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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Discriminatory aspects of pre-employment screening: low-back X-ray examinations in the railroad industry.

In screening the majority of job applicants, most of this nation's railroads administer a low-back X-ray examination in an attempt to ascertain the likelihood that the applicant will sustain future work-related low-back pain or injury. Many applicants are rejected for employment on the basis of the X-ray findings. The railroads apparently perceive this screening program as a cost-effective means (1) of decreasing the incidence of compensation claims for work-related injuries, brought against the railroads under the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), (2) of reducing the number of lost workdays resulting from low-back pain or injury, and (3) of protecting particularly susceptible workers from job-related hazards. The authors of this Article submit that low-back X-ray examinations are poor predictors of future low-back pain or injury. They assert that the railroads' use of such examinations misclassifies a substantial number of job applicants as being at increased risk for such pain or injury, and, in consequence, unfairly denies them employment. Furthermore, the authors claim, the screening program has other negative consequences. For example, applicants rejected for railroad employment on the basis of X-ray findings may as a result have difficulty finding jobs in other industries. In addition, they state, there is a potential radiation hazard to examinees. Moreover, both the railroads and those applicants accepted for employment may inappropriately be reassured by normal findings. On balance, the authors conclude, the screening program has a negative social value. The authors suggest that the program, in effect, erraneously labels many applicants as handicapped, and then denies them employment. Such persons might have legal recourse under federal and state statutes prohibiting employment discrimination against the handicapped.

Back Pain↗
PubMed1979

Immunofluorescence studies of dense deposit disease. The presence of railroad tracks and mesangial rings.

Immunopathologic analysis was carried out on renal tissue from patients with membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, nine with type I and nine with type II (dense deposit disease). A specific finding in all patients with type II, but not type I, was the presence of C3 along the margin but not within the central portion of dense deposit material in the glomerular basement membrane giving a double linear appearance (railroad tracks); C3 was also present within the mesangium, outlining numerous circular structures (mesangial rings). By phase contrast, electron microscopy, and dual label fluorescence studies, the railroad tracks and mesangial rings were shown to outline dense deposit material. Mesangial rings contained properdin (four of nine patients); railroad tracks contained properdin (five of nine patients) and C4 (four of nine patients); no other complement components or immunoglobulins were present. Studies using rhodamine-conjugated rabbit antibody to human glomerular basement membrane demonstrated no reactivity with the dense deposit material itself. In type I and to a lesser extent in type II, granular deposits of C3, C4, properdin, IgM, and IgG were present along the glomerular basement membrane, suggesting that immune complexes play a role in both diseases. Dense deposit transformation of the glomerular basement membrane may be a consequence of a highly specific injury.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1977

Thirteenth valuation of the railroad retirement system.

The most recent valuation of the financial condition of the railroad retirement system reveals that an existing actuarial deficiency will become more pronounced over time unless corrective action is taken. After projecting the progress of the fund under present law and certain assumptions about the future, the Railroad Retirement Board has concluded that the present value of benefits can be maintained only if the tax rate--already considerably higher for employers than under the social security program--is raised. An immediate increase of 4.1 percent of taxable payroll is required to effect an actuarial balance. Alternatively, a rise of 2.6 percent would be sufficient to prolong the fund until the year 2001. If the present tax rate is not changed, the fund is projected to run out in 1986.

Accounting↗
PubMed1978

[Self-treatment among employees of the Swiss railroad and postal systems].

In this paper some initial results of a study of self-treatment in case of light illness are reported. The average number of reported measures taken is 3,5 in general infections and infections of the respiratory tract, 2,6 in digestive disorders, and 2,5 in disorders of the musculo-skeletal system. In all three groups of disorders, the most frequent single measures was bed rest, the second most frequent was measuring body temperature in the first diagnostic group, drinking tea in the second, and massage in the third. In the first diagnostic group, an average of 2,2 pharmacologic agents are taken, in the second 1,1, and in the third 1,3. Analgesic drugs play an important role in all three groups, pointing to the primordial role of pain relief in self-medication. 84,5% of the interviewed sample indicate use of folk medicines. 90% of the applied drugs come from the stock of the home pharmacy.

Adult↗