Industries in this group fall into the following categories: jewelry, silverware, and plated ware; musical instruments; dolls, toys, games, and sporting and athletic goods; pens, pencils, and artists' materials; buttons, costume novelties, miscellaneous notions; brooms and brushes; caskets; and other manufacturing.

Some establishments are primarily engaged in manufacturing jewelry and other articles worn on or carried about the person, made of precious metals (including base metals clad or rolled with precious metals), with or without stones. Products of this industry include cigarette cases and lighters, vanity cases and compacts; rosaries and other small religious articles, precious metal trimmings for umbrellas and canes; and jewel settings and mountings. Other establishments are primarily engaged in manufacturing costume jewelry from nonprecious metals and other materials are classified in Industry 3961.

Other establishments are engaged in manufacturing flatware (including knives, forks, and spoons), hollow ware, ecclesiastical ware, trophies, trays, and related products made of sterling silver; of metal plated with silver, gold, or other metal; of nickel silver; of pewter; or of stainless steel. Also included are establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing table flatware with blades and handles of metal. Establishments engaged in manufacturing other metal cutlery are classified in Industry 3421, and those manufacturing metal trophies, trays, and toilet ware, other than silver, nickel silver, pewter, stainless steel, and plated, are classified in Industry 3499.

This section includes establishments engaged in manufacturing unassembled jewelry parts and stock shop products, such as sheet, wire, and tubing; and establishments of lapidaries primarily engaged in cutting, slabbing, tumbling, carving, engraving, polishing, or faceting stones from natural or manmade precious or semiprecious gem raw materials, either for sale or on a contract basis for the trade; in recutting, repolishing, and setting gemstones; or in cutting, drilling, and otherwise preparing jewels for instruments, dies, watches, chronometers, and other industrial uses. This industry includes the drilling, sawing, and peeling of real or cultured pearls. Other establishments engaged in manufacturing synthetic stones for gemstones and industrial use in Industry 3299, and those manufacturing artificial pearls are classified in Industry 3961.

There is also a group of establishments engaged in manufacturing pianos, with or without player attachments; organs; other musical instruments; parts, and accessories for musical instruments. Also included are establishments engaged in manufacturing dolls, doll parts, and doll clothing, except doll wigs. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing stuffed toys are also included in this industry. Doll Wigs are classified in Industry 3999.

These tables include additional establishments engaged in manufacturing games and game sets for adults and children and mechanical and nonmechanical toys. Important products of this industry include games; toy furniture; doll carriages and carts; construction sets; mechanical trains; toy guns and rifles; baby carriages and strollers; children's tricycles, coaster wagons, play cars, sleds, and other children's outdoor wheel goods and vehicles, except bicycles. Included are establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing electronic board games; electronic toys; and electronic game machines, except coin-operated games. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing dolls and stuffed toys are classified in Industry 3942; those manufacturing bicycles are classified in Industry 3751; manufacturing sporting and athletic goods for children and adults are classified in Industry 3949; manufacturing coin-operated game machines are classified in Industry 3999; manufacturing electronic video game cartridges are classified in Services, Industry 7372; and those manufacturing rubber toys, except dolls, are classified in Industry 3069.

Those establishments engaged in manufacturing sporting and athletic goods, not elsewhere classified, such as fishing tackle; golf and tennis goods; baseball, football, basketball, and boxing equipment; roller skates and ice skates; gymnasium and playground equipment; billiard and pool tables; and bowling alleys and equipment. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing athletic apparel are classified in Major Group 23; those manufacturing athletic footwear are classified in Industries 3021 and 3149; those manufacturing small arms ammunition are classified in Industry 3482, and those manufacturing small arms are classified in Industry 3484.

Other establishments may be engaged in manufacturing pens (including ballpoint pens), refill cartridges, mechanical pencils, fine and broad tipped markers and parts. Other establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing lead pencils, pencil leads, and crayons; and materials and equipment for artwork, such as air-brushes, drawing tables and boards, palettes, sketch boxes, pantographs, artists' colors, and waxes, pyrography goods, drawing inks, and drafting materials. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing mechanical pencils are classified in Industry 3951, and those manufacturing drafting instruments are classified in Industry 3829.

Some other establishments are engaged in manufacturing rubber and metal hand-stamps, dies, and seals; steel letters and figures; and stencils for use in painting or marking. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing felt tip markers are classified in Industry 3951. Other establishments reviewed include those manufacturing carbon paper; spirit or gelatin process and other stencil paper; and inked or carbon ribbons for business machines.

This section also includes establishments engaged in the manufacturing of costume jewelry, costume novelties, and ornaments made of all materials, except precious metal, precious or semiprecious stones, and rolled goldplate and gold-filled materials. Also, establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing jewelry of precious and semiprecious metal are classified in 3911; those manufacturing leather compacts and vanity cases are classified in Industry 3172, and those manufacturing synthetic stones for gemstone and industrial use are classified in Industry 3299.

Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing notions, such as slide and snap fasteners and zippers, machine and hand needles, pins, hooks and eyes, buckles, buttons, button parts, and button blanks. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing these products from precious metals or from precious or semiprecious stones are classified in Industry 3911, while other establishments are engaged in manufacturing household, industrial, and street sweeping brooms; and brushes, like paintbrushes, toothbrushes, toilet, household, and industrial brushes.

In addition, there are establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing electrical, mechanical, cutout, or plate signs and advertising displays, including neon signs, and advertising specialties. Sign painting shops doing business on a custom basis are classified in Services, Industry 7389. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing electric signal equipment are classified in Industry 3669, and those manufacturing commercial lighting fixtures are classified in Industry 3646.

Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing burial caskets and cases, including shipping cases, of wood or other material except for concrete. Also included are establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing linoleum, asphalted-felt-base, and other hard surface floor coverings, not elsewhere classified. Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing rubber floor coverings are classified in Industry 3069, and those manufacturing cork floor and wall tile are classified in Industry 2499.

Establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing miscellaneous fabricated products, including beauty shop and barbershop equipment; hair work; tobacco pipes and cigarette holders; coin-operated amusement machines; matches; candles; lamp shades; feathers; artificial trees and flowers made from all materials, except glass; dressed and dyed furs; umbrellas, parasols, and canes; and other articles, not elsewhere classified.

Note: The following table represents only the potential occupational health concerns related to the entire rubber and plastics, broom, and brush industry based on a job task or work activity, and any related OSHA standards for regulatory compliance. The information presented does not indicate or suggest a relative risk of exposure based on the location within the table nor provides any exposure information. Health risks associated with fatigue, working long hours, and other psychosocial disorders are not addressed.

The focus of this information is to provide guidance to understand the occupational health hazards from chemical substances, physical and biological agents, radiological, ergonomic, and environmental hazards from exposure to plants and animals. Potential occupational health exposures in this industry were contrived from the OSHA Integrated Management Information System database between 1984 to 2020. Additional information was obtained from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Health Hazard Evaluations performed by request of employee representatives and organizations from 1978 to 2020.

Photos courtesy of Getty Images.

Worker Exposure Profiles in Miscellaneous Manufacturing Industries

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