The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1915-09-18
GARMENT WORKERS HEALTH.
Reports on Health of Workers and Hy.
gienic Conditions.

Reports on Health of Workers and Hy.
gienic Conditions.
The United States public health serv'
ice to-day issues public health bulletin
No. II, report upon the health of gar
ment workers. This is the first OF Sc.
res of studies OF the effect of industries
upon the health Of the individual worker
and was undertaken in the women's gar
ment industries of New York City dur
ing the summer Of 1914. The joint board
of sanitary control of the industries in
question and the various labor unions
concerned joined in requesting this study
and co-operated in its performance.
5000 Workers Examined.
Two thousand male workers and 1000
| female workers volunteered for careful
physical examinations by officers of the
U. S. public health service. Only about
per cent Of the total number examined
were found free from defect or disease,
there being recorded l3,457 defects of all
kinds, of which 9,45l were in male, 3,0l6
in females, or an average of 4.36 defects
and diseases to each individual exam
ined. While not all OF these were Sc
rious defects, many of the conditions
noted exercised a deleterious effect upon
the individual. An interesting feature
of the report is that there were discoy-
cred no vocational diseases peculiar to
the garment trades, but this sedentary
industry was shown to intensity the bad
effects upon health and efficiency of GER
tain defects and diseases.
Prevalence of tuberculosis
Among males the rate of prevalence of
tuberculosis was found to be 10 times
that in the United States army, and
three times the army rate among fe-
males. The disease was most prevalent
among the lowest paid class of work
ers.
Defective Vision Common.
Apart from tuberculosis, the most
common defects and diseases noted
among the garment workers were defec-
tive vision, so per cent; faulty posture,
so per cent of males; chronic nose and
throat affections, 262 per cent; defective
teeth, 26 per cent; pyorrhea alveolaris,
20 per cent; weak and fiat feet, 26 per
cent; chronic constipation. 1871 per cent;
hypertrophied tonsils, 1873 per cent; de-
fective hearing, 10 per cent; and nervous
affections, us per cent. Only llK per
cent of those who subnormal eyesight
wore glasses, and but 2.35 per cent of
these had glasses which fully corrected
the defect.
Faulty Pastures.
The report which the United States
public health service is just issuing
shows that faulty postures were very
common among the garment workers.
The effect of previous military training
received by foreign born garment work
ers in European armies, or the volun
tary physical training in other workers,
were marked in preventing the forma
tion of poor postural halsts.
The conclusion reached by the investi.
gators is shat a large part of the de-
fects and diseases of garment workers
arise from ignorance or neglect of per-
sonal hygiene. A proper regard OF these
principles on the part of the workers
would go far in multiplying the bad effects |
Of the sedentary indoor occupation upon |
the health" In this connection the rec
is made that the education |
Of the workers in personal hygiene. es-
peeially the correction of visual defects, |
the formation of correct postural habits |
and attention 10 oral hygiene, will do /
much 10 correct this condition. The re-
port points out the necessity for better
Of school children in personal /
h ha4V
tural training is insisted upon.
Illumination of Garment Workshops.
In "a workshops careful measurements
we're made of the light at the stations
" the workers, and il was found that
he illumination was inadequate az lit
lie over one-half Of all the stations. some
500 in all, at which the workers were
coated. Common defects noted were
,oor arrangement of working stations
With reference TO windows, reduction Of
Ivailable natural illumination by the use
4 unnecessary opaque partitions, neglect
o clean windows, obstruction of win
lows by piles Of garments, the use Of
lear. unshaded lamps, the use Of saucer
nd disk refiectors for local illumination,
he use OF lamps Too large for the re-
Iectors employed, dirty refectors and
amps, too high or too low suspension
amps, lamps missing, blackened. burned
ut or short -circuited, he use Of a few
arge instead Of q greater number Of
mailer units for local Illumination. and
ack Of unit rmity in the distribution Of
Ieht upon stations where workers are
pcated.
The public health service Is engaged
\ making similar investigations with
srard 20 other trades, and win issue
lmilar reports &C subsequent times.