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Pneumoconiosis Trends in the US Construction Industry: A Comparison between the Coal Mining and Construction Industries

Abstract This paper presents a comparison between the construction and the coal mining industries in the USA relating to the different types of pneumoconiosis (i.e. silicosis, asbestosis, Coal Worker’s Pneumoconiosis (CWP), and byssinosis) in order to determine the relationships between each type of pneumoconiosis and the occupations in both industries that are mostly affected by the disease. In this study, regression models have been developed to determine the patterns of fatalities and Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) due to each type of pneumoconiosis after 1968, and to identify the relationship between fatalities and potential life losses. The objective of the study is to provide construction researchers and relevant government agencies with information regarding the current state of the construction industry in fighting the disease and the outlook for the future. Many previous studies have focused on the details of treating and managing pneumoconiosis. This study provides a different and complementary perspective to those previous studies. The data was obtained from The National Occupational Respiratory Mortality System (NORMS). Based on the data analysis, the authors concluded that the impact of pneumoconiosis on the construction industry was distributed across several types of workers including insulation workers, construction laborers, plumbers and pipe fitters, and carpenters. Among them the insulation workers were affected most, especially by asbestosis. Existing measures for preventing pneumoconiosis might only be successful in delaying the occurrence of deaths once workers had been exposed but would not necessarily maintain normal life expectancy. In addition, it was observed that the rate of loss of life for people aged under 65 was constant, regardless of the advance of modern medical technology and stringent prevention measures.