ridges by means of a wooden rake. The doors are closed and the
chlorine gas is allowed to enter. The absorption process is carried
on for two or three days. During that time the lime is taking up the
chlorine gas, and forming the compound which we call bleaching powder.
Samples are withdrawn from time to time, the supply of fresh gas is
stopped, and the lime is allowed to continue absorbing the gas still
remaining upon it in the chamber. When this operation has gone as far
as it can, and the bleach has reached full strength, then the chamber
is again connected to another chamber, containing fresh lime, and this
second chamber is then connected to a pipe and subjected to a gentle
suction so as to cause a slight current from chamber No. 1 to chamber
No. 2. The doors of the first chamber are now slightly opened, so as
to admit a little air, and the remaining chlorine gas is then gently
drawn off into the chamber which is freshly limed, while air passes
in and takes its place. The doors are then thrown wide open, and free
admission of air is allowed. The chamber cools, and the greater part of
the gas is removed; but complete removal of the gas is not practicable,
as the powder itself is always slightly decomposing, and if left long
enough on the chamber floor would soon cease to be saleable bleach.
The quantity of gas which may be left in the chamber when the bleach
is packed has been laid down in the Act of Parliament dealing with
injurious gases from chemical works, and the works’ chemist is expected
to test the air in the chamber and enter the result in a book which is
inspected from time to time by the Alkali Inspector. These inspectors
are not appointed under the Factory Acts. Their function is to prevent
the escape of injurious gases which may injure neighbouring property.
It must be remembered, however, that the bleach is always decomposing,
and in summer weather the decomposition of the bleach is going on very
rapidly, and unless it is packed with great promptitude it will lose
in strength, while, on the other hand, the fact of this decomposition
going on makes the work of packing more disagreeable.
The method of packing is as follows:--The bleach packer wraps his face
in roll upon roll of flannel, the flannel being drawn over his mouth
and leaving the nostrils free. These layers of flannel stand out some
three inches beyond his face, and have to be of just the right dampness
to prevent the gas reaching his lungs. He then puts on leather goggles
to protect his eyes, and ties a piece of paper round his trousers to
keep the bleach from attacking them. He then enters the bleach chamber
and rapidly shovels the powder through holes made in the floor. Under
these holes are shoots down into the casks which are underneath the
bleaching chamber, and a covering is attached to the shoot and tied
round the sides of the cask, preventing the bleach from escaping as it
goes down. In this way the bleach is packed.
This operation of bleach packing is the most disagreeable to which the
man in charge of the bleach is subjected. The chlorine rises from the
bleach as it is disturbed, and it would be impossible for any one to
remain for a few seconds in a bleach chamber unless he was protected
from breathing the gas in the way I have described. On the other hand,
such wrappings make breathing very difficult. In fact a man who has not
got accustomed to the bleach packer’s flannel would imagine that he was
going to die of suffocation, and could not bear it round his face for
more than a few seconds. While the bleach packer leaves his nostrils
free, he is careful to breathe out from them, while he inhales through
the flannels. He may stay from twenty to forty minutes inside the
chamber, then come out and take fresh air, then put on his flannels and
go back again, and in the course of a day he may thus do from two or
three to five or six hours’ bleach packing. The bleach chambers come up
to strength in succession, and when one of these is up to strength the
product is packed as rapidly as possible, and the chamber prepared for
another operation. A great part of the bleach packer’s time is spent in
merely looking after his bleaching chambers, seeing that the lutes are
tight, that the gas is passing properly into the chambers, and so on.
His life consists of periodic leisure combined with the most arduous
and exceptional form of toil.
The exact conditions vary in different works, but it is usually found
that the bleach packer also prepares the chamber with lime, and he may
also prepare the lime himself and sift it. In large works the duties
of sifting and slacking the lime are performed by a special set of
men. This preparation of the lime is also a very unpleasant process,
as it involves working in clouds of lime, which settle on the body and
clothes, and is inhaled in considerable quantities. The lime-dresser
rubs his arms and face over with grease and has also to roll his face
in a flannel, but does not require to put on anything like the number
of layers which are necessary in the case of the bleach packer exposed
to chlorine gas. In the case of the Deacon process, the arrangement is
somewhat different. The lime is distributed on shelves, and is finally
removed by being pushed from these shelves down suitable holes, by
means of openings from the outside; so that the Deacon man does not go
into the chamber, as he does in the case of Weldon gas.
Besides the exposure to the chlorine gas under the conditions of
packing, it must be remembered that, in carrying on operations on a
large scale with gas having the corrosive properties of chlorine,
many little escapes of gas will take place, and that accidents from
this source will be found to happen more frequently when the men, not
expecting such an escape, are not, consequently, prepared for it, than
from actual breathing of the gas during the process of packing.
It is unnecessary to describe the effects of chlorine when breathed.
A person has himself to experience the peculiarly suffocating and
irritating properties of this gas, in order to appreciate its
qualities. But while the inconvenience and discomfort produced are
very great, and may result in vomiting and irritation of the bronchial
passages lasting for some days, yet the discomfort is greater
apparently than the permanent injury to health. Insensibility and death
have been produced, but such results are rare. It often happens that
workmen in chemical works get “gassed” accidentally, and consequently
feel great irritation of their respiratory passages, and have a feeling
of suffocation, followed by vomiting, but these symptoms are temporary
in their duration, and do not appear to cause permanent injury. Any one
who is familiar with chemical works has been gassed occasionally, and
yet he has found no permanent harm come from it.
But when we come to the question as to whether the continuous exposure
to this gas, combined with work under the peculiar conditions necessary
in the case of the bleach packers, does not ultimately undermine the
health of the workers, we approach a more difficult problem. These men
are necessarily men of great physical strength and in the prime of
life, and they like the trade because of the very high wages paid; but
it is difficult to trace the ultimate history of such men, and decide
how far the death-rate among men who are picked for their health,
strength, and age would give any real information as to the injurious
nature of the employment. Here again, as in the case of the furnace
man, the temptation to excessive drinking is very great. The bleach
packer is more highly paid, and as he has a good deal of responsibility
resting upon him in the manufacture of this difficult article, he is a
superior man, just as the caustic finisher is a better man than he who
works at a furnace door. Many of them are in the local football teams,
and I think we may take it that, at any rate for a considerable number
of years, working in chlorine does not produce any very obvious bad
effects.
