Document 4ao91ywE94YR4pjV2ML7npV2p

FILE NAME Keene KNE DATE 0000 DOC KNE011 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Article from Legal Newsletter - District Court Upholds Decision Against Insulation Manufacturers CURRENT REPORT ewe Le ae ~ be eee a ee I b>. - . oe . 1675 insure that materials purchased do not pose an unreasonable hazard to worker health The purchasing agent should require that all chemical shipments be accompanied by a material safety data sheet Port said Other jobs the industrial hygienists must do include 1 Know what processes materials are going through 2 Inventory the control measures used in the planto ventilation protective clothing etc. and insure that they are adequate and performing up to specifications 3 Check emergency controls to insure that if primary systems fail some backup is provided to protect workers Exposures to health hazards should b well doc- umented for two reasons Port said First documentation w show compliance with federal or state standards Second records of low exposure may persuade an insurance carries to lower workers compenmtion rates he Federal Agencies ASSISTANT LABOR SECRETARY REPORTS FEDERAL JOB HEALTH EFFORTS ANAHEIM CALIF - By an OSHR staff corres pondent - To upgrade the Federal Government safety program the Occupational Safety and Health Administre- tion must correct weaknesses be firm about objectives and revise guidelines Assistant Secretary of Labor for Administration and Management Fred G. Clark told the Western Safety Congress on May 21 In his keynote address to the Congress Regional Federal Safety and Health Conference Clark outlined some of the OSHA efforts now being made to insure that federa workplaces are safe and healthful Perhaps most significant effort being made is the development of a new executive order to implement more full the provisions of section 15 of the Occupational Sciety and Act Clark outlined some of the provisions of the proposed orde Cement Report January 31. 1105 noting specifically that the role of Field Federal Safety Councils wil be spelled out in detail In adimon the criteria for federal agency fety pro- grams will be revised and expanded he said in an attempt 10 insure that the safety and health program will be an important part of each agency's operation Field Feber Feber Safety Council will serve as the focal points for safety and health problems that amse 21 21 field of Clark said Also under the proposed executive order the field councils will be reconstituted ic include representation from agency employees as well as the agencies themselves . As the leader ir federal job safety and health efforts OSHA and the Department of Labor should be models of effective safety programming Clark said This has not been the case in the past but now Labor Secretary Pezer Brennan has charged Clark with responsibility for develop- ing ing ' comprehensive departmental safety and health pro- From that can serve as a model for other agencies One of The first pap ployees products of this program was pututation of a department szlet bookle distributed distributed to department department departmentdepartment department em he said for problem program rehabilitator A rehabilitator program rehabilitator rehabilitator rehabilitator program program Ontker Ontker Ontker , Clark pledged that the OSHA program would continue until every worker could feel safe on the job Litigation 732038 DISTRICT COURT UPHOLDS DECISION AGAINST INSULATION MANUFACTURERS ; A label by the manufacturer on packages of asbestos of insulation material informing the user that the product may be hazardous is no sufficient warning the gravity of the dangers associated with asbestos to an insulation worker using the product the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruied The ruling issued on May 13 upheld a judgment fo the plaintiff entered in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Clarence Bore v Fibrobomd Faper Products Corporation et al No. 72-1492 The suit was brought by the insulation worker against > manufacturers of insulation materials containing asbestos fo injunes caused by failure of the firms to warn of dangers involved in handing asbestos Three of the firms issued no warnings with their products and the other three issued cautions to alem contractor- purchasers of the products The defendant firms argued that the plaintiff had known for years that inhaling the asbestos dust was harmful to his health and that in fact the jury in the original trial had found the plaintiff guilty of contribu tory negligence because of thur knowledge The con noted that the three warnings were placed on the products only a few years before the plaintiff's suit The warning labels the court stated constituted only diluted cautions which did not suggest the gravity of the risk of exposure the danger of asbestosis mesotheboms or other cancers The labels stated in essence that breathing asbestos in excessive quantities could be harmful that the dust produced by the products should not be inhaled and that respirators should be used where adequate vent^...ation control was not available It was shown that the warnings were issued for the purchasers of the products and that the manu- facturers neve conducted tests to determine the extent of the danger from USC Although there was evidence to show that the plaintiff was aware of possible h^rmfuleffects of the dust and that he failed 10 wear a respirator which was not required on the job the court held that contributery negligence in strict liability cases is not defense when such negli gence consists merely in a falure to discove the defect in the product or to guard agains the possibility of its existence Only contributory negligence which consists in voluntarily and unreasonably proceeding to encounter a known danger and commonly passes under the name of assumption of risk is a defense in a strict liability suit the court held . In affirming the verdict of the district court the court concluded that there was no compelling evidence that reasonable persons would have concluded that the plain- tiff was aware of the risku but nevertheless continued to encounter them 4+ F 1 The Burec of Noriene Liters inc ,