§ 55. Mr. Barry Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Employment what discussions his officials have had with the Courtaulds company and with the Health and Safety Executive concerning carbon disulphide levels and their effect upon workers health; what steps he proposes to take; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaddingtonThe Health and Safety Commission has requested the advisory committee on toxic substances to review all the epidemiological and other evidence, including current practices in industry, to advise on the most suitable threshold limit value—the accepted guideline for occupational hygiene purposes—to be adopted for carbon disulphide (CS2). This will of course include a review of the effects of CS2 on workers' health.
Since 1968, Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate have carried out two surveys in a number of factories using CS2 to identify the levels of exposure of work people so that advice could be given on the necessary action. Inspectors have been pressing firms to reduce the levels of 71W CS2 in air where they have been found to be in excess of the threshold limit value which is now set at 10 parts per million of air.
At the Courtaulds' Greenfields plant in North Wales a programme of improvement designed to reduce exposure to CS2, agreed by Her Majesty's Factory Inspectorate with both management and unions, is being implemented.