Document 7RGo2bmER6xkYERBrkwXLdpMa

FILE NAME: Asbestos in India (IND) DATE: 1983 Jan DOC#: IND015 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Magazine Article - Killer Asbestos p ecial Report 1 cm Killer asbestos \?&\Y&o Asbestos fibres; the killer dust - Hi januarv, Canga Asbestos Cement Uo entered the capital market widi a small iisu e or Rs. 119 crores towards equitv tapital 01 a project to manufacture asbestos cement pipes Its good reception from investors seems almost assured as the new company Asbestos warnings: yet to find a place in India has signed a technical collaboration agree ment, with a Biria firm, Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Products (HACP) Ltd. I he asbestos industry in India has come a long way. When HACP itself entered the asbestos products market, it sought and obtained technical collaboration with the world's largest asbestos manufacturing com pany, Johns M anville Corporation iJMC), USA. Today, HACP exports not only its pro ducts, but also technical knowhow and is promoting joint ventures in Nigeria and N e p al In the meantime, however, things have not been going so w ell for their erst w h ile technical collaborators the Johns Man v ille Corporation ()MC). In August this year, iC' ' took the unorthodox step of applying for J^ r ..j#n isatio n . under the US Bankruptcy s S d e (see box t ). WORKERS' PtICHT G ajanan Dagdu Sawant died in 1982 of asbestosis. Sawant worked for a medium scale asbestos textile manufacturing unit situated tn Arrdheri, Bombay. In she same tfaere ane 2 0 other workers wfio eftSO SOSfer from asbestosis in Varying degrees Rajagopal, a worker in the. same factory who suffers from asbestosis, has gone to court, demanding a proper medical examina tion and compensation fromjthe Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC). (see box 2). But for every Rajagopal, perhaps there are hundreds of others who dp not even know that they suffer from asbestosis. Jairam Sakharam, who joined Hindustan Ferodo Ltd. (HFL) at the age of 16, quietly left in 1981 after 20 years of working, ilvith a pittance for gratuity, for probably similar reasons, and is now lost in the multitudefof silent sufferers, You have probably never seen the label shown alongside before. And the reason for this is that the people who ought to use it don't bother to. It might well have come from any one of those humerous 'pallets' or con tainers that bring in over 80,000 tonnes of im ported asbestos fibre into India every year (see table 2). It's also probably affixed on to each little piece that HACP, HFL and others export every year. And yet at Cotton Green, Bombay, where asbestos fibre containers are being un loaded, a split sack covers a worker in dust from head to foot. Reported^, raw asbestos is not in the list o f hazardous cargo prepared by the Port Trust. In the Bombay D o c k s , workers can be seen eating their lunch sitting on heaps'of loose asbestos. Needless to sa\. if you try to photograph them, your came*a w ill be confiscated. The one time 'magic mineral' of the 2uth century, even though it has been proved to bo a 'killer', continues to be used brazenly to firms that have scant regard for human lives The fact that asbestos has been in widespread use since the beginning of this century in the building industry as electrical and thermal in sulation, in brake and clutch lining fot auto mobiles, in household and industrial floor til ing and in probably 3,000 more areas meant that almost everyone of us has had some leve. of exposure to asbestos fibre for years. MEDICAL AWARENESS Asbestosis became the subject or deiaih-d medical discussion in Ematn in 1927 ; came a notifiable disease m India e r e amendment in 1976 to the Factories Act <, 1948. How ever, more dangerous disease* like lung cancer and mesotheitoma continue to-remarn a m at rise scb ecu ie Asbestos ., - a non-mairgnam, crreiiersfaie Lung c - e ATENCAO Cont6m ftbras de amianto Evite criar po Respirar po de amianto pode ser prejudice! & saude Fumar aumenta consideravelmente o nsco a saude ATTENTION Contient des fibres d'amiante vitez de crer de la poussire, respirer la poussire d'amiante peut endommager gravement votre sant, et fumer augmente de beacoup ces risques caused by the inhalants'-ct asriestos du-: ,* characterised iw x j s e c sc' t-ss.e. fibrosis, which thicken me lining ot tno ungresulting in a progressive breathlessness ihralso tends to strain the heart. The degierisk of developing asbestos^, appeals it i.itcct CAUTION Contains asbestos fibers . avoid i-reatmg dust breathing asbestos dust may cause ser.ous bodily harm, smoking greatly increases the rk of serous bodily harm ATENCION Contiene fibres de amiante Evite crear polvo Respirar polvo de