Document 1r0L4MYxdb99vDjogLeYZvnE

b/l***. ti/tuA/'hSytrfll er~!$*oto< K. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company ^ tMCOftf>OftATC CD Wilmington, Delaware 19898 PETROCHEMICALS DEPARTMENT PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL <> '^x J/ _<$V/ vCL-'' ' September 10, 1980 iers Woodrick Logan Robertson Ehrman Farnsworth. Kennedy Loyd Sims Targac D. F. GILBERT, ANTIOCH W. L. SMITH, BIRMINGHAM C. E. LEE, BIWABIK D. E. HEASLEY, CORPUS CHRISTI J. SADONIS, DUNBAR F. H. FENTON, LOUVIERS R. J. EMERY, MONTAGUE H. D. MEANS, POMPTON LAKES R. W. GERLACH, POTOMAC RIVER J. T. GRANAGHAN, SAVANNAH RIVER R. F.JWliLIAMS, SENECA CYPHERS, VICTORIA ASBESTOS SEMINAR FOR PLANT PHYSICIANS A concern has developed that significant asbestos related abnormalities may remain undetected because of the disparate quality of x-ray films noted in a recent survey of one of the industrial departments. To increase sensitivity to this problem and to provide guidance in assuring more definitive x-ray films, one day seminars for appropriate plant physicans are to be conducted by the Medical Division of the Employee Relations Department. The seminar for Petrochemicals Department physicians is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on September 23, 1980, Room N-11430 on the eleventh floor of the Nemours Building. The agenda (attached) will include but is not limited to asbestos related lesions, i.e. diagnosis and evaluation; x-ray findings and interpretation; film quality monitoring and evaluation; present status of regulations pertaining to asbestos related abnormalities. Each physician should bring to the conference the most current chest film of five employees over age forty who have had documented exposures to asbestos or asbestos related abnormalities. If there are no employees in these categories, please bring five films from employees over age forty who work or have worked as mechanics, insulators, pipewrappers or pipefitters. DUP 0810407 DU 009397 -2- It is anticipated that the conference will conclude in the early afternoon. Luncheon will be provided in the Du Pont Hotel. Arrangements for travel and hotel accommodations should be made by the attendees. If there are any questions please contact Dr. Burford Culpepper at Ext. 45226, or Dr. Bob Ligo, Ext. 49044. The Medical Division will also contact each physician by phone. Att. T. W. BRUCE, ASSISTANT MANAGER INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SECTION DUP 0810408 DU 009398 MwwwwMMwswjgiiMiMB-'i T-anMHwa-i - i vMWgHlu; ir;: MiBiasm mfcl-.aaaam-jaisaaBBHMM.a )) st. 3J /<-<--rf*--/ C? ''ic_cc-- </) sj s 7 *<Z^7/ i/*r ^ sfc*' +0^L~0*: ^7 s**~trt^1 ^ .y^y t~< c^c^cy c" 'ic^/. /t^b ^ z^. /^*y pydjZt, DUP 0810409 DU 009399 :mmumittii al--i--fffl iilMili - . < EHigM AGENDA ' 9:00 a.m. 9:10 a.m. 9:30 a.m. 9:45 a.m. t 10:00 a.m. 10:15 a.m. 11:50 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Dr. Culpepper - Welcome - Introduce Directors or Manufacturing: G. F. Curtin - Petrochemicals J. C. Dorschel - Fibers & Finishes W. R. Hewton - Biochemicals Introduce Dr. Karrh. Background and present situation ref. asbestos related abnormalities. Review physician guidelines for asbestos . related abnormalities - Dr. Ligo. Photo Products - Improving x-ray quality Wm. Van Sickle. ' Break Remarks about x-ray lesions. X-ray review with physicians - Dr. Allen. Lunch Wrap Up. Questions - Dr. Culpepper. t - VV DUP 0810410 DU 009400 ""S OS//4 <p 13+-*ZJ6 c&e- SLA. y -S''^--^1 i '*-<--*-* JPO /- _ <^i.-< < Z^<%*. *2^^- Ti~dL*. '^f/ /6?A /"A*-^ 1--t--/t DU 009401 _tr'v. - IHij'WllB. HfggU an Injury to ono Is an injury to ait SAFER TIMES NUMBER 25 The Philadelphia Area Projea on Occupational Safety and Health /=> U ' L /i /-if; June-August 1979 'HLAPOSE calls for more aid for OSEA, s a rally outside the site of oversight '.eld hearings here in May. Storyt page S. Come Meet, Talk and Vote "Workers and Nuclear Power" will be ve topic of the fall membership meeting September 26 at 7:30 o.m. Nomination f officers for the Board and voting on r.endments to the Constitution will take '..ace at the meeting (see page 12). Workers are invited to attend a Linic at 6:30 p.m. prior to the meeting : discuss the health and safety problems \ their shops. The meeting will be held the Clothing Workers Hail, 2115 South treet. A Factsheet for Public Employees pgs. 5-6 i" ATittle'Union Pins Big DuPont Over Asbestos For 28 years, Frank Baptiste has been a pipefitter at the Repauno duPont plant in