Naturally when people first come across this industry, they remark upon
the crude methods by which this manufacture is carried on, and they
say at once: “Why is not some arrangement invented for the mechanical
production of bleach? How easy it would be to put in lime at the one
end, and carry it by means of suitable belting out at the other end,
and pass the chlorine gas continually over it, and so avoid these
unhealthy processes.” And the chemical manufacturer has been denounced
for his inhumanity in not adopting some such plan. The question of
humanity, or inhumanity, does not enter into the matter. A successful
mechanical mode of making bleach would save so much expenditure in
labour, the men connected with bleach manufacture being highly paid,
and would save so much capital expenditure, that it would be at once
adopted by chemical manufacturers. In the Home Office Report on the
Chemical Trades, one piece of apparatus, known as the Hasenclever
apparatus, is described, and an invention by another engineer.
Hasenclever’s apparatus has been used, I believe, in Germany, and
there is one works at any rate in St Helens where the apparatus has
been tried. I have had no experience of its working, and consequently
can say nothing about it, but the mechanical difficulties involved in
the manufacture of bleaching powder are so great, that there is no
indication at the present time of mechanical methods being adopted.
In the case of the Deacon process, shelves are being used, and the
latest plant put up by the Alkali Company consists of shelves made of
slate, upon which lime is to a certain extent distributed mechanically.
In processes where strong gas like the Weldon gas is produced, the
lead chamber is still in use, and in modern works where the latest
electrolytic plant is being erected in this country, and of which I
shall have something to say presently, large lead chambers on the same
plan as those used for the Weldon gas are being built. Very little
progress has, therefore, been made in the replacing of the old methods
of bleach making by a mechanical process. The tendency seems to be in
two directions. In the case of the Le Blanc manufacture, with which
we have been dealing so far, the Deacon process is replacing the
old Weldon process; but in the case of the new electrolytic methods
of making bleach, which are probably going to be the methods of the
future, the strong gas produced under these conditions is being poured
into bleach chambers, built on the old lines.
There is another possible way of getting over the difficulty, and that
is by the men wearing a helmet not unlike a diver’s apparatus. There
are two difficulties here: one is the awkwardness for the workman
wearing such an apparatus, and his dislike to being covered in it,
while engaged in heavy toil. Another difficulty is in making the
apparatus of such material that it will stand continuous exposure to
chlorine gas. It is a common thing for people to say, why not use a
helmet covered with gutta-percha, or some other material that will
resist chlorine? This sounds very simple, but the material which will
continuously resist the action of chlorine, and at the same time will
enable us to construct a tight-fitting helmet, with its valves and
apparatus, has yet to be discovered. The practical difficulties in the
way of improving the conditions of bleach manufacture are very serious
indeed, and I fear that no real solution of them has yet been found.
We have still to deal with two other products of manufacture which
are made by the Le Blanc process before considering other methods of
manufacturing soda and bleaching powder. One of these is sulphuric acid.
The manufacture of sulphuric acid is carried on in many works besides
those for the manufacture of soda. Sulphuric acid is used in many
processes of manufacture, and is so expensive to carry, that it is
found more convenient to make the acid on the spot where it is wanted.
The method most universally adopted for making the gas is to burn
sulphur or sulphide of iron in specially constructed furnaces, so as to
produce sulphur dioxide, with the smell of which we are all familiar.
This is drawn into large lead chambers, where it is brought into
contact with air, steam, and nitrous fumes. These fumes are produced
by decomposing small quantities of sodium nitrate with sulphuric
acid, the nitric acid gas and fumes being drawn into the sulphuric
acid chambers. In these chambers a chemical reaction is set up which
results in the production of sulphuric acid, while the nitrous fumes
are regenerated by the action of the air, and are consequently used
for the manufacture of a fresh quantity of acid. As it is necessary to
cause a current of these gases to move through the chambers, we find
at the end of the series of chambers air ladened with nitrous fumes
passing away; the nitrous gases are therefore absorbed and are returned
to the process again, so that we have in practice the burning of the
sulphide of iron going on continuously, and the gases passing into
the chambers at the bottom of which the sulphuric acid collects and
is drawn off from time to time, while the addition of fresh nitrous
fumes, by the decomposition of small quantities of nitrate of soda,
is necessary, merely in order to supply the waste which takes place
in what is theoretically a continuous process. The manufacture from
sulphur dioxide is too new to be considered here.
The men working at the pyrites burners are exposed to heat and cold,
and at the same time are exposed to a certain amount of sulphur
dioxide, and to occasional nitrous fumes. These gases are, of course,
irritating, and must tend to produce similar effects on the breathing
apparatus to those found in the case of chlorine and hydrochloric acid.
Here again an entirely perfect system would result in the men not
having to breathe either sulphur dioxide or nitrous fumes, but under
practical conditions of manufacture, such substances are apt to be more
or less present on occasion. The work of a pyrites burner is not so
arduous as that of a man employed in making salt cake.
The other product of manufacture, introduced in recent years, is that
of sulphur. Returning for the moment to the preparation of soda, it
will be remembered that at a certain stage black ash was produced,
which was treated with water, and the soda it contained dissolved
from it. After this operation, the black ash vats are left full of
material, known as vat waste, which is principally sulphide of lime.
In past years this material was thrown out as a waste product, so that
in the neighbourhood of such towns as St Helens immense quantities of
it have accumulated, forming great mounds. It is very unsightly, as no
vegetation can grow upon it, and it is gradually decomposed by air and
rain, with the result that the air and the streams become loaded with
sulphuretted hydrogen--a most disagreeable gas--the rotten-egg smell
of which is familiar to those who drink sulphur waters. For many years
attempts were made to recover the sulphur from this substance, and we
now find that the problem has been solved by that part of the Le Blanc
manufacture known as Chance’s process.
The tank waste is mixed with a sufficiency of water, and placed in
large closed vessels, through which carbonic acid gas is passed. The
result is to decompose the tank waste, and give off sulphuretted
hydrogen gas, while the carbonate of lime is precipitated. When the
decomposition is complete, the sludge is run off from these vessels
into a suitable settling pond, and the sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which
has been produced, is burned, under certain conditions as to limitation
of the quantity of air, with the result that water and sulphur are
formed.
