SPORTS INJURY How to tackle it EXERCISE The power of Pilates ...

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES: Advertising FeatureN E HEALTH27❛ Easington,at the heartof the formerCounty Durhamcoalfield, is topof the leaguewhen it comesto compensationfor formerpitmen,reflecting thenationalimportance ofthe Durhamcoalfield duringthe mining’sheydayF o r m e r p it m e n t u r n u p t o am e e t in g t o t a lk a b o u t h e a lt h is s u e sWHEN machines replaced thehewing of coal by hand, itseemed mining had finallyentered the 20th Century.Production rocketed as themachines cut through the coal like knivesthrough butter.But it soon became clear that this major‘advance’ carried a catastrophic downside.The same machines threw up clouds ofchoking dust which the miners drew intotheir lungs with every breath. Blasting undergroundseams left them for days afterwardstasting and coughing up the filthy dustfrom coal, stone and even rust from the machines.Eventually changes were introduced in thepits as more evidence came to light linkingcoal dust with lung disease but they came toolate for thousands of older pitmen.Today many across the North-East fight adaily battle simply to draw breath. For manymore their suffering is over as they have succumbedto emphysema, pneumoconiosis,bronchitis and other chronic respiratory diseases.Easington, at the heart of the former CountyDurham coalfield, is top of the leaguewhen it comes to compensation for formerpitmen, reflecting the national importanceof the Durham coalfield during the mining’sheyday.Government figures show that £82.7m hasbeen paid out so far to 11,813 ex-miners andtheir families in east Durham to compensatethem for the suffering caused by industrialdiseases.Other North-East areas in the table wereWansbeck, in Northumberland, where 7,381claims have resulted in £46.7m of payouts,and Houghton and Washington East, where5,320 claimants have received a total of£36.6m in compensation so far.Emphysema had been a recognised diseasefor hundreds of years but the link with mineworkers is a much more recent discovery.Until 1970, smoking and poor air quality becauseof industrial pollution were blamed.It wasn’t until September 1993 that industrialinjuries disablement benefit was introducedfor coal miners suffering from emphysemaand chronic bronchitis who coulddemonstrate a specified level of lung functionimpairment and had a minimum of 20years underground exposure to coal dust.More than 4,000 people were assessed forbenefit up to the end of 1994. Since then newFighting for breath –Many retired miners across the region fight a daily battle to drawbreath, a lasting and sometimes deadly legacy of their working livescases of chronic bronchitis and emphysemaappear to have levelled off with claims forbenefit now at around 400 per year.Meanwhile the number of deaths withpneumoconiosis as the underlying cause fellin 2000 and 2001 to 279 and 240 cases respectively,but rose again to 271 cases in 2002.Deaths are on a long-term downward trenddespite this recent blip, according to the HSE.The massive increase in numbers makingclaims for respiratory disease compensationunder the British Coal Respiratory DiseaseLitigation (BCDRL) Scheme (570,000 comparedwith the 100,000 predicted) caused ahuge logjam in cases being resolved.However, the courts have ordered claimhandling to be speeded up for living miners.To qualify under the “Fast Track OfferScheme” ex-miners must have been for a lungfunction test (spirometry) but must not havehad a full medical examination (claims ofthose who have already had a full medical examinationwill proceed under the old system).For relatives of miners who have alreadydied, a similar fast track scheme is due to getunderway later this year in the case of deathsfrom chronic bronchitis only.Solicitors can advise in both these cases.Miners struck down with debilitating lungconditions are just one part of the story whenit comes to severe chest problems caused byor made worse at work.Pneomoconiosis is a feature of other industries,including quarrying, foundries andpotteries, where silica is the predominantcause.In spite of the tragedy of the miners, chestconditions continue to plague the workplacetoday.and compensationCoal mining: a way of life many men in theregion are proud to be associated with,but which has left thousands in bad healthOccupational asthma, a lung disease inwhich the airways overreact to dusts,vapours, gases, or fumes that exist in theworkplace, is the most frequently reportedoccupational respiratory disease in GreatBritain, with an estimated 3,000 new casesper year. It’s estimated that more than twomillion workers in a range of industries potentiallymay be exposed to agents known tobe associated with asthma and may cause irritationin susceptible people.Workers most likely to develop the diseaseare those with a personal or family historyof allergies or asthma and who are frequentlyexposed to highly sensitising substances.A group of chemicals known as isocyanates,used by printers, chemists, is responsiblefor the highest proportion of newcases of occupational asthma, according toSWORD (Surveillance of Work-related andOccupational Respiratory Disease) and theDepartment for Work and Pensions. Vehiclepaint sprayers are most at risk – the incidencerate for occupational asthma in 2001-3for them was 80 times the average for all jobs.As the next most common risk agent, flourand grain put bakers at risk, followed by carpenters,welders and anyone exposed tometal working fluid such as turners,grinders, tool setters and maintenance engineers.Latex has continued to decline as an underlyingfactor in causing occupational asthma,both in percentage terms and numbers,probably because latex gloves used by healthcare workers, nurses, police officers continueto be substituted for an alternative.The HSE says almost all cases of occupationalasthma can be prevented by use of adequatecontrols.A small number of people are assessedeach year for allergic rhinitis, defined as orulceration of the upper respiratory tract ormouth and caused by exposure to harmfuldust, liquid and vapour.Farmers and vets form another group ofworkers most prone to allergic alveolitis, thegeneral term for diseases characterised by anallergic reaction to organic material.Farmer’s Lung, which arises from the inhalationof dust or spores arising frommouldy hay, grain and straw, is the most commonform of the disease.