amianto puede ser Nocivo pare la salud , Fumar aumenta considerablemente el Riesgo de contraer enfermedades to the duration and level of exposure m as bestos. Normally the disease takes " my years to develop and thus, workers to asbestos may not show the signs u disease for a long period of time It is onlv when the evidence <r me , ,j , . gerne potential or inhaled asbestos 'imv- . - 70 businesslndia l anuarv I 7- 0 198 i Special Eeport pumulated, and lung canter with malignant lumours was observed in workers already suf- sring from asbestosis, that people all over the vorld started to take notice of the health hazards of asbestos Along with lung cancer, Instances of mesothelioma of the pleura and eritoneum among asbestos workeis and their leiatives only served to further emphasise the potential dangers of uncontrolled exposure to Asbestos dust. According to D i. Irving j. Selikoff of the /fount Sinai Schooi of Medicine,. New York, jin internationally acknowledged authority ad Jtsbestos related diseases, "There Is no limit to |h e danger of asbestos dust: the more of it |here is the greater the cancer risk. The less, he lower the risk " The risk doesn't disappear vith lower exposure levels | Tf' recognition of the potential health > from asbestos has resulted in in creasingly strmgeqt controls on the produc tio n and sale of asbestos products in the West. T et, in the Third World, production of as bestos products has been growing due to the argely unregulated state ot production and narketing in these countries. Exports ot these products back to the West often fulfills other national objectives' at social costs that are pit largely outside the scope of open discusBon and debate. Workers unloading asbestos packs at Cotton Creen (Bombay docks) The asbestos industry in India is in this sense fairly sim ilar to that in other developed countries (LDCs) even though almost all the large scale units in the country are either sub sidiaries of western transnationals (TNCs) or have acquired technical collaboration from them, (see table 1). The industry employs over 7,000 people in 20 units spread over Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Haryana. Added i<; ihc ... numerous small scale umts, some tum non mg as subsidiaries of larger umis Unfortunately, except in ottic .al t m : there has been little appreciation o' the or m lem in India. True, asbestos tam e into n Factory Rules in 1970, and asbestosis v\. s ded to the list of notifiable diseases in l 1i~b but public interest in health hazards troni as Mm <#*4 . ..... .., ... H n # -4 1R5-If Manville tnds one would ex- _ Newall (T&N) ot . V-, pb^igr^T&N subsidiaries in v^.. Ferodo and the t^ o ^ T id ., Last year T.VN Ttottjw ovision in its ac- ^ ^ ^ pstrad .thajfci'/ j disease related <ase|rT&rN reportedly paid J|fi pW js;n ^ a y^ jj ss is.i * 5 t s l^ ^ ^ p r o d u c e r s b f asbestos^-- - .... A ito ta ! settlement oi that m the t`h-7e--s--e .d'bfir-trnls wauld not rise to Or; the annual turnos er from the fact that operational M ao vie's in india include and Asbestos, Digvijay Cements Sud Asbestos, and . , ____ sucha c ^ W im n __ _ . g jjjji t h f li _ Swaziland. Africa -- ah w e awareness z nd m pliability is afsOtxotian exception as far a, , . .. . ^ , . wctt of awarenffis about asbestos related it started). . ' . S u l d i s e a ^ i t s .concer ned! The asbestos mdustrs hotel Manville Corporation>l|5ftow being sued., In . tnduk; )tite been;growing despite the m WCENTRE at the rate of 500, ne# ^ i;p e r month by -fpri 'creased -awareness of asbestos hazards m --560 051 former employees or thieirsub|yors w ho, un|b le to receive-fair t^nipensation through. W t f e - ; ^ f ; ^ 3 e ^ . `fe>nsider'for example, the tact .................. !x: 0845-561. R e n ta l channels, f ^ ^ t b i f ffeod of law :harsha JSuT^-. In one -h' ' 1980-8f , the imports O! yyor^r was a w a i0 d ; ,$ i^ ; |nllion lif e a s fx ^ ^ s lifrifis into India have risen o> damages. >, T-" a1frtQSfiiQ% ffpin S6,4tJ4 tonnes to 84,2b4 W orried, at the brospe^ o fy o ijg ; s u c t/ of * .tonnes. 