Bakery Production

BAKERY PRODUCTION. X. p. as in technical and sanitary-hygienic respects belonged until recently, and in capitalist countries still belongs, to the most backward branches of production. Tight, low, often basement and semi-basement premises, poorly ventilated and dirty, heat, dampness, constant night work with excessive length of the working day and, alongside this, the glaringly unsanitary condition of the workers' sleeping room located nearby to the bakery premises, where it is cramped, dirty, stuffy and people sleep huddled together, are the typical conditions of labor and life of the overwhelming mass of German bakers in the not-so-distant past, as characterized by Lehmann only quite recently, just 15 years ago. In recent years in the USSR technical progress, and with it improvement of sanitary conditions of labor, have become noticeably introduced into the field of X. p. In large cities and industrial centers numerous bread factories have arisen—enterprises of factory type, equipped with elevators, automatic scales, kneading and dough-dividing machines, improved bakery ovens, etc. In Moscow all bread baking is now carried out in several large, fully mechanized bread factories. Alongside this, in small bakeries work still often proceeds under unfavorable conditions of a general sanitary nature (unsuitability of premises, crampedness, poor maintenance of premises, poor ventilation or its complete absence, etc.) and at the same time is associated with certain typical for this production occupational hazards, which are: abnormal meteorological conditions, especially near the ovens where the air temperature (up to 30°) combines with radiant radiation; flour dust (according to Vinokurov's data in 1927 during kneading and loading up to 455 mg per 1 m³ of air) and strong physical exertion, especially associated with non-mechanized kneading of dough and with lifting and carrying of weights by hand. Among individual diseases, diseases of the respiratory organs have a fairly strong distribution among bakers. This is evidenced by a number of data. Among Leningrad bakers (Zakher) the morbidity of the upper respiratory tract was found to be 1.5 times greater than among Red Army men, and the frequency of chronic catarrh of the middle ear was 5 times greater than among cardboard box makers. Matusevich found a high percentage of bronchitis (10.6) among bakers. Lehmann points out frequent disorders of digestion, linking this with drinking cold water to quench strong thirst developing under the influence of the high temperature of the working premises. Kunert and Friedlander, Katzman and Volfovskaya note a high degree of tooth damage among bakers under the influence of flour and sugar dust (see Flour Milling Production and Confectionery Production). Ale-nitsyn points to high indicators of conjunctivitis among bakers as a result of the effect of increased air temperature in combination with flour dust. Furthermore, bakers relatively often suffer from diseases of the locomotor organs. The specific occupational disease of bakers has long been considered 'X-legs' ('bakers' legs', 'Backer-beine'), linking the etiology of this disease with starting work at an early age, carrying of weights, and long work in a standing position. The frequency of deformations of this type among bakers has been confirmed recently by Hesin and Zundelovich, who found among 222 surveyed Moscow bakers 22 cases of leg curvature, including 9 cases of 'X-legs' and 13 cases of 'O-legs'. At the same time they also found a large number of flat feet, hernias of the abdominal wall, and varicose veins of the shins. Skin diseases in the form of various dermatoses, pyoderma, eczematous diseases, and burns also have significant distribution among bakers. 'Baker's eczema', 'baker's scabies' ('Backerekzem', 'Baker's itch') have long been considered a specific occupational disease of bakers. At present, eczematous diseases occur among bakers significantly less often. The exception is those cases where bakers deal with flour subjected to special processing in mills for the purpose of its artificial whitening and 'refining'. Those studying this question, Teleky and Zitzke, proved that the significant growth of eczematous diseases among bakers in Germany, noted starting from 1925-26, is explained by the widespread whitening and refining of flour using special means—persulfates, etc. Apparently these preparations, exerting a particularly sharp irritant action on the skin in combination with flour, are the cause of eczemas. Health-improving measures in the bakery business should proceed in the following directions: 1) maximum application of the principles of mechanization and automation of production processes, which can be most successfully achieved by enlarging small bakeries of the handicraft type and moving to bread factories. 2) Careful observance of sanitary norms and requirements regarding the arrangement of premises, their maintenance and care of inventory and equipment. 3) Supplying workers with rational special clothing, regular washing and cleaning of it. 4) Serious attention to measures of individual hygiene: arrangement of baths, showers, washbasins, supply of drinking water, etc. The main measures for the protection of bakers' labor are provided for by our legislation in the 'Rules for the arrangement and maintenance of bread factories and bakeries', published by NKT USSR on January 24, 1930.