§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services whether the report on bronchitis and emphysema by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council has been published; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottThe Industrial Injuries Advisory Council's report on bronchitis and emphysema is published today and a copy has been placed in the Library. The council concludes that there is insufficient evidence at the present time to warrant prescription, under the terms of section 76(2) of the Social Security Act 1975, of bronchitis and emphysema as industrial diseases in their own right.
The council calls for more research into non-smoking dust-exposed workers and undertakes to review the subject again when such evidence becomes available. It also announces that a separate investigation will be conducted into respiratory disease in welders. Finally, the report clarifies that emphysema caused by inhaled cadmium fume is already covered under the terms of prescription of the prescribed disease C18 (poisoning by cadmium).
We have accepted the council's conclusions and recommendations.