TOTAL NOISE EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT OF A FARM FAMILY. Sheryl A. Milz, PhD, CIH Medical University of Ohio 2006

Transcription

1 TOTAL NOISE EXPOSURE ASSESSMENT OF A FARM FAMILY Sheryl A. Milz, PhD, CIH Medical University of Ohio 2006

2 HISTORY Health hazards of farming recognized as early as 1555 During early 1800s farming seen as healthy alternative to the filth and pollution of the industrialized cities, and to the hazards of long work hours and terrible working conditions in factories (Schenker, 1996) Regulations have focused on industry and have resulted in significant changes in the industrial workplace These regulations are absent or less strict in agriculture Agriculture operations exempt from many OSHA regulations 97% of US farms employ less than 11 people 2

3 AGRICULTURAL SETTING Changes in farming Introduction of tractor US population involved in agriculture has decreased Decrease in number of farms Current Ohio Data 77,797 farms (decrease of 1% from 1997 to 2002) Operators 43,488 farming primary occupation 34,309 farming secondary occupation Average age 58.3 years 3

4 HEARING LOSS Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) among farmers 323,000 American agricultural workers exposed to noise > 85 db(a) TWA(8) Higher NIHL rates than office, construction, white collar workers Hearing protection use among farmers Less than 25% of men and 15% of women use 4

5 NOISE SOURCES ON FARMS Tractors (sound levels up to 113 db(a)) With cabs Without cabs Harvesters Welding Chain Saws Pumps Animal handling Maintenance/workshop tools 5

6 CHILDREN AND AGRICULTURAL NOISE Exposed to same noise levels as adults through Residence Work Bystander Estimated over 2M children <20 exposed to farm safety hazards per year Regulatory double standard Child labor laws less restrictive than other industries 6

7 AGRICULTURAL EXPOSURE ASSESSMENTS Exposure assessments difficult in agricultural setting Each farm is a unique set of conditions Special circumstances Variety of tasks and work areas Inclusion of younger and older workers Residence at the workplace Exposure to worker and worker s s family 7

8 AGRICULTURAL EXPOSURE ASSESSMENTS Prior exposure assessments Questionnaire Telephone interview Sound level measurements for equipment 8

9 AGRICULTURAL EXPOSURE DATA Problems noted in prior exposure assessments Volunteerism levels low Applicability for comparison with acceptable standards Work more than 8 hours per day Operate tractors for long periods during seasonal operations Synergistic effects 9

10 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Noise sources on farms have the potential to generate harmful levels Studies have not been performed to measure the dose to the farmer and family Children and family members are potentially exposed to the same noise levels as adults 10

11 PURPOSE & SIGNIFICANCE Purpose Perform exposure monitoring in a way that has not been previously attempted Pilot study to evaluate feasibility of monitoring methods Significance Determine if noise levels pose a hazard to farmers and farm family members Findings could assist with identifying any needed control methods Findings could assist with identifying specific tasks with elevated noise levels 11

12 METHODS AND MATERIALS Monitoring conducted for three family members Subject 1: adult male (primary occupation farming) Subject 2: adult female (primary occupation teacher) Subject 3: 16 year old male Three seasons (planting, growing, harvesting) 7 day monitoring period each season Researcher monitored and recorded farmer s s activities during farming 12

13 METHODS AND MATERIALS Activity logging 3 logs developed to record activities on a daily basis (1 log per season) Data logging with dosimeters Larson Davis Spark TM 705+ Type 2 Noise Dosimeters Sound level measurements Quest

14 METHODS AND MATERIALS Dosimeter Settings Parameter Exchange Rate Threshold Criterion Level Criterion Duration RMS Weight Peak Weight Detector Gain Sample Interval Dose 1 OSHA 5 80 db(a) 90 db(a) 8 h A weighting C weighting Slow 0 60 s Dose 2 NIOSH/ACGIH 3 80 db(a) 85 db(a) 8 h A weighting C weighting Slow 0 60 s 14

15 METHODS & MATERIALS: ACTIVITY LOGGING BOOK 1 Activity Code 6. MACH. OPER. Till/Plow 6-A Plant 6-B Spray/Fert. 6-C Front end Loader 6-D Manure 6-E Mow 6-F Harvest 6-G Tractor on Road 6-H Other Vehicle 6-I Power Tools 6-J Haying Operations 6-K 7. OTHER-FARM 7-A 8. NON-FARM School 8-A Work 8-B Other 8-C Time Start/Stop Activity Code 12:45PM 1:00 PM 1:15 PM 1:30 PM 1:45 PM 2:00 PM 2:15 PM 2:30 PM 2:45 PM Todays Date: Unique Code: Todays Date: Unique Code: 15

16 METHODS & MATERIALS: ACTIVITY LOGGING BOOK 2 Time Description of "other" activity Principal Investigator: Sheryl A. Milz, PhD, CIH IRB # Version Date: July 7, 2004 Todays Date: Unique Code: 7:30 AM 8:00 AM 8:30 AM ANIMAL WORK Cleaned Fed Groomed Load/Unload Milk Move Treat CLEANING Grain Bin Milk Parlor Service Alley HANDPICK Ground Tree REPAIR/MAINT. Clearing Building Yards Tractor Other Equip. Principal Investigator: Sheryl A. Milz, PhD, CIH IRB # Version Date: July 7, 2004 Todays Date: Unique Code: 16

