Mortality among Bricklayers and Carpenters/cabinet makers

Mortality among members of two medium-sized trade unions, the union of carpenters/cabinet makers and the union of bricklayers, has been studied during the period 1.1.71–31.12.75, primarily to investigate if the greater exposure to dust and organic solvents of the carpenters/ cabinet makers caused any increase in the mortaility from lung diseases. The study did not reveal any significant differences in mortality regarding any category of diagnoses except suicide, when the analysis was based on the main diagnosis recorded on the death certificate. However, when including underlying causes of death too, statistically significant increased death rates from larynx cancer, asthma, bronchitis and emphysema were found among the bricklayers, as compared with the carpenters/ cabinet makers. No explanation can be given for these observations. They may be a result of an unequal distribution of confounding variables in the two groups, or they may reflect various grades and forms of “Healthy Worker” selection. This study is a cross-section study and such studies and longitudinal studies over a period of a few years of occupational mortality are very sensitive to the selection of the occupational groupings. The analysis is based on deaths among life-insured members under the age of 67 years, in the two trade unions. Copies of the death certificates were obtained from the National Health Service and then coded by us along the lines indicated by the NHS.