Lung disease in weavers and tacklers

[steeljack]

jumping from another thread where the term 'kissing the shuttle' was raised , it got me wondering if there is any history of lung disease in retired cotton mill workers due to inhaling loose fibers , similar to asbestosis and black lung in coal miners .....seems to me I can remember women coming home from t'mill with cotton fibres/fluff all over there hair and clothing , since this was in the mid to late 50s when the industry was dying out I wonder if any statistics were kept or are available .
thanks

[cashman]

interesting question! aint been able to locate owt, but spinningtheweb.org.uk says many suffered from chest complaints,headaches,n stomach ailments.

[MargaretR]

I found the full list of industrial diseases which thr gov recognises as qualifying for compen.
DWP - DB1 - Appendix 1: List of diseases covered by Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
A long way down the list is
D2 Byssinosis. A respiratory condition. Work in any room where any process up to and including the weaving process is performed in a factory in which the spinning or manipulation of raw or waste cotton or of flax, or the weaving of cotton or flax, is carried on.

In my civil service career I was involved with administering Industrial Injury Benefit for several years in Burnley. I do not recall ever seeing a claim for lung disease connected with weaving. That does not mean that there weren't some, but that they were uncommon (in my experience)
The list of diseases has been increased over time, and industrial deafness has only been added in the last decade. Both my parents would have qualified for disablement benefit for that, but it was not recognised as an industrial disease until after their deaths.
I think that Byssinosis was more a problem in spinning (not weaving)- so the areas of Lancashire where that predominated may well have had claims.

The 'compen culture' that we have today wasn't widely publicised then - except amongst miners, who had a very strong trade union, which assisted and encouraged their claims.

[WillowTheWhisp]

I remember a neighbour of ours who was always covered in fluff. We was a spinner.

[entwisi]

Mum worked the looms in Moscow mill when she was younger. Has asthma now but I doubt its linked.

[katex]

Originally Posted by entwisi

Mum worked the looms in Moscow mill when she was younger. Has asthma now but I doubt its linked.

Have just asked our Chairman entwisi re: the Enfield Group (which included Moscow Mill, and has never had a claim against them for this, and never heard of any others either. Company goes back well over 100 years.

My mum suffered with Tinnitus later in life, but that is all.

[entwisi]

Ah well, no payout then

Still "Always look on the bright side of life" as shes in her late 70's and still kicking.

[MargaretR]

The problem with attributing any lung disease to occupation, in persons born circa 1950 and earlier, is the fact that the air was heavily polluted for everybody - coal fires and factory chimneys.
Much of the pollution deposits have been blasted from our stone buildings. Some still remain in their blackened state, which gives you an idea of how bad it was.

[cashman]

a mate of mine was diagnosed with a form of Asbestosis a few years back, n he worked maintaince in chemicals from apprentice to retirement, he thought it was from a old plant they demolished n stripped the old machinary out, cos he said there was much Asbestos in it. this was before the Health n Safety at Work Act came into force in early 70s, used to spend all his hols in Malta, but now is unable to fly cos of chest condition. the firm he spent his working life at, informed his soliciter- he must have contracted it somewhere else, the bas***s had even forgot that fact. so if theirs no precendent for Mill Workers, i would say it will be a long hard road.

[katex]

Originally Posted by entwisi

Ah well, no payout then

Still "Always look on the bright side of life" as shes in her late 70's and still kicking.

Twas also mentioned that the last of the weavers who sucked the shuttle have now passed away, however, most of them lived to ripe old ages of 80 >> 90.

So think your mum going to be OK Entwisi.

My mum was 89 herself when she died and always had good lungs .. ran 10 looms most of her life. My father was a cloth looker, died when he was 62, but nothing to do with lungs .. hardening of the arteries. Sadly, if he had been born a little later would have survived way beyond these years, due to medical science and treatment of this condition. He certainly never had any chest problems/bad coughs at all.

[junetta]

My Nana ran six looms for most of her working life. I remember her taking me into one of the mills in Haslingden when I was about eight years old. It scared the living daylights out of me. The noise was unbearable. She never forgave me for it because it denied her a natter with her mates.

She died in her early eighties but it was nothing to do with her lungs.