This process means the manufacture in enormous quantities of
sulphuretted hydrogen, and this gas, as is well known, is very
poisonous. Breathing the gas for a few minutes, even if diluted with
a considerable quantity of air, results in coma, very often followed
by death. The smell of the gas is also so disagreeable, that if only a
very little escape, the whole neighbourhood is made intolerable, and
therefore the process of manufacture is so carried on as to make the
chance of gas escape as remote as possible. At the same time we find
here again the difficulty of carrying on a large process with absolute
perfection. Consequently, in such a district as St Helens we find
that at night the air will, in the neighbourhood of a Chance’s plant,
occasionally smell strongly of this gas. The best remedy for gassing
with sulphuretted hydrogen seems to be the breathing of pure oxygen,
and consequently a cylinder of compressed oxygen is kept at the works.
On the other hand, I have not been able to obtain any evidence that the
occasional exposure to small quantities of this gas has an injurious
effect. People living in the neighbourhood of Chance’s plant are
frequently breathing this gas, largely diluted with air, and while they
seem at first to suffer in health, loss of appetite, and so on, they
seem soon to adjust themselves to it, and not to suffer any permanent
inconvenience. At the same time it is very difficult, unless we could
have a large number of cases very carefully watched for many years, to
tell how far the presence of this gas is deleterious to health in its
ultimate effects.
_Alkali Manufacture, other Methods._--We have now dealt with the
main branches of alkali manufacture, as carried on by the Le Blanc
process, and it remains to say something of the new processes which
are being used in connection with this industry. Soda is very largely
manufactured in England, and on the Continent, by means of the ammonia
soda process. This process is carried on in closed vessels, the
substance being in solution during the whole time, and we do not find
the furnace introduced until the very last stage, when the soda ash has
to be heated at a comparatively low temperature, so that there are no
deleterious gases produced. There are no arduous furnace operations,
and I have never heard any complaint made as to the conditions of the
workmen in this industry. Messrs Brünner, Mond, & Co., the largest
manufacturers in this country, introduced some years ago an eight
hours’ day for their furnace-workers, and I believe that the result was
very successful, but I shall deal with that matter later on.
The ammonia soda process, while giving us soda, does not produce
bleaching powder, and consequently we have to adopt some other means of
production--either by chlorine, as produced by the Le Blanc process,
or by some other method of obtaining this gas. At the works of Messrs
Brünner, Mond, & Co., I believe special processes are used by which
chlorine is part of the manufacture, but I cannot go further into that
particular matter.
One of the most important methods of producing both soda and chlorine,
which is now coming to the front, is by means of the electrolysis of
salt. An electric current is passed through a solution of salt, and
the result is to decompose the salt directly into chlorine gas and
caustic soda. The caustic soda can be concentrated, or converted into
carbonate of soda, while the chlorine gas is led away and used for the
making of bleach. This method of manufacture has been very successful
on the Continent, and is also in use in this country, where large
new works are being erected for the production of chlorine in this
way. As in the case of most new industries, many different devices
have been introduced for carrying on the process, some successful and
some unsuccessful, but on the whole it continues to advance, and is
likely ultimately to replace the Le Blanc process. By this method of
manufacture we find all furnace operations are practically done away
with; but, on the other hand, the chlorine gas has to be drawn from
the decomposing house and converted into bleach, and we find here
conditions prevailing which we have already described, and which show
no indication of improvement. With the exception of the bleach packing,
the conditions of labour, however, are enormously improved, and the
more arduous duties of the chemical workers are absent.
We must not expect to see the Le Blanc process of manufacture entirely
replaced by these new methods, and for this reason: the first stage of
the manufacture consists of the preparation of salt cake as already
described. This substance is used in very large quantities in glass
manufactories and also in other industries. As long as there is a
demand for salt cake, it will probably be prepared by the decomposition
of salt with sulphuric acid. It is possible that in the future the Le
Blanc process may stop at this stage, and that nothing but salt cake
and hydrochloric acid will be manufactured; but salt cake in some way
or other must be produced in enormous quantities quite apart from the
other products resulting from the Le Blanc process.
_The Chemical Worker._--The general conditions of the chemical
worker are very much as I have described them, but how far they affect
his health is a more difficult matter. The earlier inquiries into this
question seem to have left the effect on health very doubtful. The
statistics of the death-rate of such a town as St Helens are not of any
value for a purpose of this kind. The town is inhabited very largely
by glass workers, coal miners, and engineers, and the chemical workers
form only a small proportion of the number of hands employed. I do
not find on inquiry of the medical men in St Helens, that they have
very definite views on this question. Where we have, for example, lead
poisoning produced by an industry, it is very easy to trace back the
cause of illness, but when we are dealing with a general undermining
of health, it is much more difficult to give definite figures or
definite facts as to the effects of an industry. Then the chemical
worker changes; he leaves the trade and goes back to it; he moves from
place to place. We also find that a very large number of men who work
in chemical works are simply labourers employed in the yard, and are
only exposed accidentally to the injurious gases produced, and then
probably in a diluted form. The construction of the works has also an
important effect. We may, for example, be trying to trace the effects
on health of employment at the black ash or the salt cake furnace, and
in the particular works examined, the bleach chambers might be built in
such a position that when the wind is blowing in a certain direction,
the chlorine gas is carried to the furnace and may seriously affect the
health of the workmen, while in other works the chlorine might be blown
in a different direction. The gas is so heavy that under
TYNE AND SCOTLAND DISTRICT.
_Average Hours of Labour and Wages per Week._
+---------------+----------------+----------------+
| | Vitriol | Salt Cake, |
| | Burner | Pot, and |
|Name of Works. | | Men. |
| +------+---------+------+---------+
| |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+
|TYNE:-- | |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._|
| | | | | |
| Allhusen’s | 56 | 32 1 | 56 | 30 0 |
| | | | | |
| Hebburn | 56 | 33 10 | 70 | 34 6 |
| Friar’s Goose| 56 | 31 6 | 71 | 33 0 |
| St Bede | 56 | 31 6 | 70 | 32 6 |
| | | | | |
|SCOTLAND:-- | | | | |
| St Rollox | 56 | 35 0 | 70 | 28 0 |
| Eglington | 84 | 34 0 | 72 | 38 0 |
| Irvine | 84 | 33 3 | 70 | 35 8 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+
| Averages | 64 | 33 0 | 68 | 33 1 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+
Part 2 of table.
