Documents pulp and paper industry 15 results

"In 2008, the collective agreement of the Finnish paper industry was significantly rewritten. This case study analyses the influence of internal factions on the capability of the Finnish Paper Workers' Union to shift to a strategy of partnership. It is shown that resistance to change was especially strong with longer-serving shop stewards, and the strong division into factions implies limits to the extent of partnership in the Finnish paper industry."

"This study investigated whether previous findings of an increased risk of gliomas among workers in some pulp and paper mills could be confirmed for all Swedish pulp and paper mill workers and whether the increase could be attributed to certain occupational groups.Pulp mill workers, but not paper mill workers, were found to have more gliomas in 1971-1990 than expected. There was an increased risk of gliomas among maintenance workers in both pulp and paper mills. Few risk factors for brain tumors are recognized, and the causes of the increase are not obvious."

"Objectives The study investigated cancer incidence among 23 718 male pulp and paper workers employed continuously for at least 1 year between 1920 and 1993 in Norway.Methods The name, date of birth, personal identification number, dates of hire and termination for all employment periods, specific department, and job categories were registered for each worker. Six subcohorts were established (sulfite mill, sulfate mill, paper mill, maintenance department, administrative staff and other departments). Data on the cohort were linked with data in the Norwegian Cancer Register. The follow-up period for cancer incidence, date of death, or emigration was from 1953 through 1993.Results An excess incidence of lung cancer was found among both short- and long-term employees [standardized incidence ratio (SIR) 1.5, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.13-2.03 and SIR 1.2, 95% CI 1.09-1.34, respectively], especially for workers with the longest latency (SIR 1.3, 95% CI 1.08-1.44) and for sulfite mill workers (SIR 1.5, 95% CI 1.09-1.99). The risk for pleural mesothelioma was also increased (SIR 2.4, 95% CI 1.45-3.75), especially among maintenance workers. The results also showed an increased risk for malignant melanoma (SIR 1.3, 95% CI 1.04-1.60), an unexpected finding.Conclusion Almost all the increased risk for lung cancer can be explained by a combination of smoking habits and asbestos use, although an effect of other work-related exposures (sulfur and chloride compounds, wood dust) cannot be excluded. Most of the cases of pleural mesothelioma occurred in departments where asbestos was used. There is no clear explanation for the excess of malignant melanoma, and the finding may be a chance occurrence."

A cohort study was conducted in 51 mills from 21 corporations selected to represent the current distribution of types of pulping operations in the United States in an effort to determine whether workers in the pulp and paper industry had a different mortality than the general population. The cohort consisted of 63,025 long term workers with 10 or more years of employment. Overall mortality and all cancer mortality rates were significantly lower in this population than the United States rates. For each of the specific causes of death, mortality rates were close to or below those expected based on the United States population, with the exception of testicular and kidney cancers and lymphosarcoma and benign neoplasms. Workers in the New England mills appeared to have a higher all cause mortality than other areas of the country. Mills in that region tended to be older and had multiple types of pulping operations in the past. The workers were also older. The determination of risks was also examined from the point of view of the pulping processes used. Workers seemed to have different risks depending on the type of pulping process, after adjusting for age, or age and calendar time. The findings suggest an association between all cause mortality, heart disease, all cancers, brain cancer, and lymphoma and work in mills using other chemical pulping. The relative risks were also elevated for kraft pulping workers as well, but not significantly. Lung cancer risk was associated with working kraft mills.