Construction Jobs

 

Table 1: Construction Jobs and Associated Job Tasks

Job Title Ask About Job Tasks for this Job
insulator a, b, c, 3 1, 2, 27, 28
roofer   1, 2, 5, 88
brick, block & stone mason a, b, c 1, 2, 29, 31, 58, 62
concrete or terrazzo worker a, b, c, d 29, 58, 31
carpenter a, b, c, d 1, 2, 27, 28, 39, 41, 44, 45, 50, 51, 63
construction, industrial or maintenance painter a, b, c, 63 15, 41, 44, 45, 60, 62, 88
electrician/repairer of transformers, electrical, or electronic equipment a, b, c, 3, 6, 10, 28 1, 7, 8, 78
plumber, pipe fitter, or steamfitter a, b, c, e, 6 1, 2, 3, 5,7, 8, 88
sheet metal worker a, b, c 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 104
welder, cutter, or burner a, b, c, e, 6, 8, 10, 62, 63 1, 2, 3, 7
heating & air conditioning installer a 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10
dry wall taper, plasterer   105

The middle column lists questions to ask the worker while taking the occupational history.

a.Ventilation adequate--work indoors or in confined spaces?

b. If work in buildings, old or new? Or if in shipyard, repairing old or building new ships?

c. If work in production area, what product made and what other workers doing?

d. Exposed to chemicals in pipes?

e. Paint?

 

Table 2: Construction Job Tasks and Associated Chemical Exposures

Job Task Name Potential Chemical Exposure
1. remove insulation asbestos, fiberglass, mineral wool
2. install insulation asbestos, fiberglass, mineral wool (no asbestos after 1975)
3. weld, braze or flame cut (includes thermal degradation of coatings and pigments) CO; NO2, phosgene; fluorides, inorganic; lead; cadmium; manganese; chromium, iron oxide; zinc chloride fume; nickel; molybdenum; copper; aluminum; vanadium; titanium oxide; tungsten; barium, soluble; antimony; butyraldehyde; acrolein; phthalic anhydride; methyl methacrylate; welder fumes
5. apply asphalt to cables, pipes or roofs asphalt
6. machine metal oil mist (mineral); chromium, nickel, cobalt, formaldehyde, nitrosamines
7. degrease metal methylene chloride, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, TCE, Perc. & CFCs
8. solder lead, rosin, tin, silver
10. repair air conditioning or refrigeration CFCs
15. paint (2-part epoxy or urethane) epichlorohydrin, diisocyanates & trimellitic anhydride, lead, cadmium, chromium
27. work with glue solvents xylene, toluene, n-hexane, methylal, mek, benzene, cyclohexane, TCE, perc, 2-nitropropane, DMF, naphtha
28. work with adhesives methyl-2-cyanoacrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, epichlorohydrin, TDI, tricresyl phosphate, formaldehyde
29. mix & lay cement or concrete Portland cement
31. clean masonry HCl
39. machine or sand wood wood dust, formaldehyde
41. use paint or varnish remover Methylene Chloride, Cyclohexanethiol, Dimethylformamide, Isopropyl ether, 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, Isoamyl alcohol, Toluene, sec-Butyl alcohol, 2-Ethoxyethanol; 2-Ethoxyethyl acetate, Methyl acetate, Mesityl oxide, Isobutyl alcohol, Ethylene dichloride, Cyclohexanone, Propylene dichloride, Potassium hydroxide
44. paint & varnish (oil-based) acetone, methylene chloride, Stoddard solvent, VM & P, turpentine, xylene, toluene, lead, cadmium, chromium
45. spray paint (water-based) ammonia, formaldehyde, dipropylene glycol methyl ether, 2-butoxyethanol, Stoddard solvent
50. apply wood preservatives pentachlorophenol, creosote, arsenic, copper
51. work with preservative-treated wood pentachlorophenol, creosote, arsenic, copper
58. grind or cut tiles, stones, bricks or terrazo silica, asbestos
60. spray paint (metallic pigments) chromium, nickel, lead, cadmium, cobalt, titanium
62. sandblast silica, nickel, cadmium, chromium, lead, beryllium
63. surface preparation of metal alloy lead, cadmium, chromium, beryllium, nickel, zinc
78. remove or replace fluid in transformers PCBs
88. use solvents for equipment clean up gasoline, MEK, turpentine, Stoddard, VM & P, methylene chloride, tetrachloroethylene, 1,1,1-trichloroethane, CFCs, toluene, xylene
104. forge metal CO, oil mist (mineral), PAHs
105. mixing, spraying, or sanding drywall compound, fireproofing plaster or accoustical cement (during new construction before 1975) asbestos

Thanks to Trish Stewart at the National Cancer Institute for her assistance with these two tables. This preliminary work was used to build the first version of hazardous job tasks for construction workers. To see the current list of construction jobs and associated job tasks, see this page on the NLM website: Haz-Map Construction Jobs.

Stewart WF, Stewart PA. Occupational Case-Control Studies: I. Collecting Information on Work Histories and Work-Related Exposures. Am J Ind Med. 1994;26:297-312.

Stewart PA, Stewart WF, Heineman EF, Dosemeci M, Linet M, Inskip PD. A Novel Approach to Data Collection in a Case-Control Study of Cancer and Occupational Exposures. Int J Epidemiol. 1996;25:744-752.

 

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