Thermal burn and electrical injuries among electric utility workers, 1995-2004.

This study describes the occurrence of work-related injuries from thermal-, electrical- and chemical-burns among electric utility workers. We describe injury trends by occupation, body part injured, age, sex, and circumstances surrounding the injury. This analysis includes all thermal, electric, and chemical injuries included in the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Occupational Health and Safety Database (OHSD).

Developing policy in the face of scientific uncertainty: interpreting 0.3 microT or 0.4 microT cutpoints from EMF epidemiologic studies.

There has been considerable scientific effort to understand the potential link between exposures to power-frequency electric and magnetic fields (EMF) and the occurrence of cancer and other diseases. The combination of widespread exposures, established biological effects from acute, high-level exposures, and the possibility of leukemia in children from low-level, chronic exposures has made it both necessary and difficult to develop consistent public health policies. In this article we review the basis of both numeric standards and precautionary-based approaches.

Equipment grounding affects contact current exposure: a case study of sewing machines.

Exposure to contact current may occur when the body is in contact with two conductive surfaces with different electrical potentials. To date, no published data that describe such exposures or electrical conditions that may predispose to such exposures exist. Our investigation into contact current exposure included (i) a small sample of workers in a garment production facility with modern well-grounded equipment performing normal work tasks and (ii) a single individual simulating garment production tasks in a sewing machine repair facility with substandard equipment grounding.

Occupational magnetic field exposures of garment workers: results of personal and survey measurements.

To explore the feasibility of performing an epidemiologic study of female breast cancer and magnetic field (MF) exposures, we chose to study garment workers, who reportedly have some of the highest MF exposures. We collected personal exposure (PE, n = 48) and survey measurements (n = 77) near commercial sewing machines at three garment facilities and conducted a pilot interview among 25 garment workers asking about exposure duration, activities, and machine characteristics. MF levels were higher for older machines with alternating current (AC) than newer machines with direct current (DC) motors.