A Large Port Machinery Manufacturing Enterprises Operating Environment Welding Fumes Exposure Level Survey

Objective:The research of The Machinery Manufacturing Corporation aimed to investigate the administration status of occupational health, to find out the exposure level of weld fume and its distribution characteristics. Effective control measures based on this study can be conducted to reduce the concentration of the weld fume and the morbidity of the weld workers'pneumoconiosis. This study can also help government and the enterprises to make effective preventive approaches as reference.Methods:The across-sectional epidemiological method was used to find out the basic profiles, the production status of the factory and to investigate the occupational health protection and management system. Under the full-burden production condition, the weld fume and manganese concentration in the workplace were tested in light of the national criterion and its corresponding guideline. The test results in different workplaces would be contrasted and analyzed. The information of related occupational diseases including the weld workers'pneumoconiosis and urine manganese were collected according to the occupational health surveillance in the factory. SPSS was used for statistical analysis.Result:1. The factory with large production capacity can produce dock container cranes, large port machinery equipment, etc. Welding is the main mode of production operations. There were great amount of welding spots in the factory. High density, mobility and limited workspace were the features.2. There were occupational health professionals and a related management system in the enterprise. The local ventilation and the whole room ventilation measures were taken to control the weld fume, but these measures were not efficient. Personal protective equipments were not used correctly.3. More than twenty percent of concentration results of weld fume and manganese exceed the exposure limits. The concentration of indoor workspaces was higher than outdoor workspaces. Limited workspaces had the highest concentration of weld fume and manganese.4. The correlation analysis of concentration between weld fume and manganese showed that the concentration was positively associated(r=0.9555, p<0.05).5. With ventilation measures, the concentration of weld fume significantly reduced (P<0.05). But weld fume still exceed the occupational exposure limits on several spots.6. The results of occupational health examination in 2009-2010 showed that 12 pneumoconiosis patients and 6 suspected patients are onset and all of them were from indoor and limited working environment. Urine manganese of indoor posts is the highest. There were significant difference of urine manganese between indoor posts and outdoor posts, so as limited spaces and outdoor posts (p>0.05). There were no significant differences between indoor posts and limited spaces posts (P>0.05). The exposure level of indoor workers was the highest.Conclusion:1. Working environment in the large Port Machinery factory was seriously dangerous. It's a grave task for the corporation to control the concentration of weld fume. High concentrations of weld fume, usages of individual protective equipments and the characteristics of pneumoconiosis might probably be the reasons of incidence of weld worker' pneumoconiosis.2. Indoor and limited working environment, where pneumoconiosis were all found to be with high concentration of welding fume. Thus, the area should be the key points for the enterprise to control the occupational diseases. It is important for the corporation to improve the environment, and keep away from the weld fume.3. Local ventilation combined with whole room ventilation would be useful to eliminate the weld fume. But the measures could not totally keep the weld fume under the exposure limit. Therefore, the occupational health management measures, including personal protective equipments and occupational health surveillance should be implemented strictly.4. Concentration between weld fume and manganese was positively associated. Exposure level of manganese would be higher in the workspace with high concentration of weld fume. Therefore, relative measures should also be carried out to prevent manganese poisoning.