* Saw benchmen who are chronically exposed to impact noises are the most likely to develop the disease's symptoms.

Union calls for WCB to recognize
full effects of Menieres disease

For the past five years running,
I.W.A. CANADA’s annual convention
has passed a resolution calling for the
all Workers Compensation Boards to
recognize Meniere’s disease. This dis-
ease, it is believed by some re-
searchers, can be caused by chronic
acoustic trauma and can have some
serious health effects on workers.

In fact, in .W.A. CANADA Local 1-
217, Menieres Disease has become so
serious in one operation, the it is be-
lieved that sawfilers are at a very high
tisk for developing the disease.

At the Doman Vancouver Sawmill
Division, three sawfilers from a crew
which fluctuates between 10-15 work-

ers, have developed symptoms of the
disease.

Those symptoms are typified by
hearing loss, vertigo (extreme dizi-
ness) and tinnitus (ringing in the ear)
which are often accompanied by nau-
sea and vomiting.

Meniere’s Disease has not been
considered as an occupational disease
although Local 1-217 Safety Director
begs to differ.

“There are enough studies out there
that indicate that the disease can be
caused by recurrent exposure to im-
pact noises,” says Brother Parker.
“The very least that we want is a thor-
ough investigation of the disease by

the Workers Compensation Board and
a complete review of all data and liter-
ature related to Menieres syndrome.”

“We also believe that the medical
profession should take a elose look at
workers who have developed the
symptoms and fully investigate the
causes of the disease.”

But unlike occupational diseases
such as cedar dust asthma, or repeti-
tive stress injuries, Meniere’s Disease
does not yet have medical profession-
als who can champion the cause of
workers who have been exposed to
repetitive hearing trauma over a num-
ber of years.

The I.W.A. has contacted the Work-

ers Compensation Board of British
Columbia’s Occupational Diseases
Standing Committee and the commit-
tee is now reviewing the scientific lit-
erature to determine whether or not
Meniere’s Disease can be considered
a compensable injury.

Parker thinks that it should and
wants the air cleared on the issue.

“This is a very debilitating disease,”
he says. “It can be so serious that a
person can’t even stand up anymore.”

The disease became so bad for one
sawfiler from Doman that the only so-
lution was to sever the auditory nerve
cord in one of his ear. Being deaf in
one ear is preferable to living with tin-
nitus for 24 hours a day and not being
able to sleep or function properly.

The Menieres Disease symtoms
most likely occur with saw benchmen,
whose job it is to hammer at saws to
straighten them out. They use a
straight edge or a gauge to see is there
is a lump in the saw and then pound
away with a hammer to level it.

In order to be able to see if they are
getting results the benchman has to
put his head right next to the saw.
Even with hearing protection the
sounds can be loud and numbing.

“The symptoms have primarily oc-
cured in senior people who have been
exposed to the impact noise over a
longer number of years,” says Brother
Parker. “Some of the damage may
have occured from back in the days
when hearing protection was used
less often or not at all.”

Greater awareness around hearing
loss arose in the early 1970's and saw-
filers and other millworkers began to
wear hearing protection on a more
regular basis. Today hearing protec-
tion is mandatory.

The saws are different too. They
aren’t made up of the real heavy
weight plate steel. Some blades are
made of a thinner kerf and don’t need
the heavy pounding.

Most saw filers have to be tested,
however. Any worker exposed to

noise level of over 90 db has to best
examined by a hearing specialist an
an annual basis.

But when they test for hearing, they
don’t screen for Meniere’s disease.

“It would be a good idea if the
audio testers were trained to look: for
Meniere's but none of them ask those
kinds of questions,” says Parker.

New brochure outlines
hazards of saw filing

There’s a new brochure floating
around that saw filers and knife
grinders should get a hold of. The
brochure, called “HARD METAL HAZ-
ARD” is an initiative of the I.W.A. in
conjunction with the Safety Advisory
Fund for Education and Research
(SAFER) and the Workers’ Compensa-
tion Board. '

It is a good way for filers and knife
grinders to read up on the hazards re-
lated to their jobs. Heavy metals are
hazardous to the lungs. Cobalt can
cause hard metal lung disease and
asthma. Chromium can cause nasal
and upper respiratory irritation and
lung or nasal cancer. :

Lead exposure can cause anemia,
nerve damage and reproductive effect
and exposure to cadmium can result
in kidney damage and lung disease.

These are hazards that have been
identified through research. For years
filers have been aware that lead and
eadmium is bad for their health, but in
more recent years cobalt and cadmi-
um for in carbide and stellite, have
been identified hazards as well.

The brochure also talks about a
study carried out by University of BC.
scientists which looked at 100 filers
and revealed that those who worked
grinding welding stellite or grinding

carbide showed various degrees of

lung impairment.

The brochure points out the risks
and hazards and then offers sugges-
tion on what workers can do.

Among the suggestions, workers
can improve ventilation for both wet
and dry grinding. They can change
coolants on a regular basis to mini-
mize cobalt concentrations.

The brochure offers a phone num-
ber to contact a WCB Occupational
Hygiene Officer and gives the address
of SAFER where more information
can be obtained.

Jim Parker, Safety Director of
I.W.A. CANADA Local 1-217 took the
proposal for the brochure to the joint
uniorvindustry committee in late 1994
following a national union health and
safety conference which was held ear-
lier in the year.

Delegates to the conference called
for the dissemination of information
after listening to a seminar on the top-
ic presented by UBC scientist Kay
Teshke and Susan Kennedy.

The SAFER committee accepted
the proposal and ran in by the Work-
ers Compensation Board of British
Columbia, which agreed to co-pro-
duce the brochure.

The brochure is being distributed
by local unions and is available
through SAFER c/o which is in the
1.W.A.’s national office in Vancouver.

All filers should read up on hazards of grinding metals.

LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 1995/13