'i, ' i< ,$ V, xV -O ,,'f \ >., - ;;'"" Special Report r~ SJ Rajagtfg*! -- fighting to live! W ill writ/petition No. 1316 of 1982 filed before the Bombay High Court herald a new era ift: employer -- employee rela tions? Oft ` one side stand arraigned the director-general ESIC, the director-general, Central Labour Institute (C tl), the chief ins pector of .factories, Maharashtra, and M/s Hindustanferodo. The plaintiff: one dying man, d y in | because no one told him toe job he hoipstly did was killing him eirery minute, he-jwas doing it. ' S. Rajagopal joined Hlpdristan Ferodo in 196 as an .operator; in the -brake and clutch-lining department. .The. department uses a dry process w hich works with r stos powder. It was just a matter of ten S before the trouble started. Asbestosis. Chrim ic cough with expectora tion and dyspnoea (difficulty in breathing), the commonest symptom's of asbestosis, continued to be treated,by the ESI medical teams, and private practitioneers as yet .another case of astfima or bronchitis. A ll Jftat: lasted t ill September 1976. when, the Sioh Hospital authorities pro- Menon. sceptic of outcome taken to refer him to Dr. Dave, m edical insr pector of factories, Maharashtra. Strangely, enough, the latter's conclusions turned out exactly contradictory to the - earlier diagnosis. On the basis of whatHests did Dave .ventureA jiis appiniorj ^ jin sr-' itP ^ . fc^ Sopt's re ^ ^ n ta h o n ^ t the man^Mhtent of Hindusfen J& o ^ p q & u ce d no teaqtibn at firsU and^heh'tbe decision was aestos continued to be low. Then, in 1981, vM' n article appeard in New Scientist by Barry lastleman which highlighted the double standards of TNCs operating in asbestos in ndia with specific instances of environmenal pollution caused by Shree Digvpav | -ement Company in Ahmedabad and Rane V Finings. This created a lurry amongst who read this article. 'REVENTIVE MEASURES ince the' mid seventies, the Nationai n,,t,ite of O ccupational Health i M O H i and the n- able 2: mports of raw asbestos I rear Actual Imports 9 7 8 - 79 979- 80 980- 8 ] 9 8 1 - 82 62,707 "5,470 84,264 80,854 ortw ise imports are in the approvili . nge a, Bonibav-60",., b Madras j nd c ) C ak utta-2o` .. ourct- Vi.MTC ^ ilN 5% m m m M .inifie- jjast.^irf'' . ' rf ____ '..'V , - volved in studies of asbestos related diseases. In 1980 the NIOH conducted a study to evaluate the health hazards due tq asbestos m a medium scale asbestos textile unit in Ahmedabad. The report d e a rly states that the "total and respirable dust and asbestos fibre concentrations were tound to be much higher, than accepted norms" This, it was reported, was largely due to the absence of dust control equipment. This report also noted that 15"', of total subjects studied showed the presence of asbestos bodies in their sputum. Further, 50`h of the working M ie T; Sales to large companies Name of Company Approximate sales 1980-81 1981-82 Hindustan Ferodo Hyderabad Asbestos (.emenl Asbestos Cemcm Shree Digvijay Cement. Sunderam Abex Rane Biake Innings 4,000 10,000 4,000 2 5,000 18,000 9,000 8,000 15,000 500 1000 1500/2000 1,000 1,500 Source. ,Vf,MFC ?H5n tfih.chairm an of Turner Even as the Sion ^ Hospital authqrities advised him im . Jhediate, treatment, Rajagopal resigned from. H FL {o fe n ab le him to collect his gratuity as he vyas at that time in urgent need of money for his wife's medical treatment. . , Claim s hot met. He was claiming a writ of ' mandamus compelling the ESIC and the CLl jo in tly or severally to subject him to an ex am ination of his disease by experts and to ` Submit the' report in the Bombay High Court, He was also claim ing payment ot an interim allowance during the petition and compensation for occupational disease from the ESIC. The w rit petition was the only alterna tive. It has finally-been heard, and the ESI has been directed to constitute a medical board and subject him to an examination Evert though the examination was comp leted on 30th September 1982, Rajagopal still awaits a decision. Menpn,;after pushing through the matter, rem ains cyn ica lly skeptic of the outcome. But he is convinced that if the workers still ip employment were, to approach him he case in hand, itopveveh remains -- for F ^ e ^ ^ g p p 'a l^ tiy tp d enough to fight, how IPpnjt gjQjf :SucPumtt? / , population had respiratory symptoms, 2 5 " , of the working population had crepitations a crackling sound detected in lungs;, ano 4 " , of workers had opaque areas in their lung X-rays. _ ' G iven these facts, what can be done to pre vent the health hazards associated with asbestos?y echnology in the West has geared itself to devising engineering methods s i r h as isolation, enclosures, exhaust ventilation and dust collection equipment to serve as thcprime means of controlling direct exposure to asbestos. Reverse-jet, multi-module cased filters, for instance have a oroven m , ,, . . of almost T00% r? comammg a>ors> In addition, hand operated and power Operated tools with built-in dust-eurac lion facilities are now available h r use b\ workers handling asbestos A variety of personal respirators p m tt ,(i, equipment has been developed to- dm, me end-uses. Factories in the Wesi h u e ,,ker> care in layout planning to en -.u r dial .lit most hazardous gibs aie separatee m,n rh, rest in order to reduce overall dm.i le '- ls Showers and changing rooms tm ...or have been incorporated into plain a v o ir , to ensure that the dustv work 1 die, ,,,-. me behind in the lactones With all thes ete.obeing made, dust levels have ix-ee sigre,, antly reduced inside the w on n -ln-e ; ..sciai Report their noses and mouths. In tact, the m anage ment has not bothered to provide workers even w ith proper working clothes ' SHEER APATHY B an n e rie e goes on to talk of the accum ula bon of w aste fibres at various stages ot pro cessing and of how these wastes are again m ixed w ith cotton fibre. He com plains that " T h e m ore the proportion of wastes in the m ix. the more the du-l causer) but trie man c l e m e n t is 'nutix uhi pure's b\ s not io ns 01 protitcibihiv '\< t.