17 METHODS & MATERIALS: ACTIVITY LOGGING BOOK 3 ANIMAL WORK Cleaned Fed Groomed Load/Unload Milk Move Treat CLEANING Grain Bin Milk Parlor Service Alley HANDPICK Ground Tree REPAIR/MAINT. Clearing Building Yards Tractor Other Equip. Start Stop H or M HANDLING Bags/Sacks Small Grain/Pellet Rectangular Bales Silage MACH. OPER. Till/Plow Haying Oper. Plant Spray/Fert. Front end Loader Manure Mow Harvest Tractor on Road Other Vehicle Power Tools OTHER/FARM NON-FARM School Work Other Start Stop H or M Todays Date: Unique Code: Todays Date: Unique Code: 17

18 DATA ANALYSIS Identify and eliminate not worn data Identify and eliminate not recorded data Obtain a TWA-8 8 for each farm work day Obtain a TWA-8 8 for occupational and non- occupational tasks for the family members Obtain TWA-8 8 for equipment combinations used Obtain TWA-8 8 for each task Compare participant activity codes to researcher activity codes and determine the percent of time the activity codes were the same 18

19 RESULTS Growing Season - Farmer Farming Activity Only Semi-truck Leq (db) :00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 Time Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 ACGIH OSHA 19

20 RESULTS Planting Season - Farmer Farming Activity Only Harvest Leq (db) Day 1 Day 2 Day 6 Day 7 ACGIH OSHA 45 5:00 7:00 9:00 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 Time 20

21 RESULTS Leq (db) Harvest Season - Farmer Farming Activity Only Till/Plow 8:00 9:30 11:00 12:30 14:00 15:30 17:00 18:30 Time Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 ACGIH OSHA 21

22 RESULTS: HOURS FARMED Subject 1 Harvest Season hours farmed per day to 5.97 Planting Season hours farmed per day to Growing Season hours farmed per day to 4.98 Subject hours performed during harvest Subject 3 Four partial days of farm work performed during harvest and growing seasons Hours farmed per day ranged from 1.0 to

23 RESULTS: OSHA CRITERIA Comparison to OSHA PEL (90 db(a) TWA-8) No tasks, equipment, or days of monitoring exceeded for any subjects Comparison of daily TWA-8s to OSHA 85 db(a) TWA-8 Level at which employees are required to be in a hearing conservation program Subject 1 Planting Season 1 of 4 days exceeded (81.2 to 89.3 db(a)twa-8) Growing Season no days exceeded (59.5 to 68.4 db(a) TWA-8) Harvest Season 3 of 7 days exceeded (59.3 to 88.9 db(a) TWA-8) Subject 2 Not exceeded during farm work (70.8 db(a) TWA-8) Not exceeded during occupational exposure (teaching) Subject 3 Not exceeded during farm work (67.1 to 81.2 db(a) TWA-8) Not exceeded during non-occupational occupational exposure (school) 23

24 RESULTS: NIOSH CRITERIA Comparison of daily TWA-8s to NIOSH 85 db(a) TWA-8 Subject 1 Harvest Season - exceeded on 4 of 7 days Planting Season - exceeded on 2 of 4 days Growing Season - never exceeded Subject 2 Not exceeded during farm work (81.5 db(a) TWA-8) Not exceeded during occupational exposure (teaching) Subject 3 Exceeded during farm work on 1 of 4 days (77.6 to 85.5 db(a) TWA-8) Not exceeded during non-occupational occupational exposure (school) 24

25 RESULTS: EQUIPMENT None of the equipment used, in any combination, exceeded the OSHA PEL during any event Tractor operation with a disc exceeded the NIOSH REL Tractor operation with a chisel plow exceeded the NIOSH REL Sound level measurements One of 28 measurements recorded exceeded 90 db(a) Obtained in the tractor while under load planting (91.6 db(a)) 25

26 RESULTS: TASKS No individual task exceeded the OSHA PEL of 90 db(a) TWA-8 Tilling/plowing exceeded 85 db(a) TWA-8 using the OSHA exchange rate Individual tasks which exceeded 85 db(a) TWA-8 8 (NIOSH) identified by researcher Tilling/plowing Planting Other farm activities 26

27 RESULTS: COMPLIANCE Monitoring compliance dosimeter use Subject 1 Worn 19 of 22 days, average 10.0 h/day Subject 2 Worn 21 of 22 days, average 9.72 h/day Subject 3 Worn 17 of 22 days, average 5.95 h/day 27

28 RESULTS: QUALITY OF SELF-REPORTED DATA Daily data ranged from 0 to 100% agreement between researcher and participant codes Book 3 = 69.39% Book 2 = 64.72% Book 1 - Insufficient data for comparison Results variation Activities greater than 85 db(a) TWA-8 8 (NIOSH) identified by participant Tilling/plowing Harvesting Activities greater than 85 db(a) TWA-8 8 (NIOSH) identified by researcher Tilling/plowing Planting Other farm activities 28

29 CONCLUSIONS OSHA PEL (90dB(A)) never exceeded The farmer performed tasks which exceeded the NIOSH REL on 4 of 17 farming days Six of the farmer s s 17 work days (all tasks) exceeded the NIOSH REL NIOSH REL exceeded during one farm task for student 29

30 RECOMMENDATIONS Alteration of activity logging protocol Future studies include children Improved recruiting methods Larger study group 30