JOB TASKS, POTENTIAL EXPOSURES, AND HEALTH RISKS OF LABORERS EMPLOYEDIN THE CONSTRUCTION-INDUSTRY

Construction laborers have some of the highest death rates of any occu pation in the United States. There has been very little systematic res earch focused exclusively on ''laborers'' as opposed to other workers in the construction industry. We reviewed the English language literat ure and various data bases describing the occupational tasks, exposure s, and work-related health risks of construction laborers. The sources of information included 1) occupational mortality surveillance data c ollected by the states of California and Washington and the National I nstitute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH); 2) National Occup ational Exposure Survey; 3) national fatality data; 4) cancer registry data; and 5) case reports of specific causes of morbidity. While the literature reported that construction laborers have increased risk for mesothelioma, on-the-job trauma, acute lead poisoning, musculoskeleta l injury, and dermatitis, the work relatedness of excess risks for all -cause mortality, cirrhosis, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstruct ive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, and leukemia is less cl ear. Furthermore, while laborers are known to be potentially exposed t o asbestos, noise, and lead, and the NIOSH Job Exposure Matrix describ es other potential hazardous exposures, little research has characteri zed other possible exposures and no research has been found that descr ibes the exposures associated with specific job tasks. More advanced s tudy designs are needed that include a better understanding of the job tasks and exposures to construction laborers, in order to evaluate sp ecific exposure-disease relationships and to develop intervention prog rams aimed at reducing the rate of work-related diseases. (C) 1993 Wil ey-Liss, Inc.