(vdng in Bdt.nu ,*_(' the w o rkin g (o n d in o n s ire e \ e r' . nine Tuhsidiarv co m iw n ifb lo< atecJ in Mftd round Bombay w hich d ir all engaged in related activitie s like gnndim or asbesto- niattiess m anufacture A cco rd in g to a studs concur ted bv the CL I -n 1 8 * .vhen it comes to saietv measures surt :>r u , . i \ of Hu l,.; .- <<n "hoffis c u m j i t Piahh.ikar vm ineer.ni< V'vo/Kei t H U tions d i,i.r y, bagging 75 hessian ,*>ags v raw ashe^o1- lr 00*0 Lj JC' UoJ.rhen ." -n M 1 Bannenoe management apathetic' two fibres -- per cu b it centim etre, and ef forts are c o n tin u a lly on to halve that level. In stark contrast are the horrendous co n d i tions existing in Indian factories. A . Banner|ee, a C IT U union leader at the Asbestos Packing and M anufacturing Company 'A PM C j, Bom bay, w hich is a medium scale unit em plo ying 0 0 w o rke rs, tells ot two as bestos deaths in 1982. Th is fact has also been certified by m edical reports. Listing m ixing and carding operations as potentially the most hazardous (see box 3), he says, "W e have absolutely no control equipment. And the best we have is a few exhaust fans. R e spirators are unheard ot. W orkers are sim ply given a piece ot cloth w hich they tie around It affects not only you but your family too Table 1: -, *' . ' b i '.' 'O.jV '.ri, ' Major asbestos companies i o India V v'' . V K k "-' - . Name of company Hindustan Ferodo - Products v >y , *' - V - - ^ z i t t i r e o f T N C link \ A V-' .' - .. , Brake linings, jointings, limped .Turner and N ew ali, sheets, yarn, packing cloth U ,K . (T&F)* textile mattresses and ' ',/ Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Co Asbestos Cement Co. Shree D igvijay Cement Co -Sundaram Abex .millboards!;' , . . . . . . Asbestos cement sheets arfd pressure pipes, jointings, rnlllboards and thermal insulation Asbestos Cement sheets 1 Asbestos cement sheets and. pressure pipes^- : b ' -SM ' Friction materiais;UkfiWisis- johris M anville, USA fT) and fjow Societ Italiana Peri Amint, Italy. (T). Turner & Newall, UK (T&F) . Johris Manville, USA ri (T&F) , ' , . d bex Inc.f USA (T&F) Surf Asbestos Industry Rane Brake Lining s. Rein? Talbros 'lin in g s. ' Textiles; p a c k i n g s ,':i y laggings, jointings, yarfy.etc. Brake llhtngs.fnd c(ut% $acings ; Asbestos jointings * '- V J ! i ; -jt. johnsM anville, USA (T&F) Small ahd Parkesa.UK W) ' ' ' Reinz Dichtungs -- A .G . West Germany (T&F) * T . Technical ' ` * F : Financial c. - ; 4. Sou rce: D G T D Handbook of. Foreign otlaborations. T980 ' - T `T abns from the poi is today sought tc plastic stop ^urt jrrini^r ig ir, ais<j la tions which requn mg ot dotter cylm should be mechan "U n d e r a union ag ment has decided ment irom Cermai led by 26 January. 4 W i. INADEQUATE EFf In 1980, HFL intro protection equipni Sanzgin points ou control systems th an te and that the a second line ot dt Shree D igvijay ( emen! s asbestos plant u p * . ' l_ > Ahm edabad, believed to be me sub|ert of the study, is no better. The study fevealei that out of 32 workers selected at random *5 nfacturi o ver 6 W suffered trom asbestosi. In the hbre-grinding, loading and the pipe s r departm ents w o 'kers vveie xposec. r. c ro c id o litf and ch rvs.jti'u libre- isee subsc quent d is c u sv o n j, and ubre cone entrationl w ere lound to he much I gher than t h i statutory perm issible le- e !s T h e svudy noted the,. d usi c o n tio i m i, sures in the tacto iy had been introduced o n 1 in 1979 " W h eth er the m anagem ent movei! fast to en sure bettei a i .i s i m - o n diliom . m m a in s u n k n o w n B ui its irst actio n is ri ' po rted to be the etiem m ug >r those a irk e w h o the C.LI study e sta b lish e d as . j i t e ri<,! trom asbestosis W o rker- m Hm oustan L-rrtU ), the Ind ian m an u ia; turer ot trie tion mater, autom otive ( lute h and iirakt lining 1 bsbcsjs cen jambines asf safer'to rori feed in succs1 'Dependi dirf.by weg ^rym 15" ''gKSced I % & S, and _ Jjp S .to s si Igs^stos sF ' : (LC I S# mai our a ^ isbesti iie b^^tirkers bestos textile - went on a -even morn -ml: in 1981 dem anding, among othe. :h 1n g better w orking conditions W orking : on" ^ p r e t^^sing the tions in H U tod.iv are relatively h te- cym 0er:fo fai Indian asbestos industry standards n ,;t h d not saying verv m uch HFL is nov, m xiou looking mi w ard to a -tuciy on aso--a - !