+---------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| | Alkali. |
| |----------------+----------------+----------------+
| | Revolver | Vat | |
|Name of Works. | Men. | Men. | Salting. |
| +------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
| |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
|TYNE:-- | |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._|
| | | | | | | |
| Allhusen’s | 56 | 40 4 | 84 | 35 4 | | |
| | | | | | | |
| Hebburn | 71 | 36 0 | 54 | 32 0 | 70 | 32 6 |
| Friar’s Goose| 70 | 37 0 | 58 | 44 0 | 70 | 28 0 |
| St Bede | 72 | 41 7 | 72 | 27 0 | 72 | 24 0 |
| | | | | | | |
|SCOTLAND:-- | | | | | | |
| St Rollox | 70 | 32 0 | 56 | 26 0 | 70 | 27 0 |
| Eglington | | | | | | |
| Irvine | 70 | 40 0 | 54 | 37 0 | | |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
| Averages | 69 | 37 9 | 63 | 33 7 | 70 | 28 0 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
Part 3 of table.
+---------------+---------------------------------+
| | Alkali. |
| |----------------+----------------+
| | | Caustic |
|Name of Works. | Carbonating. | Pots. |
| +------+---------+------+---------+
| |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+
|TYNE:-- | |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._|
| | |{Firing. | 56 | 35 0 |
| Allhusen’s | |{Finish- | | |
| | |{ ing. | 84 | 63 8 |
| Hebburn | 70 | 30 6 | | |
| Friar’s Goose| 70 | 31 0 | | |
| St Bede | 72 | 31 0 | | |
| | | | | |
|SCOTLAND:-- | | | | |
| St Rollox | 70 | 25 6 | | |
| Eglington | | | | |
| Irvine | | | 72 | 52 0 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+
| Averages | 70 | 29 6 | 71 | 50 3 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+
Part 4 of table.
+---------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| | Bleach. |
| |----------------+----------------+----------------+----------------+
| | Weldon | Deacon | Lime | Still |
|Name of Works. | Packers. | Packers. | Dressers. | Men. |
| +------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
| |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
|TYNE:-- | |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._|
| | | | | | | | | |
| Allhusen’s | 42 | 60 0 | | | 42 | 59 9 | 56 | 35 0 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Hebburn | 36 | 60 0 | | | 36 | 60 0 | 70 | 39 0 |
| Friar’s Goose| 36 | 55 0 | | | 48 | 40 0 | 69 | 33 0 |
| St Bede | 36 | 60 0 | | | 36 | 60 0 | 70 | 33 0 |
| | | | | | | | | |
|SCOTLAND:-- | | | | | | | | |
| St Rollox | 48 | 34 0 | | | 54 | 33 0 | 75 | 27 0 |
| Eglington | 36 | 55 0 | | | 48 | 52 0 | 72 | 46 0 |
| Irvine | 36 | 47 0 | | | 36 | 47 0 | 70 | 47 0 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
| Averages | 39 | 53 0 | | | 43 | 50 3 | 69 | 37 0 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
Part 5 of table.
+---------------+---------------------------------+----------------+
| | Sulphur. | |
| |----------------+----------------+ Copper |
| | Carbonator | Claus | Furnace |
|Name of Works. | Men. | Kiln. | Men. |
| +------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
| |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |Hours.| Wages. |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
|TYNE:-- | |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._| |_s._ _d._|
| | | | | | | |
| Allhusen’s | 42 | 60 0 | | | 42 | 59 9 |
| | | | | | | |
| Hebburn | 36 | 60 0 | | | 36 | 60 0 |
| Friar’s Goose| 36 | 55 0 | | | 48 | 40 0 |
| St Bede | 36 | 60 0 | | | 36 | 60 0 |
| | | | | | | |
|SCOTLAND:-- | | | | | | |
| St Rollox | 48 | 34 0 | | | 54 | 33 0 |
| Eglington | 36 | 55 0 | | | 48 | 52 0 |
| Irvine | 36 | 47 0 | | | 36 | 47 0 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
| Averages | 39 | 53 0 | | | 43 | 50 3 |
+---------------+------+---------+------+---------+------+---------+
_N.B._--The hours mentioned are the total hours the men are on
duty, without deduction for meal times, etc. certain atmospheric
conditions it will produce serious effects a long way from the point of
escape. In fact the men working in the bleach chambers might be quite
free of the gas while it was doing much damage elsewhere. Each works
would, therefore, have to be considered by itself in studying health
conditions, or very erroneous conclusions might be arrived at.
_Hours of Work in Alkali Manufacture._--Before leaving this
industry it will be of interest to give some figures supplied by the
Alkali Union to the inquiry made in 1893 as to the hours of work of
the different workmen employed. These figures may be taken as very
carefully drawn up, and as representing very closely the conditions of
labour which still prevail. Wages, of course, tend to vary, so that
statistics on this point have to be constantly revised (_see table on
preceding page_).
HOURS OF ATTENDANCE AND TIME SPENT IN ACTUAL
WORK AT GLOBE WORKS.
_Vitriol Process._
Average hours of attendance of the two shifts of men 84 per week
Hours spent in actual labour (say) 30 „
The latter is arrived at in the following way, viz.:--
Dropping one burner or kiln 2 minutes
Barring and charging one burner 4 „
--
6 „
==
30 burners are charged per 12 hours, or at the rate of 2½ per hour.
6 × 2½ = 15 minutes per hour.
Time spent in potting 6 „
--
21 „
× 12 = 4.2 hours per shift, or 29.4 per week.
_Salt Cake Department._
Average hours of attendance 70 per week
Potmen--Time spent in actual labour 52½ „
Arrived at as follows:--
Gathering up charge 6¾ minutes
Shoving 23¼ „
Spreading 10 „
Charging pot 7¼ „
Wheeling out salt cake 19 „
Wheeling salt 19½ „
Working pot 14 „
Watching acid-heater filling 16 „
Clinkering fire 3¼ „
Firing 8 „
Throwing up cinders 2½ „
-------
129½ „
=======
Or 2 hours 9½ minutes per charge × 3 = 8 hours 38 minutes per shift, or
51 hours 48 minutes per week.
