Occupational poisoning is prone to occur in winter, so preventive measures must be in place

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Occupational poisoning is prone to occur in winter, and preventive measures must be taken. Winter is a season with a high incidence of occupational acute carbon monoxide poisoning and poisoning caused by organic solvents. During the production process, some enterprises keep the doors and windows of their work areas closed and fail to implement proper ventilation in the workshops, which prevents toxic and harmful substances from being removed in a timely manner and creates potential risks to safe production and occupational health. To prevent tragedies, enterprises with occupational poisoning hazards and the workers involved should enhance winter safety measures. ☆Occupational poisoning is common in enterprises in these industries. Accidents of occupational poisoning frequently occur in companies in industries such as chemicals, metallurgy, and pharmaceuticals, as well as in those that use organic solvents in sectors like electronics, leather manufacturing, toy production, handicrafts, and furniture manufacturing. Electronics manufacturing companies that use large amounts of organic solvents have high requirements regarding the cleanliness of their production facilities. When ventilation in these facilities is poor and toxic or harmful substances accumulate, it can pose a threat to the health of the workers, leading to occupational poisoning. Cause analysis: 1. To protect against wind and cold, some companies keep their doors and windows closed while working. 2. Some companies are in their off-season for production, with few orders; as a result, the ventilation systems in their workshops are not activated, which leads to an increase in the concentration of toxic and harmful substances in the air. 3. As the end of the year approaches, some companies rush to increase production, ordering their employees to work overtime; as a result, site management becomes chaotic, and chemical containers are either not stored properly or are not sealed promptly after use. 4. After completing their work, workers bathe, wash their hands, and change their clothes infrequently, allowing toxic substances to enter the body through contaminated skin or clothing. 5. Some enterprises fail to implement safety protection measures and do not organize timely inspections and rectifications of potential hazards in light of seasonal conditions. ☆Occupational acute carbon monoxide poisoning: Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, and can enter the body through the respiratory tract, leading to asphyxiation. Occupational acute carbon monoxide poisoning refers to a systemic disease characterized primarily by damage to the central nervous system, which occurs when workers inhale large amounts of carbon monoxide over a short period of time; it is considered one of the recognized occupational diseases. Jobs involving exposure include metallurgical processes such as steelmaking and coking, gas production, as well as chemical synthesis of substances like ammonia, propylene, phosgene, and methanol. These tasks are carried out using coal stoves, earth beds, fire walls, charcoal burners, as well as other equipment powered by coal, gas, or fuel. Common symptoms: Mild poisoning: severe headache, dizziness, weakness in the limbs, nausea, vomiting, mild to moderate disturbance of consciousness, with a blood carboxyhemoglobin concentration above 10%. Moderate poisoning: Consciousness disorders manifest as mild to moderate coma; recovery is possible after treatment with no significant complications, and the blood carboxyhemoglobin concentration is above 30%. Severe poisoning: cerebral edema, shock or severe myocardial damage, respiratory failure, upper gastrointestinal bleeding, etc., with a blood carboxyhemoglobin concentration higher than 50%. Delayed encephalopathy: After a \"pseudo-recovery period,\" neurological and cognitive disorders reappear, along with extrapyramidal neurological disorders such as those characteristic of Parkinson’s syndrome ； Spinal cord-related nerve damage, such as hemiplegia, positive pathological reflexes, or urinary incontinence ； Focal dysfunction of the cerebral cortex, such as aphasia and blindness, or secondary epilepsy may occur. Precautionary measures: 1. Enterprises should regularly inspect equipment and identify potential hazards in order to prevent leaks from gas generators and pipelines. 2. Strengthen the sealing of equipment and ventilation in work areas, and equip workshops where carbon monoxide is likely to be generated with appropriate alarm devices. 3. Establish operating procedures and carry out operations strictly in accordance with them; in areas with high concentrations of carbon monoxide, monitoring measures must be implemented. Before starting the work, a safety and technical briefing must be conducted. If hot work is required, a hot work permit must be obtained, and professionals must monitor the carbon monoxide level to ensure that the work is carried out within safe limits. 4. Enterprises should provide safety training to their workers to popularize knowledge of self-rescue and mutual rescue. 5. When workers enter hazardous areas to carry out tasks, they must take proper safety precautions. 6. Persons with significant neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and severe anemia, as well as older adults, should not work in positions where carbon monoxide may be generated. 7. Personnel on duty in workplaces that use coal stoves for heating must be vigilant against poisoning caused by the accumulation of carbon monoxide; those on night shift must heat the premises strictly in accordance with the requirements. 8. When rescue workers enter work areas with high carbon monoxide concentrations, they should use self-contained breathing apparatus, carry carbon monoxide detectors, and wear protective clothing. 