Investigation on occupational health work in lead-acid battery industry in Shanghai

Objective To know the reality of occupational hazards in the lead-acid battery industry in Shanghai;to evaluate the effectiveness of facilities and/or measures against occupational hazards and to provide scientific basis for further protective measures in future. Method A total of 13 factories in the lead-acid battery industry in Shanghai were investigated. The occupational health work in these factories were examined and concentrations of lead dust or fume at workplaces were measured. Results Among 13 factories,4 factories were in a large scale and 9 factories in a smaller scale. In the large-scaled factories,most processes were in the automatic manner and in the closed system,but the installation of some facilities against occupational hazards was found not reasonable and there were still a few of processes in the opening system. 8 smaller-scaled factories were engaged in the assemble operation and they had poorly equipped workshop. The most operations were manual and finished by hand tools. One smaller-scaled factory was engaged in recycle operation and had very poor equipment and no facilities and measures against hazards. The concentrations of lead dust or fume in 5 factories were high and 26.5% dust samples and 21.2% fume samples were not compliant with the national occupational exposure limits. The highest dust concentration was found at the edge grinding,cladding and coating worksites,while the highest fume concentration was noted at the refining,melting,welding,casting and prilling worksites. Conclusion To control lead hazards,it is important to improve manufacturing technique and install reasonably protective facilities,while the implement of occupational management,training of workers and effective use of PPEs are indispensably required.