Furnacemen--Time spent in actual labour 55 hours 18 minutes
Arrived at as follows:--
Taking in one charge 23¼ minutes
Spreading 10 „
Charging pot 7¼ „
Clinkering 3 „
Slicing 28¾ „
Wheeling out salt cake 19 „
Slicing, tooth-raking, and drawing 36½ „
Firing 8 „
Throwing up cinders 2½ „
-------
138¼ „
=======
= 2 hours 18¼ minutes per charge × 4 = 9 hours 13 minutes per shift, or
55 hours 18 minutes per week.
_Bleaching Powder Department._
Lime Dressers--Three men employed:--
Average hours of attendance 63 per week
Time spent in actual labour (say) 30 „
Arrived at as follows:--
2 men sieving 3½ hours each
One man laying down lime, 2½ hours }
One man slacking lime, 1 hour } 3½ „
All the men turning lime, 1 hour each, ∴ each man works 4½ hours,
which × 6 = 27 hours per week (say, 30 hours).
It will be noted, after examining these figures, that the employment
of men who are on duty a very large number of hours does not mean
absolutely continuous work. The labour is, of course, of a very heavy
character, and such continuous labour would be impracticable.
As has been already stated, Messrs Brünner Mond have introduced eight
hours’ shifts for their furnace workmen, and I myself am responsible
for trying an experiment of this character with hand-worked black ash
furnaces. My experience was as follows: I found that each furnaceman in
a twelve hours’ shift was able to turn out 15 black ash balls, and on
an eight hours’ shift he was able to turn out from 11 to 12, so that
in the course of the twenty-four hours the output of the furnace was
increased from 30 to 36 balls. This increased output was not sufficient
to enable the firm to pay quite the same wages. The black ash workman
is paid by the balls that he turns out, and it is evident that in order
to earn the same wage, the amount paid per black ash ball would have to
be increased. We were able to so adjust matters that his earnings were
reduced less than 2s. a week, while of course he had the advantage of
additional leisure. This experiment was ultimately abandoned, because
it was not appreciated, either by the foreman or by the black ash men
themselves. They preferred to have a twelve hours’ shift, and produce
their 15 balls with less strain, than to work harder for eight hours,
to get out the twelve balls. The foreman objected that the greater
leisure which the men had, made it more difficult to keep his gang of
men sober, while I believe the wives also objected to the change of
shift for the same reasons. These, of course, are merely temporary
objections, which would disappear if any such reform was carried out on
a large scale. Messrs Brünner Mond state that in their experience they
found that the result of the change has not worked out at any loss to
the firm, while the workmen are receiving the same wages.
It must be remembered, however, that there are many processes in the
chemical works which cannot be hastened, and that the greater energy
of the workman has no effect on the output of the process. This was
pointed out by the Alkali Union at the time of the Home Office inquiry.
In such cases it is evident that the shortening of hours must result
in a definite loss to the manufacturer, and therefore it is not right
to assume that, because in the special furnace operations carried on
by Messrs Brünner Mond they are able to reduce the number of shifts
without loss because of the greater output of their furnaces, therefore
in the case of chemical processes of all kinds a similar gain would
result from shorter hours. This point is sometimes lost sight of by
those who discuss this question.
_The Administration of the Alkali Act._--There is another matter
to be considered in connection with the alkali manufacture and all
chemical processes in which gases are produced which are injurious to
health and to vegetation. These processes have been under the charge
of a special set of inspectors appointed under the Alkali Act to
prevent the escape of gas with the view to protecting the neighbouring
districts from the injurious consequences that these gases may produce.
Consequently the present alkali manufacturer finds himself under
inspection from two different departments and from two different points
of view. The Factory Inspector requires him to take certain precautions
under the special rules issued by the Home Office for dangerous trades,
while the Alkali Inspector also requires him to prevent the escape of
gases. The Alkali Act had done a great deal to improve the condition
of the workman in the chemical works, because the diminution of the
escapes of gas injurious to his health has of course benefited him as
well as those living in the neighbourhood.
The main defect, however, under this Act is to be found in the limited
amount of inspection possible in spite of the zealousness of the
inspectors. The districts they have to cover are so large, and the
number of works they have to visit so great, that it is impossible
for them to do all that might be done by enforcing this particular
Act. The tendency in all the chemical works is to arrange that if
any gases are to be allowed to escape it shall be done at night, and
consequently a night staff of inspectors is urgently required in order
to see that the law is complied with. It is a common statement to make,
that as these gases have a commercial value the manufacturer may be
trusted to prevent their escape. This argument is one which a practical
manufacturer smiles at. It is often much more important to push work
through as rapidly as possible with the view of delivering orders. And
it may be more profitable, with the view to getting a larger output
from the same plant, to allow a certain amount of gas to escape, rather
than use up the whole of the gases. It may happen that some part of
the plant breaks down, or that in order to get over some difficulty
the simplest plan is to let certain gases go. The temptation is for
all such operations to be arranged to take place if possible at night,
so that the public shall know as little about them as possible. There
are so many ways of evading such an Act that a far larger staff of
inspectors is necessary, to see that it is thoroughly complied with.
_Output Method of Paying Wages._--Another matter we have referred
to is the method of payment of the workmen. We have already quoted the
tables supplied by the Alkali Union, with the view of showing the hours
of work prevailing in their factories. The usual method of payment
in the chemical works is by output, and a system of sub-contracting
is very frequently present, i.e., one man will take charge of the
output of bleach or of caustic soda, and will pay those he employs.
Whatever the system may be, the general principle is to pay by tonnage
and not by means of a weekly wage. This has been denounced as an
unfair system, as it causes the workman to be more exposed than is
necessary to the injurious nature of his employment. As I have already
indicated, it has that effect. The workman is disposed in many cases
to push the work through at the risk of exposure to injurious gases
for the sake of getting a larger output, and making a higher wage. On
the other hand it is, I fear, the only way in which such an industry
can be successfully carried on. Chemical works usually extend over
a large area of ground, and consist of a large number of workshops
and buildings in which various processes are being carried on, and
which make strict supervision on the part of the foreman practically
impossible. The only way in which economical results can be obtained
is by making the workman himself directly interested in creating a
proper output, while the chemist in the works takes care that the
product produced is up to standard quality. It is difficult to see
how under the present conditions of manufacture it could be carried
on economically in any other way. The amount of competition which now
exists with Germany and America has put this industry in so serious a
position that it is engaged in a fierce struggle for existence, and
consequently it becomes very difficult to carry out any radical reforms.