9. Upon discovering that a worker has been poisoned, they should be moved away from the contaminated area to a place with fresh air, their collar should be loosened to ensure smooth breathing, and care should be taken to keep them warm. Oxygen therapy should be administered as early as possible when conditions permit. After first aid at the scene, the poisoned person should be promptly transferred to a hospital equipped with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Note: C:\Users\dell\Desktop\res01_attpic_brief.jpg Note: C:\Users\dell\Desktop\res04_attpic_brief.jpg ☆Organic solvent poisoning. Organic solvents refer mainly to liquids that can dissolve substances that are insoluble in water; they are widely used in production processes such as cleaning, degreasing, dilution, and extraction. Some of them can also be used as intermediates in chemical synthesis. Organic solvents are almost all primary skin irritants; they cause varying degrees of irritation to human skin and mucous membranes, and also possess toxic effects such as carcinogenicity and teratogenicity. Toxic and harmful gases as well as volatile organic solvent vapors are widespread in industrial production, and ventilation is an important measure to prevent poisoning. Once winter arrives, some companies shut down ventilation systems and keep doors and windows closed to keep warm, resulting in poor ventilation in the work areas and the accumulation of harmful gases, which can lead to occupational poisoning. Furthermore, organic solvents and chemicals can enter the body through skin or clothing contact, such as organophosphorus pesticides, amino and nitro compounds of benzene, etc. Jobs involving exposure include the manufacturing of wooden handicrafts and furniture, painting and spraying tasks in the automobile repair industry, as well as jobs in artificial leather production, shoe making, and bag manufacturing that involve the use of organic solvents. Other such jobs include those involved in the production of rubber adhesives, fibers, dyes, detergents, and pesticides. Common symptoms of chloroform: It can cause symptoms such as tearing, sore throat, severe coughing, chest tightness, difficulty breathing, fever, and chills. Benzene: It can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, confusion, loss of sensation, coma, seizures, etc.; in severe cases, death may occur due to paralysis of the central nervous system. Formaldehyde: Can cause redness and itching of the eyes, discomfort or pain in the throat, hoarseness, sneezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Carbon disulfide: skin flushing, rapid breathing, nausea, vomiting, severe headache, visual disturbances, confusion, fainting. Methanol: It causes headaches, nausea, stomach pain, fatigue, blurred vision and even blindness; in severe cases, it can lead to death due to paralysis of the respiratory center. Toluene: It causes significant irritation to the eyes and upper respiratory tract, leading to congestion of the conjunctiva and pharynx. Symptoms include dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, chest tightness, weakness in the limbs, and confusion; in severe cases, there may be restlessness, convulsions, and coma. Bingtong: Symptoms include fatigue, nausea, headache, dizziness, irritability, vomiting, shortness of breath, spasms, and coma. Irritating to the eyes, nose, and throat. Ethyl acetate: It is irritating to the eyes, nose, and throat; it can damage the liver and kidneys, and may cause secondary anemia and an increase in white blood cells. Precautionary measures: 1. Enterprises must strictly control the occupational disease hazards in the workplace. In accordance with the principle of \"replacing toxic substances with non-toxic ones, and replacing highly toxic substances with less toxic ones\", they should use materials that are non-toxic or have lower toxicity. It is not allowed to use materials that lack labels, usage instructions, or manufacturer identification – so-called \"three-no\" materials. 2. The work area should maintain good ventilation; exhaust fans, blowers, and exhaust hoods can be installed, as well as alarm devices ； Jobs involving toxic and harmful substances should be separated from other types of jobs ； Strengthen the monitoring of occupational disease hazards in the workplace to ensure compliance with relevant standard requirements. 3. Strengthen the management of the storage and use of organic solvents. Organic solvents should be classified and stored in designated areas, and strict adherence to procedures must be followed when using them. 4. Fulfill the obligation to inform employees about occupational disease hazards, strengthen safety education, so that employees understand the components and hazardous properties of the chemicals they use, thereby improving their ability to protect themselves. 5. Implement occupational health examinations to detect occupational contraindications or occupational injuries at an early stage, and arrange for suspected occupational disease patients to undergo diagnosis and treatment promptly. 6. Provide employees with personal protective equipment and ensure its proper use ； Provide bathing facilities for employees and guide them on proper personal protection. 7. Equip with emergency equipment and first-aid supplies. In the event of an acute occupational poisoning incident, operations should be stopped immediately, good ventilation maintained, and rescue efforts organized once safety is ensured. Report the accident to the local safety authorities and cooperate with them in the investigation to prevent the situation from worsening. 8. On-site treatment of acute organic solvent poisoning is key to rescue. Rescue workers should remove the poisoned person from the toxic environment as soon as possible, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and artificial ventilation, clean any toxins from their eyes and skin, and determine the cause of poisoning promptly to provide a basis for proper treatment in the hospital.