`>a lewyvyhich ta f die'pipes-arc Special Report tused but the man ely by its notion- of to Ban ner|et, the even worse in companies located hit h arc all engaged grinding or asbestos s j i e that the C LI and the tactory inspectorate o' the government ot M aharashtra are to snortly conduct at its Bom bay plant Htabhakar Sanzgm , president ol the tngineering W orkers Union [attilialed to CI1 LJI al H FL, highlights the need tor lakmg pretauhon- against aslx stos Just right from the de onducted b\ the C L , to safety measures. bagging stage itsell He recalls that in 1974 - > hessian bags were still being used to pack s i " asbestos "In Ferodo those days, mapv bags used to be broken N ow we insist thafthe original polythene bugs are placed in another polythene bag " The* teeclmg ot fibres into the tib ie plant, one ot the most dangerous opera ti m , ` ram the point ot view ot dust exposure, is today sought to be controlled by putting a plastic strip curtain on the mouth ol the hpnoer 2gin also talks ot government regula tions w hich require that cleaning and grind- ng ot dotier cylinders in the carding section hould be m echanical processes and says that U nder a union agreement now , the managenent has decided to import some new equip- ient horn G erm any, w h ich should be instal led by 26 January,'' t's asbestos plant INADEQUATE EFFORTS n 1980, HFL introduced personal respiratory rotection equipment on the shopfloor. But ranzgiri points out that it is the engineering :ontrol system s that are ot prim ary import ance and that the respirators essentially form second line of defence. Till 1977, H FL's plant layout was still rather outmoded and contained the carding spin rung and w eaving sections under the same root. It w as in this year that the isolation ol the dust-prone carding sec Mon w as taken up This was achieved by using a plastic .tup curtain to separate it Irom the other sections Union representatives admit that this has helped in m aking the other areas relatively dust-lree but thev -say that there is still a lot ,,i scope to, improvement The cleaning ol carding m achines, how ever, still involves an exposure to asbestos dust. The cleaning process involves rotating the dotter cylinders ol the carding m achine w h ile one man brushes otl the waste This is easily the most dangerous and dust-prone |ob on the shoptloor 1 H FL's contract department used to handle an even more dangerous area. W orkers had to go out and spray asbestos fibre tor insulation This activity was finally sloped when many workers started sutlering from chest diseases Union representatives talk ot improvements in the shopfloor layout in H F L , e g. the p ro vi sion ot proper ventilation facilities, separate lockers and bathing facilities tor the workers But predictably the m anagem ent's response has been that a ll these Improvements cost m oney. "W e are otten to ld ," says Sanzg iri, "how Sunderam Abex has a wage cost which IS o nly 17% oi m anutacturm g costs w h ile it is 28% in HFL. I wonder what the w orking co n ditions in Sunderam abex are lik e ." In any case, such costs should be counted under capital expenditure and not under wages, as `ianzgin control systems needed / S thev are not perks given to m >but . . - essential pre-requisite tor the m anuiat tun asbestos products But asbestos product m anuiat luring mil- are not the only places where- vou mighi oc exposed to this killer fibre Brcaklinm t, and grinding operations in every \e h ic li m an ufacturing unit, release enormous amounts ol asbestos dust, and asbestos traces are otten tound in the sputum ol workers in these dc partments. W hen complaints ol respirator. >be the subject of t i f i . The study reveate M s selected at randon jm asbesfosis. In_ th The and the oipe fi-/ T 1 cere exposed t3fcjf tile fibres .see subst poshed m : fibre concentratior tnantfrft.. I neb higher than tf tvels. lraa# va*yff tt "du.-vt -`rzrv nr** M e atu s? oeen <juced on r?*efsf : - manat- - rnt m<nt ragatedkd OT*.: n 4 --Orirurw r at he asbestos;! its first action is r Bight dii?$t>| p j l . :hing ot those worke fH SD ) .jsr's Jbe tablishecl as sutlern ing sNec^SP1' the w hich is tunjesi: 5ti Feiodo the large vapour at^ ^ b e s tt > s ^ ||:^ i released-^ [ frit lio n m a te ria lIss itr inhaled b y--w o fiersk'ilcSsfc'v.:, ' ` I hrako !:m nt;s ................... ronth str| nrast, i ^ antl a * among other thm, stos ,s d r ^ t o a d e ^ ^ t o ^ d d e d laier g f e p % g T n v ^ r t a b I j f S e x - y y h ic h ensure that the fibres are laid parallel M fcfe'W .'