While we have stated the dangerous nature of the work, it will be
evident in reading this description that little has been suggested in
the way of improvement beyond increasing the staff of alkali inspectors
with the view to keeping down the escape of injurious gases. The
reduction of the hours of labour of the workmen from twelve to eight
would no doubt have an excellent effect, and would be a reform which
all would welcome. At the same time, unless some understanding could
be come to, of an international character, on this point, I fear
that such a reduction at the present time would be disastrous to the
chemical trade, and consequently it is not at the present moment within
the region of practical politics. The difficulties of improving the
manufacture of bleach have also been dealt with, and while it may be
said that dangers have been pointed out and no remedy suggested, it
is better to face the fact of the numerous difficulties in the way of
improvement, rather than to imagine that it is a simple matter to put
this industry in a proper sanitary state.
_Bichromate of Potash Manufacture._--Another department of
chemical manufacture which has attracted attention is the preparation
of bichromate of potash. This subject has already been dealt with by Dr
Morison Legge, and need not be repeated here.
_Coal Tar Products._--Another industry, to which attention has
been directed of late years, is the manufacture of various products
from coal tar. This manufacture is principally carried on in Germany;
the crude distillations of the coal tar are made in this country, and
the resulting products sent to Germany: various dyes, drugs, etc., are
there manufactured from them, and then largely sold in this country to
our dyers and druggists.
But the preparation of these compounds in this country is growing in
importance, and the almost complete monopoly which Germany has held for
so many years is not likely to be permanent.
Consequently attention has been directed to the effect on the health of
the workers of the substances manufactured. Many of these are so new
to science that their possible poisonous qualities are not yet known,
but in the case of one or two, distinctly injurious results have been
proved to exist.
Among these we may mention aniline and the nitrobenzines. These
bodies are prepared in large quantities as the starting point for
other compounds, and consequently their poisonous qualities have been
shown very clearly upon the workmen. One or two references to reports
will make this clear. In the year 1896, Mr Rodgers, H.M. Inspector
of Factories, pointed out that he had one or two cases of somewhat
serious illness among workers in aniline. He described the process of
manufacture by which the crude benzine is first of all converted by the
action of sulphuric and nitric acids into nitro and dinitrobenzine,
known to the workmen under the name of myrbane. This substance is then
reduced to aniline by means of the action of hydrochloric acid and iron.
The fumes from the preparation of the nitrobenzines seem to
occasionally produce serious effects, such as dizziness ending in coma
and vomiting. Evidently some men are more susceptible than others, as
one case is mentioned where a man had been repeatedly away suffering
from pain in the stomach, dizziness, partial paralysis of the legs, and
defective vision.
Again, we find another further reference to this industry. In the
report for the year 1899, Mr Sidney Smith, H.M. Inspector of Factories,
reports that he has noticed the peculiar anæmic appearance of the
men engaged in the manufacture of aniline, both those employed in
distilling the crude aniline oil and those engaged in manufacturing the
aniline hydrochloride. The men speak of being “gassed”--as they call
it--a number of times, and they seem to find tolindene, the homologue
of aniline, to have a similar effect. So that here we find the aniline
itself referred to as dangerous to the workers. It is, of course, well
known to medical men that aniline itself is an active poison. It is
evident from these accounts that these substances are dangerous to
health, and special measures are required to protect the workers.
Doubtless, as we get further knowledge of the compounds belonging
to this large group of substances, we shall find other cases where
injurious results are produced, and, in fact, the time has probably
come for a searching inquiry into this branch of chemical manufacture.
_Bisulphide of Carbon._--Another substance which might yet be
mentioned is bisulphide of carbon, but as it has been dealt with in
regard to the manufacture of rubber, where its effects are far more
injurious than in the actual manufacture of the substance itself, it is
hardly necessary to discuss it here.
_Phosphorus._--In the same way phosphorus is more dangerous to
the matchmaker who uses it than to the worker who manufactures it. The
modern process of manufacture in an electric furnace is to a great
extent a secret one, and consequently it is difficult to get accurate
information.
There are numerous other chemical substances, such as cyanides, the
compounds of antimony, the compounds of arsenic, and the compounds
of barium, which are very poisonous, and which are manufactured in
very large quantities, and which have not, as far as I am aware,
ever been studied in their relation to health. But many of these
substances appear in other industries, and their discussion in any
detail would be endless. It is probably sufficient to say that in all
these processes of chemical manufacture special precautions should be
taken to prevent the workmen being exposed to the fumes arising from
vats and tanks, to insist upon the greatest cleanliness, to allow him
efficient respirators during certain operations, and to take every
precaution for ensuring the removal of dust, and thorough and efficient
ventilation. If these things are done there is no reason why many of
these substances should not be manufactured, although poisonous in
their nature, without injury to the workmen.
The special rules which were drawn up by the German Government
for bichromate works afford, I think, a very good guide as to
the conditions that ought to be insisted upon in all chemical
manufactories. We come now to consider how far statistics show that the
manufacture of chemicals is injurious to health.
_Health of Chemical Workers as shown by Statistics._--The use
of statistics in this particular industry is of doubtful value. In
the first place it is very difficult to define what are the limits of
chemical manufacture. If, for example, the manufacture of chemicals
includes white lead, at once we shall cause a considerable apparent
increase in the unhealthiness of the industry; while, if white lead
manufacture is treated by itself and statistics referring to it removed
from the chemical trade, doubtless better results would be shown. There
are many other cases where it is difficult to know whether under the
head of chemical manufacture a particular industry is included or not.
Then the trade is one which to a large extent employs the lowest class
of labour and requires little skill or special knowledge from those
employed. Many manufacturers in fact prefer to use this class of
labour, so that the workman himself shall have as little knowledge as
possible of the processes that he is carrying on, and will therefore be
useless to any rival manufacturer if bribed to give information. Then
the labour being of this rough and unskilled kind, the men leave the
industry or come into it in a very casual way, and we do not find that
a chemical worker is always a chemical worker in the same way in which
a cotton operative would be who remains in the cotton mills all his
life.
Furthermore, so many of the chemical industries require men of unusual
health and strength, that they are recruited from the vigorous class
of country or Irish labour, and when the men get unfit for the arduous
character of the work, they are apt to drop out of the industry, so
that it is difficult to follow these men through their whole career,
and death statistics fail to indicate how far the industry is unhealthy.
