Note D — PART III PREVENTIVE MEASURES AGAINST INDUSTRIAL POISONING
Thomas Morison Legge translation
In Great Britain section 73 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, requires every medical practitioner attending on or called in to visit a patient whom he believes to be suffering from lead, phosphorus, arsenical or mercurial poisoning, or anthrax, contracted in any factory or workshop, to notify the Chief Inspector of Factories, and a similar obligation is placed on the occupier to send written notice of every case to the inspector and certifying surgeon of the district.
The table on p. 222 shows the number of reports included in returns for the years 1900-12.
Cases of acute poisoning in factories and workshops are reportable to the Inspector and certifying surgeon, under the Notice of Accidents Act, 1906, when (a) causing loss of life or (b) due to molten metal, hot liquid, explosion, escape of gas or steam, and so disabling any person as to cause absence throughout at least one whole day from his ordinary work.
The following table gives indication of the relative frequency of cases of poisoning from gases and fumes, although some were reported as accidents the result of the unconsciousness induced:
Nature of Gas or Fumes. (1) 1912. (2) 1911. (3) 1910. (4) 1909. (5) 1908. (6)
Carbon monoxide 91 14 64 6 53 9 53 6 55 5
(a) Blast furnace 33 5 16 2 19 7 16 26 3
(b) Power (suction, producer, Mond, Dowson). 19 4 31 1 25 25 4 19 2
(c) Coal 29 2 6 2 4 11 1 9
(d) Other 10 3 11 1 5 2 1 1 1
Sulphuretted hydrogen 6 8 2 2 5 2 8 1
Carbon dioxide 3 2 1 1 2 1 2 2 4 3
Ammonia 1 1 1 2 1 1
Chlorine and hydrochloric acid fumes 3 5 1 3 1 1
Nitrous fumes 12 1 18 2 11 12 2 3 1
Nitro and amido derivatives of benzene 9 1 21 18 4 2
Naphtha and benzene 3 1 1 1 — 11 2
Other (Sulphur dioxide, &c.) 7 2 4 4 4 3
The principal figures are those of all cases, fatal and non-fatal; the small figures relate to fatal cases.