.W /.tty. . :^he output is Ip the form of a sliver or rope which g- -oes t'hroug...h......t..he' sub' seq' uent proces ' there : ses of spinning, doubling and w eaving. 1 In the manufacture of-diction m aterials, fluffed fibres, are mixed with metal chips and tceptadl, d$fcgbd c b /t^ a n c f diction particles along with binder resins TThhiiss hmuixxttuurree., iiss tthheenn eeiitthheerr pprrootfviled or ex- truded .into the required shapes. At times ions W orking con. p assin g -*?S|dr% .*toffigh thq h$fc. ^ . ^ M ^ f k t e m ' s o t odutds woven material is A lia used in the manu- standards, but t h a f p r o o f s H FL is m m anxiou txater,^ tudv on asbestos ex[! y , - ? - -r-s-dik i'-c. c" S wl ^Wf Ht l^^ da^w^Mt S^-t?^s Sep resrseedd oovveerrtthhe ij-yvfiV.,-.V..7. y-Gy'1;- 2 the workers Special Report ditUi u!fii*' ,,1,- ai.Kit m an ag em e n t- use (lie a m p le s t e xp e d ie n t , n , n ia b le that is, ii.mxlcr mg iht persons t o n c o r n e d to oth< i depart m en t' in din nam e ot foo-rotation \ o re spirator >, e n g i n e r u n g t ontrols me used l! this is il e . ase in a highly org an ised usei in dushv rath sonit oi the best k n e e s ' Indiai ! oil' p , ru e, in', ol vf .1, lia! tin si dation niighi lie olse w hert is b e ' ' iptt S> o n e s . lagmaiion that m aniiM c tu r-is in tin t K .i|iu ,, . l untarv ban on the im p o" o' in the e a ily seven ties , . ,i0 ! In m arked contrast lo u k .,. ,,, , In d ia , IS the a ltitu d e ol tin I- ,, , M e d ic a l B oard ol the U k . t,, ,, , <le a rly la ;tl d o w n that alls s o i k from even two ol the sym ptie. . ness, inspiratory crackle - : . VEIL OE SECRECY t h e .' i 1s' sties o ' a s lje s to s i o n ij in os 1L* c l(.a k ( i m set ret \ V id tlv o iK oeop m vvho L<in `'Ki'ime o iv ,! ,l Uk * \irt<>iv ifi *[>**<io rjlv s t>i tho gu\ oinnitMi! uMi-im ih j[ ih*1 .'ow*'riin<`iit i- ,\n 3V, ' l i ')! thii- j)fo l)|i' V|S, ; )| f^i'H t>sj s ~*V u u u 'd p rhap^ 1>* .n v t \ t i e r ~J. I not s b i's io s i1- bee p p H 1 i i iiin p h ip drSi B u i N (je u ik a n , to rn io . m ot ins s e c t o r ot Me t o n e s toi M a h a r a s h t r a s \ n o a (K dismis'-es go\ornm ont intentio ns I In n o m e n t a d ise a se b e co m e s n o titia b io , it um dfbappi ars Take, tor e x a m p le the . a v ol ly s sin o sts w h ic h i< cau se d by in h a la tio n ot :otton nbres T h is d isease w as macie notiti- alii; at the same titno is a d je so sis, but it has P i,.( tu rdi'c n e w r been heard ut dt spite the proit/Sion ot cotton textile nulls n and amune Bomba\ \(.<(;'din;> a ; ) Kum<if formerly ot the i l l 1 who authored the ( tl study on health hazards trom asbestos in Ahm edabad, ` B e ta u st (>t the legal im p lications in v o k e d , no factory m edical officer wall ever identify asBestosis A ctually thci mam problem is m esotheliom a w hich is d efin itely caused by cro u d o lite w hich the com pany studied was using ' i3erhaps it should be pointed out hero fu n c tio n , lin g e r c lu b b in g . >, >,, o c c u r in a variety ot n - p , , . c a id io v a s r u lar d ise a se s ' .n o i .. .. posed to asb estos at w on - " . . t . c e ititle d as suite-ring Im u ,' siu - [)are this, or exam ple, nu A . - , o p e c to rS report on R ajag o p ,, ` , i,s, bo x) It seem s p a ten tly d is iio n . ; : n .r sent such vital tacts and can -n . . bronc Intis or tuberculosis Trade unionists lee! trial lit I si( w a s set up by the g o vern m en t i, do its duty B a n n e rje e savs thul the - ,r! \PMC und ergo m e d ic a l c h e c k u p vear by the KEM hospital au c n o , ,, h o sp ital at A nd h eri H o v v cv t- m mu- w h en asb esto sis s detec ic 'i u ,t . ti y, Substitutes -- the search is on Sweden and Holland have already imposed a ban on the use of asbestos. And even as manufacturers are faced with the possibility of more bans on the dreaded mineral, the | race is on to find substitutes for asbestos in jjts many uses. Asbestos consumption. The largest con sumption of asbestos is accounted for in the manufacture of flat sheets, corrugated sheets, and pipes. Some headway has al ready been made in the search lor substi- 7 (n these uses of asbestos. Asbestos a, Turner and N ew all, along with Um- taka Kasei of Japan, has introduced an as bestos substitute called Mewiort. M ewion is a high modulous polyvinyl alcohol fibre which can be used to produce non combustible flat sheets. Hoechst A .G the the German grant has announced an acryi based fibre catted 0 e ia & -i0 can be used.in the making of many building mate rials, which now require asbestos cement. Pilkington Bros, has developed a