As I explained in the opening remarks of this chapter, the conditions
of the industry itself vary so enormously according to the substances
manufactured that any general condemnation of it, or approval of it,
is impossible, and if we find that men engaged in this industry show
a distinctly higher death-rate than those engaged in ordinary trades,
we must, I think, assume that certain branches of chemical manufacture
are peculiarly unhealthy since those branches are able to bring up
the death-rate over the whole number. With these preliminary remarks
I propose to quote some of the figures published by Dr Tatham as the
result of the census of 1890–91–92, which show, I think, very clearly
that this industry is far from being a healthy one.
In the first place, if we compare the mean annual mortality of males
engaged in different occupations at successive periods of life, we
find, as is evident from the figures printed below, that while the
chemical worker up to the age of thirty-five does not show any very
excessive rate of death as compared with all males, with occupied
males, or with carpenters (to take an industry which may be regarded
as a very healthy one), his death-rate after thirty-five begins rapidly
to increase, and by the time we come to the period between forty-five
and fifty-five, his death-rate is nearly double that of a carpenter.
In fact, in order to find between these ages so high a death-rate, we
have to take the returns for brewers, who are notoriously unhealthy
from the excessive quantities of beer they consume, cutlers, file
makers, lead workers, earthenware and glass workers. In some of these
industries that I have just referred to the figures are considerably
higher than those for the chemical worker: _e.g._, while the
figure for the chemical workers at this age (forty-five to fifty-five)
is 30.3, that for earthenware is 43, and for the file maker 40: but
these are notoriously unhealthy industries, and it is evident that the
chemical worker comes high up among the unhealthy trades.
MEAN ANNUAL MORTALITY of Males engaged in different
Occupations in the three years, 1890–91–92, at
successive periods of life.
+-----------------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| | Ages. |
| Occupations. +------+------+------+------+------+------+--------+
| | 15–20| 20–25| 25–35| 35–45| 45–55| 55–65| 65 and |
| | | | | | | |upwards.|
+-----------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+--------+
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|All Males | 4.1 | 5.6 | 7.7 | 13.0 | 21.4 | 39.0 | 103.6 |
|Occupied Males | 2.6 | 5.1 | 7.3 | 12.4 | 20.7 | 36.7 | 102.3 |
|Brewer | 2.7 | 5.6 | 10.8 | 19.0 | 30.8 | 54.4 | 129.1 |
|Cutler | 2.4 | 5.4 | 8.5 | 20.9 | 35.6 | 60.2 | 136.8 |
|File Maker | 1.7 | 6.9 | 11.1 | 26.1 | 40.1 | 70.8 | 147.4 |
|Copper Worker | 2.6 | 8.0 | 11.1 | 16.2 | 27.9 | 58.8 | 168.9 |
|Lead Worker | 4.4 | 11.8 | 12.1 | 22.8 | 37.6 | 75.3 | 281.3 |
|Carpenter | 1.7 | 4.0 | 5.8 | 9.4 | 17.2 | 32.2 | 102.2 |
|Manufacturing Chemist | 4.5 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 16.7 | 30.3 | 62.5 | 117.3 |
|Earthenware Manufacture| 2.8 | 5.4 | 8.2 | 19.6 | 43.0 | 75.1 | 143.4 |
|Glass Manufacture | 3.2 | 6.4 | 11.3 | 17.9 | 32.1 | 60.8 | 172.4 |
+-----------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+--------+
If, now, we take another of these tables and compare the comparative
mortality from specified causes among males engaged in certain
occupations, and if we take the annual mortality among all males as
1000, so as to obtain a figure of comparison, we find the following
results. The brewer, cutler, file maker, copper worker, lead worker,
and those engaged in earthenware and glass, all show high mortality;
but among these we find again the manufacturing chemist. In fact we
find only five industries in which the mortality is greater. Among
these, the file maker, lead worker, and earthenware worker again head
the list with enormous figures.
COMPARATIVE MORTALITY from specified Causes among Males
engaged in certain Occupations, 1890–91–92.
Key to table:
A: All Causes.
B: Alcoholism.
C: Rheumatic Fever.
D: Gout.
E: Phthisis.
F: Diseases of the Nervous System.
G: Diseases of the Circulatory System.
H: Diseases of the Respiratory System.
I: Diseases of the Digestive System.
J: Diseases of the Urinary System.
K: Plumbism.
L: Accident.
+--------------+-----------------------------------------------+
| | Causes of Death. |
| Occupation. +----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+
| | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L|
+--------------+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12|13|
|All Males |1000| 13| 7| 2|192|102|132|224| 58| 44| 1|56|
|Occupied Males| 953| 13| 7| 2|185| 82|126|221| | 41| 1|56|
|Brewer |1427| 41| 13| 10|273|125|195|315|106| 78| |50|
|Cutler |1516| 18| 7| |382| 91|167|518| 58| 56| 3|32|
|File Maker |1810| 4| | 4|402|212|204|423| 72|104| 75|39|
|Copper Worker |1381| 4| | |294| 85|186|406| 76| 60| 8|57|
|Lead Worker |1783| | | |148|232|272|397|147|161|211|45|
|Carpenter | 783| 8| 9| 2|172| 71|106|154| 45| 34| |39|
|Manufacturing | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Chemist |1392| 7| 7| |162| 98|168|502| 68| 52| 1|98|
|Earthenware | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Manufacturer|1706| 9| 8| 1|333|123|227|668| 66| 63| 17|20|
|Glass | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Manufacturer|1487| 24| 10| 9|295|155|157|445| 67| 63| 12|59|
+--------------+----+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+
If we now pass from these figures to the causes of death there are some
interesting points to notice. Unfortunately, returns as to causes of
death are not of so much value as they might be. Death certificates
are apt to be filled in in many cases very hastily, and too often the
custom is to give the immediate cause of death without attempting to
show how that immediate cause has been brought about. It has been and
still remains one of the great difficulties in tracing the effects
of industry on health that so little attention has been paid by the
medical profession throughout the country to industrial conditions
as causes of death. Even in the case of so specific a thing as lead
poisoning much difficulty has been found in obtaining reliable
statistics, and when we come to the general undermining of health
produced by other industries, the difficulties are increased. It must
be remembered that on account of the low class of labour employed in
chemical works, although the wages are in many cases good, the workman
probably feeds badly, lives under unhealthy conditions, and spends
far too much on drink, so that all these tell against him. It must
also be remembered that the tendency to drink is largely caused by
the nature of his work, therefore the nature of his employment may be
indirectly blamed for injury that is really caused by alcohol. With
these preliminary remarks, let us look at the causes of death as stated
in Dr Tatham’s tables.