Gibbstown, N.J. During that time he has worked around and breathed in a substance that until 1973 was the standard for pipe insulation: asbestos. On Feb. 4 of this year he went to the company medical building for a routine Xray and breathing test. DuPont called him back a month later and told' him the X-ray machine had malfunctioned. Just a few months ago Frank began to feel an ache around his rib cage, but guessed it was just a pulled muscle. Frank's doctor referred him to a special ist who promptly requested and examined the X-rays in his medical file at duPont From these X-rays it was determined that Frank had had pleural thickening in his lungs for at least eight years and that now he had asbestosis, a disease of the lung tissue that can lead to cancer. In an interview with the Courier Post, Frank Baptiste said, "I'm mad------They (du Pont management) could have told me eight or nine years ago. Maybe, just maybe, v' there could have been something done." Eight years ago no one told Frank or Continued on Page 10 DUP 0810412 N.J. Comp Bill Imperils Rights pg.8 DU 009402 --___ mk iXiPont Pinned ALL- }'p j )< if Jl. jT C L- O> Di'tf Over Asbestos Continued from Page 1 any other workers at duPont that working with asbestos could lead to serious lung disease, but today the duPont management is taking the asbestos problem very ser iously. There is a new company doctor and a new X-ray machine at the Repauno plant. Any employee whose X-rays indicate pleural thickening or other asbestos-related lung damage (and there are presently 28) is immediately advised to choose one of four outside specialists for further diagnosis, all at'duPont1s expense. Why this sudden and generous concern for employee health after so many years of neglect? On April 16 of this year the Camden OSHA office fined the Pnpauno plant $53,000 for improper handling and removal of asbestos, failure to record and inform employees of illnesses, and failure to provide medical records to investigators. DuPont has not yet paid the fine and is contesting the citation but until a final decision is handed down by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, du Pont is paying a lot more attention to employee health. A citation like the one issued to duPont does not develop overnight; it took nine months of investigations, interviews, samplings, and medical research by members of the Camden OSHA office and the Chemical and Industrial Union, an independent union and PHILAPOSH sponsor that represents about 300 Repauno workers. Dave Watson, president of the union, is perhaps the man most responsible for precipitating the OSHA citations.' Last June, he brought the asbestos problem to OSHA's attention during an inspection of the Repauno plant OSHA was conducting in response to a complaint about chemical fumes. According to Watson, the company managed to stall the inspectors long enough to clean up most of the asbestos, but they weren't thorough enough. OSHA'collected its first bit of evidence against duPont and Watson began his battle to end asbes tos-related hazards at Repauno. A machinist by trade, Watson reads a v enchymal fibrosity and mesothelioma as easily as he would a blueprint. "I had to educate myself," he said. "They (company lawyers) tried to make a fool out of me a couple of times...Now I know the language. I know what a tomagram is and what the dif ference is between carcinoma and mesothel ioma. " On May 18,.Watson got a chance to demonstrate his newly acquired knowledge of asbestosis when he testified before a U.S. House subcommittee on Health and Safety in Philadelphia. In addition to working closely with OSHA, Watson and other union members are filing a third-party class action suit against all manufacturers who supplied asbestos products to the duPont plant. This is an increasingly common tactic by asbestos workers and their families local ly and nationally. Although much progress has been in the past year, real resolution of the health problems of workers at Repac..-- is more complicated than educating oneself or filing OSHA complaints and lawsuits. Rather than face the meager income of compensation, many workers keep their health problems to themselves so they can retain their full working 'salary. The Chemical and Industrial Workers is a small union without the political or economic clout of a large international union. Nevertheless, they have done a remarkable job in fomenting a positive change in Dupont's health policies. DUP 0810413 DU 009403 -Boh Mi 11 --