glass cor rugated sheet which can be made on exist ing asbestos machinery. In 1979, when General Motors came to face the Environmental Protection Agencv, they gave an undertaking to the effect that Jy 1983 all disc brakes in their cars would 3e asbestos free and by 1985 even drum >rakes would be made of non-asbestos tric- ion material In addition. Roulands ot Denmark has developed brake-linings made f a mixture ot metallic and organic mate, lals and Saab of Sw'eden has offered to con- vert ,rake-limngs on its older cars'to the new material. ' The days of asbestos as an essential ingre dient in heat-retardant textiles also seem, numbered This is evident from the intro duction of a number ot asbestos free heat- retardant fibres in the market. Zetex man ufactured by Newtex Industries'; fair exam ple, i$ made from a silica based yarn with a treated finish. Zetex can withstand tempera tures of upto 1800F, Also in the same use bracket are Dupont's Nomex, a tempera ture-resistant nylon fibre an d ' bleached Teflon fluro-carb'on organic fibres. Multi- tect, a special wool blend, by Muftifabs is yet another substitute that is finding in creasing acceptance in the West. Another braided fibre called G F O , which is made of graphite polytetrafluroethylene and a high temperature lubricant, has been found to be the ideal substitute for asbestos in pump packing. Just a matter of time. Although a successful alternative to asbestos has not been lound tor use in high pressure pipes, it vvould/Only be a matter ol time before a suitable substi tute is developed With suitable substitutes for asbestos be ing developed and an increased awareness amongst workers ot the health hazards assoc lated with it, there has been a gradual reduction in the manufacture and use of asbestos in the Western countries. In India, how-ever," not only are there no-signs of a reduction in its use, there seems to be an expansion in the manufacture ot asbestos products. , , ; / retrenched by a managemt n, . , to w a sh its h and s ott die <. -t W h e n a w o rk e r is not . - -e- : . 1 ' trihutions stop and he ca a -.,n , treatm ent o n ly tor a peood . , "O t course ' s a y Bannei ,c . ;m I Si' v ides lor com pensation o; upto : m j- ot Rs >U,()00 p a y a b le m m stai-n Rs 500 per month w hen 'vorkt - in se rv ice But as soon as i! - p i,,- e ,: has the d ise a se , m ore often tk .o ' <. n, tetrenched. fu rth e r, w hat n > .u sam e d ise a se , sav tw o y e a r- , -m - trom s e rv ic e , n e ith e r the1 n iu , p,r on the liab ility nor the E5i( UNIONS POWERLESS The O ccupational lie a ib m inistration (O SH \ o' ' - p h y sic a l e x a n im a te -n- - chest X-rav pulm onaw and the prepanm -" - til store before toe. a-- .1(1 tests eac h veai nu t is d ial iht em p . .. - - m cd ita i dala phy sic Mils iT n .n .,: Su n/gin points on! lh. m erits are mefir .itc-c. ,n , , sc h e d u le X V II ol the I at u m the lac lories A I n ( > , , m a|oi dm eience iiowevelo yee has no at t n-~ lo dit ,, K u m a i, e 'e n w h ile elus , the reported ictrem lim en: . . ' lac lor\ lo litiw mg h s studs M' to sav ' I h e problem is that .-. tenet! ot retrent hm ent-and : n . / / - Special Report Types of asbestos Asbestos is a u jm m o n nam e given to a num ber 01 naturally o tc u rin g hydratgd m ineral silicate s that possess a c ry sta llin e structure, are incom bustible in air and separate into filam ents. The four m ain types that are 'heroically different a re : (1) chrysotile -- white asbestos w h ich occurs as tine silky flexible w hite fibres, (2) am osite -- a straight brittle fibre, light grey to pale brown j >) . -ocidolite -- blue asbestos, straight blue bore. (4 | anthophyllite -- a brittle white iibre n '.us u ) . i ,>,v -in vs hen a ir, tudv is m ad e ' it a o e .a n o n rep re .e n ta tiv . s argut that tin a tta ; k on asbexic,-, u laterl d iseases should in a lls -.tart a* tin p r t .e n lis t - stage's 's.m zg in ag re e s that n etting tin 'rn a n u la c tu rt and m a n ip u la tio n ot asb estos Oi, to the la c to r y R u le s in 192o, belated though a w as rep re se n te d a rle n m ie c one ern in t h is r e g a id But he alle g e s that ah these c a re fu lly 'rained m le s realls .