One striking fact is noticeable. The chemical trades head all other
industries in the number of deaths put down to accident. While the
number for all males stands at 56, the number for the chemical trades
stands at 98, and the only industry which approaches it is that of
shipwrights, with a death-rate from accident of 63.
The next point of interest to notice is the number of deaths from
diseases of the respiratory system. If the fumes and deleterious
gases breathed by the chemical workers are injurious to health, it
is in pulmonary diseases that we should expect to find an increase;
consequently we find that while the number of deaths from diseases of
the respiratory system stand in the case of the manufacturing chemist
at 502, there are only two industries in which higher figures are
given--the cutlers, who are exposed to the dust from the grindstones,
and the earthenware manufacturers, who are exposed to the deadly
dust from the ground flints. Curiously enough, the next figure after
chemical workers is that for manufacturers of glass. This is not an
employment in which the workers are exposed to dust or injurious fumes,
and the only and the natural cause for diseases of this character must
be the exposure to the heat of the glass furnace and to the cold of the
open sheds, while engaged in an arduous employment. The figure given
for the glass workers is 445, so that it is apparently probable that
the conditions under which the chemical workers carry on the operations
in furnaces would alone be sufficient to cause a high death-rate among
that particular class without the additional injury caused by exposure
to fumes.
When we look at the returns of death from phthisis we find that the
manufacturing chemist is below the normal for all males, the figure for
all males being 192, and for the chemical worker 162. If we compare the
glass worker, who is exposed to similar conditions of heat and cold, we
find that the figure for the glass worker is 295. This result agrees
with the view, which is held by many doctors in St Helens, that the
gases present in the air, such as sulphur dioxide, hydrochloric acid,
nitrous fumes, and chlorine, are distinctly beneficial to phthisical
cases; that phthisis is rare, and when present, that the progress of
the disease is slow, also that it does not assume the virulent form
which is found in other places.
As the figures given for chemical workers do not show any other marked
results, we may say that chemical manufacture is to be ranked among
one of the most unhealthy of our industries, coming fairly high up in
the list, although of course not ranking with those in which lead is
present in large quantities.
Furthermore, it is one of our industries in which it is not easy to
improve the health of the worker.
It is to be hoped that the most objectionable process of manufacture,
the making of bleaching powder, will in time become a thing of the
past, as the manufacturers who require this material for the bleaching
of goods and of paper pulp will make their own bleach liquors by means
of the electric current passed through the salt solution, and so avoid
the necessity of producing the same on a large scale. This industrial
revolution will take time. Meanwhile the manufacture of bleach remains
a difficult problem for those who wish to see the occupation healthier.
I have suggested that more might be done by increasing the number of
inspectors under the Alkali Acts so as to protect the workmen from
the injurious fumes. While the present small staff of inspectors do
all they can to carry out the Act, they are not sufficient in number.
It would be necessary to appoint several new inspectors, so as to
arrange for constant surprise visits to the works, especially at night.
Furthermore, in this and many other industries where the general
conditions of life are unhealthy without the presence of any specific
cause of poison, such as lead, the best remedy will be the reduction of
the number of hours of work. If the men were working for eight instead
of twelve hours a day, their health would be enormously improved. This
has been clearly shown in the case of the works of Messrs Brünner Mond,
where it was found that the conversion of the twelve to the eight
hours’ day reduced the number of men who were attended by the doctor
by nearly 50 per cent. The actual figures given are as follows:--In
the year 1889, 10.12 per cent. were attended by the doctor; in the
year 1893, under the new system, 5.1. Where an industry is successful
and making large profits, as in the case of Messrs Brünner Mond’s
works, such changes can be made; but where the industry is struggling
against severe competition and vanishing profits, such an alteration
would be disastrous. It is therefore not a matter which can be done
with a stroke of the pen, but if some understanding could be come to
of an international character, chemical industries might make a move
in this direction. The number of works engaged in alkali manufacture
in America, Germany, Belgium, France, and England is after all not so
very large. At the same time the capital required to make a change
in this direction is very large, so that it ought to be possible to
come to some understanding, though it would be very difficult in the
case of industries carried on in small workshops. The effect of the
shorter hours would ultimately be the moral as well as the material
improvement of the workmen. It is impossible that a man who is engaged
in hard physical labour for twelve hours out of the twenty-four, and
who leaves it too exhausted to do more than eat and sleep, can develop
intellectually or morally to a very high level, and consequently he has
small chance of resisting the temptations to drink. With shorter hours
and more leisure might come an improvement, such as has been the case
in the mining population.
In conclusion, I may state that the rules for bichromate of potash
works, published by the German Government, as indicating the kind of
precautions to be taken in processes of chemical manufacture, are such
as might well be applied to chemical processes throughout the country,
with the exception of those special processes like the manufacture of
bleach, where the conditions seem at present to make improvement almost
hopeless. The subject, however, is so vast and complex, that I feel
as if I had simply touched upon many of the problems connected with
chemical manufacture and the health of the workpeople.
A. P. LAURIE.
CHAPTER XLI
EXPLOSIONS AND EXPLOSIVES
_Introductory_
In the following pages I have made no attempt to scientifically
discourse upon the composition and properties of explosive bodies, nor
have I endeavoured, on the other hand, to write an elementary treatise
on the subject; such matters have been fully attended to already by
Berthelot, Guttmann, Eissler, and others, while much useful information
is also obtainable in the _Dictionary of Explosives_ and the
_Handbook of Service Explosives_. My object has rather been to
offer to such of the educated public as already possess a general
knowledge of the subject, a few remarks from a point of view from
which it has never yet to my knowledge been approached except in Blue
Books, while at the same time I have striven to avoid reiteration of
information already published in our Annual and Special Reports.
Moreover, I have endeavoured to exclude, so far as may be, all matter
not entirely germane to the question at issue, viz., the special risks
connected with the trade in explosives in the United Kingdom.