CN - STRESS— AN OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE — =I By VERNA LEDGER When the body is subjected to stress, a whole series of biological changes occur. Often referred to as the “‘fight or flight reaction,’’ as when a human being or animal senses danger, there is an _ in- stantneous response. EARLY SYMPTOMS Adrenalin hormone is released from the adrenal glands into the bloodstream, causing an increase in pulse rate, blood pressure, and rate of breathing and stimulating the releasing of energy supplying body chemicals, glucose and fats into the blood. SD The complicated blood clot- ting system is also partially activated to provide for rapid clotting of wounds. Early symptoms of a chronic stress reaction may not be symptoms of a_ specific disease. They can be in- decision, reduced appetite, loss of weight, irregular bowel movement, headache, back- ache, skin- rashes, insomnia, nervousness, poor memory and irritability. On the other hand these symptoms may never appear and chronic dis- tress may lead directly to actual disease. Numerous diseases are associated with or aggravated by stress, ulcers, migraine, asthma, ulcerative colitis and expecially coronary heart disease. Heart disease is the most common cause of death in this country, yet seldom recognized as a work related disease. Some stress is normal to life, such as the excitement we experience at a hockey game or movie. However if stress is repeated, prolonged or con- tinuous, the body becomes worn out and various illnesses can result. onl ————————Ee STRESS ON WORKERS > placed upon executives and how it can lead to ulcers, heart attacks, high blood pressure, but how many people recognize that workers experience as much, and often more stress. We do not see it recorded because workers do not enjoy the social prestige of execu- tives and therefore are not the subject of television programs, movies, magazine articles or ASA Workers themselves often blame outside situations (eg. family and financial problems), as being respon- sible for their stress related symptoms. It is true that family and financial problems may be contributing factors in the whole stress syndrome, but too often we ignore the most obvious stressor, our work. — MORE ACCIDENTS _ Work related stress problems have a variety of causes, noise for example may cause a continuous stress reaction by the body and may result in fatigue due to con- tinuous energy loss. The rate of work for a repetitive task can be a source of stress, the same job at a slower rate may also be stressful if it is totally boring, monotonous’ or meaningless. Fatigue results from monotony and the various symptoms associated with fatigue, such as weariness, depression, lassitude, anger, and exhaustion can cause diminished skill in performing tasks. Fatigued workers pay less attention, receive new visual information more slowly, need more reaction time, take more time to think and show decreased motiva- tion and performance. Because of this, they have more acci- dents. ae eT SHIFT WORK Re EEA Pe Shift work has a profound effect on a worker’s family life, as well as the physical demands it makes on a worker. Man is a daytime animal, almost all body functions are periodic. Hormone levels, body temperature, chemical reactions through the body which produce energy, pulse rate and blood pressure all fluctuate on a 24 hour schedule with peak activity in the mid. ‘tivity day period. The internal ryth- ms plus the external rythms of daylight and dark, tempera- tures and social activities regulate a wide range of body function and thereby affect fatigue, sleepiness, rest, ac- and alertness. It has been estimated that at least one month of uninterrupted routine of being active and awake during the night and sleeping during the day is necessary before the body can completely reverse all if its round the clock functions (aecclimitization). Even a weekend off where the night- day schedule is reversed allows the body to go back to the regular day-night schedule. Some workers of course pre- fer shift work and therefore find it less stressful. Workers who have a negative physical or emotional reaction to shift work probably also suffer more stress from existing physical and _ chemical hazards. Emotional and psychological pressures are other causes of stress reaction in workers. Fear of injury from dangerous chemicals or unsafe equipment, accidents and near accidents, job or financial insecurity all contribute to a workers psychological stress. Other work related psychological stressors in- clude: feelings of inadequacy — stereotyped role of worker, feelings of being controlled or dominated by complicated fast paced machines, lack of self importance ‘‘cog in wheel syn- drom’’, lack of control of work process, overload, speed- up, incentive system, competi- tion, heat, cold poor lighting and ventilation. Workers sub- jected to these pressures sometimes then attempt escape by turning to alcohol or drugs with disastrous results. The relief of stress is a chal- lenge workers must undertake, because it really involves changing the nature of the workplace. Solutions such as controlling noise at the source, having some control over the work- process and speed, frequent breaks, flexible hours of work, choice of shift, shorter day or week, job security, education and job training, development of ergonomics programs, can be gained, through nego- tiation and political action. If we as workers can find solutions to some of the stress conditions at work, other stress conditions may be solved as well. However simply admitting that the nature of work affects our family life, environment, leisure and recreation, is not enough. We must emphasize ‘work at the centre of our lives” as being the first cause of our social problems which in the end may mean a “break- down” in our health. y u Overheard in a traffic jam: The most fascinating thing about the auto industry is where do they find those empty roads to film commercials on. ... and as you know Melpott, we dont make a big noise around here on retirement days . . . U.B.C. TO STUDY WHITE FINGER DISEASE A study of vibration white finger disease among British Columbia loggers is to be done for the Workers’ Compensation Board by University of British Columbia researchers, directed by Dr. David Bates. The study, which has the full support of the IWA, will survey loggers and former loggers to- discover how widespread the white finger problem is. The disease is found among forestry workers who have used chain saws or other vibrating equipment. A control group of woodworkers who do -not use chain saws will be used to give comparison statisties. A pilot project will be carried out with fallers on Quadra Island and the main study will take in about 400 fallers around the province, with an equal number of control subjects in the comparison group. Results will be published in mid-1980. This is the first time that B.C. workers have been studied for white finger disease. — NEW DANGER FROM SUN AND DRUGS After about three hours in the hot sun, the man with the cold complained that he wasn’t feeling well; he was hot all over and thought he would pass out. His partner, treating him for heat stroke, elevated his feet, loosened his shirt collar, and placed a towel soaked with ice water on his head. Breath was coming in gasps and his body was wracked with tremors. His partner called a first-aid station and described the situation. Reportedly, the corpsman quickly and accur- ately diagnosed the illness as other than sun stroke ... the man was taken to a hospital where he remained on the critical list for several days, receiving constant fluid trans- fusions and expelling blood in his urine — and indication of kidney damage. A week elapsed before he could recog- nize his wife and children. This man was a victim of what is technically called “‘photosensitive’’ — an unusual reaction which often occurs in people who expose themselves to the sun after taking certain types of drugs. It makes no difference that you are ordinarily not bothered by the sun; with a significant - number of commonly used drugs, even mild exposure can cause serious trouble. Anti- biotics are among the worst offenders. So are tranquilizers, sulfa drugs, antihistamines, and some of the compounds used to treat diabetes, edema, and high blood pressure. If any of these is present in the system and the person goes into the bright sunshine, the power of the drugs can be multiplied several times. Hives, bumps, and similar abnormalities develop not only on the exposed areas, but all over the body, including the eyes. Kidney and liver damage can also occur. We should all be well aware of sun in combination with certain drugs, as noted above, to protect from the danger involved. —NAAS Whiting Field ie x) 2 ‘i Anywhere from two to three million workers in North America are affected to some degree by voice loss caused by high industrial noise levels says a United States specialist in the field. Dr. Eugene Rontal, an otolaryngologist at the Uni- versity of Michigan, said that industry may soon be faced with millions of dollars in com- pensation claims. He said a recent study he conducted showed that among industrial workers voice loss indicates a high incidence of vocal cord abnormalties. Dr. Rontal is a clinical fessor of otorhinolaryn — the study of the ears, nose — and larnyx. Voice and h related to high earing losses are noise levels, de- — | c : 4 scribed as probably the occupational health oe the world.