-sis' op's on paper Banner|ee ag re e s w ith th e point oi n e w and goes on to state Unit a tin ! u tory R ules w ere re a lly e n to rc e d , p e rh a p A C M P w o u ld (e a s e to e xist fa te d w ith th e barrage ot c ritirism , V . N K h o lk u te , h i t i in sp e i tor ot ta tto o e s M a h a ia sh liu , u n d e rm e s the need 'or m an agem ents to v o iu n ta ih , e x e ia s e the requited controls. He is of the view that "The role of the lectors- inspector is to ensure that the m inim um satety prr cautions prescribed are adhered to ' He also claim s that the existing norm s ot having only one inspector per ISO lacto n e s m eans that thev are severely understalled T h is shortage ot manposvei alter ts the etn cie n rv ot his department He points out that "T h e inspector has to check everyininir trom lice n ce s to heahh and satets mea--rrps i endue I enquires in ruses ol accidents ir.rl ittmir! co up s too l nder such i irr umst arice s, to expect beUer com p liance oi e v st- <>n ihr- factory inspectors, banzgiri makes a dem and d ial, il accepted, could have pheno mena' repercussions Says Sanzgiri "The trade unions should be given the right to pro ser ute' This a, the norm al practice in r ounlnes like the US W h ile to some extent ihe N IO H .no ( Ll have been responsible lor pointing to the hazards trom asbestos, the most incrim inat ing exposures get hidden under heaps ot otti r iii' exp lanatio ns C LI o lu c ia ls, tor exam ple, re iu ie to say a w oid on the subject on their study ot the asbestos industry m Ihdia Be hind all the secrecy reportedly lies a recent terse rem inder trom the secretary, m inistry ot laboui in N ew D e lh i, to o tticials ot the C LI and the like , that as per 'service rules,' they are not to speak to anv m ember ot the press or contribute articles about their w ork tor p u b licatio n in the mass m edia. W hat is the justification for this w ilful suppression of in fo rm a tio n COMPLACENT UNIONS Trad e unionists, how ever, think that the C LI and N IO B can play an important role in creating a m a ch in e iy to monitor asbestosdust levels and carry out systematic studies. Th ev point to O S H A standards w hich clearly state that "attected em ployees or their repicsentative shall be given reasonable oppor tunity to observe any m onitoring required....... and (they) shall have access to the records thereot." b. K. C hatterjee, former director, N IO H , even w h ile agreeing broadly w ith the unionists, calls for "m ore responsible union ism and w orker education in appreciating the need to adopt protective m easures w here managements have implemented them ." An interview , w ith R. ). Mehta, p re s id e n ts the Engineering M azdoor Sabha is enough to clarity what Chatterjee means. Mehta, whose union is the ottic lally recognised union in the Asbestos Cement C o .'s (A CC and the Turner and Newal! collaboration) Bombay plant, seem s quite unaw are oi the potent .at dangers labte 4: Dust and fibre concentration in an asbestos textile factory in Ahmedabad Site uf Sam pling Total Dust (m g/m J; Respirable D ust (m g/ra3) Particles (m p p cf) \ .HP JHj-Mt king M ixing _u i 04 _m m 'j _- ) V\ ('<:\ iiii. 5 18 k( ; j x 1)f\ .dor. 1 0. >f Hlt> i \ i ( )f1 i, , ;nj/ /\l inn' O'iV i \oi(^ m g-m 3 - m illigram s per cub ii l ! hi i (lb 10 1 66 o ,r> metre S 7 TS 86 . 4' 1 ] m pprt - m illio n particles per cub ic toot ml - m illilitre ' ^ Fibres (m l.) 567 418 25 265 2 If, Kholkute bemoam start .horUt'itt ( of asbestos dust exposure. "Ires, -ve n a v i -.a'1 a tew cases ot T B ," he says adding ,i . c a v a lie r tashion that the w ide open s j. . r at the M ulund plan! ensure that bus. e \ (, sure is m aintained at low ie \e ,- Be-i-i-'- most ol the time the asbestos u i .-iw i- unskilled o r sere sk'lied work--, -he r , - w ill he get s u b good wages' l; eu him to tind another job. ' Th is is exactly the "irresponsibility oi unions that prompts G ad kan to say W or,.t rs should realise that an increase ir .dlowai res is not a substitute for health and safety m ea sures. Unfortunately, unions alw ays pres- extra monetary trenelits to compensate o hazardous work ' That even halt an hour s exposu-e to coi i: types ot asbestos dust can c, .si m esotheliom a "and other killing disease- v longer disputed. The problem >- who %.. com pensate the victim s and unat is a 1 compensation when the job u - actu a/ 1 you? It is important to pin down respoV^ ties tf further add fa n s to the thousand " w orkers already s^freong "'orr asoesto -. latect diseases are tc. be stoppea There ts talk of a new legisia' -e tr, e - r, standards th e rne Asbestos ; m --n - ,,i dert-e - - T u n c a in n ; .-. -- v - and v te ta 's - '=c-,'g Corporat'-'r MMTC - D ire c - o - i'f - - r t r - i O' Tv . -- D- . Tien; .U v-T-- j ' -c '~e an. _ - problem is that riew legislations o lt f vr translated into large regulatory .,,re-un . The crucial question, howese' ar. s. ready to send to jail torpoM 'e e\> r utixcs -- " know ingly continue to endangi the a- - o workers (as may be done in |B -V csii' ' v ever tor the present as the tngh'emng : . e- tabs mto p l a c e , the p ic tu re is <m, m -. erate managemenis inett.cien' - r r,> -t m achm erv, and Oden irrexpoir a v j n , " MEENAKSHI BEHARA