Document 9941bNDOwgGLBjJMRgBmzyOa6

The asbestos industry and Bill 17 On Thursday, September 6, 1979, the Association des mines d'amiante du Quebec presented a brief to the Permanent Labour and Manpower Commission of Quebec's National Assembly, in which It expressed the viewpoint of the as bestos industry on Bill 17 dealing with occupational health and safety. The publication of this issue of the Bulletin was delayed by one week so as to allow the text of the AMAQ document to be published, in extenso, immediate ly after its presentation to the Commission. The Association des mines d'amiante du Quebec, which has agreed with the objectives put forward in the White Paper on occupational health and safety, acknowledges the justification of overall legislation on the matter and the relevance of reform aimed at replacing the numerous cur rent laws and regulations and the fragmentation of admin istrative responsibilities with a more coherent system and a unified set of norms. We do not dispute the merits of a policy aimed at elim inating the causes of occupational accidents and work-re lated diseases, but rather feel that such initiative on the part of public authorities is timely, all the while contribut ing in a positive way to collective awareness of the prob lems inherent in occupational health and hygiene. The member companies of our Association subscribe all the more readiiy to the general direction of the policy ex pressed in the White Paper as they all have action programs which, in the final analysis.^ adhere to the objectives of the White Paper. The experience of the asbestos industry These programs deal with medical and scientific re search, occupational medicine in direct contact with the work environment, development of advanced technology with a direct impact on prevention of occupational risks and on hygiene at work, the modernization of facilities and equip ment intended for air purification and the improvement of the environment and the quality of life. Substantial human and material resources are involved in these programs; an institute of occupational and environmental health, entirely financed by the industry and which makes use of the most noted specialists in the world, health clinics at Thetford Mines and at Asbestos with their own doctors and health professionals and first-rate equipment, consultant-doctors, environmental expert-consultants, highly active permanent committees in the following fields: en vironment, occupational health and hygiene, safety and acci dent prevention. It is mainly in light of this effort and experience that we are intervening in the current discussion on Bill 17. We believe that it contains elements, which if maintained are of the type to hinder, in actual fact, the attainment of the fundamental objective of the Bill which is the health and safety of workers. Therefore, our intervention is aimed at showing which elements, in our opinion, should in all necessity be revised, and it will deal with the following: Health clinics and services, health and safety committees, inspection, the exercise of the right to refusal, the preven tion representative, medical diagnosis. 1. Health clinics and services Regarding occupational health services, we cannot un derstand why the authors of the Bill chose such a straight and narrow path. By favouring abusive bureaucracy and functionarism in the organizational structure and operation of health services, such a path thwarts more than it actual ly establishes the principle of the taking in hand by the milieu of health and hygiene at work, which in fact was a basic premise in the orientation of the White Paper. Above and beyond the fact we feel that health services for workers are part of The responsibilities Inherent in the management of a company, and that we would find It Inad missible for the legislator to use as a pretext the promotion ; v i * j j : f i [ : I of occupational health and safety In order to insidiously withdraw the rights which are part and parcel of manage ment in the economic and political system we live in, we feel that as far as health services are concerned, the Bill Is unreasonably restrictive and limiting. It is obvious that existing programs and services were not taken Into account and it also appears that the authors confused the rote of a doctor with that of an arbitrator or conciliator. From the viewpoint of the competence of their profes sionals, the quality of their services and equipment, the Asbestos and Thetford Mines occupational medicine clinics, for example, are more than equal to what exists In this field, namely in public, para-public or community centres. As a matter of fact, their thorough knowledge of the mining milieu and all its aspects allows them to be In a position to better serve, with ail the required attention, workers who could not receive such care from other institutions or pro fessionals unfamiliar with the asbestos working environ ment and who have no practical experience of the problems and solutions which are particular to this environment. From this point of view, the exclusion of health clinics established in the private sector borders on irresponsibili ty because it would eliminate needlessly and gratuitously. In the case of occupational medicine clinics, extremely precious accumulated experience and competence, and services which have proven their professionalism and ef ficiency. Always taking into account its objective, the Bit! should, to the contrary, encourage the maintaining, and development of such clinics and thus create, between the public and pri vate sectors, healthy and stimulating competition which can only be beneficial to workers and favour the implementa tion of sound occupational medicine In Quebec. Health programs As for the development of health and safety programs, companies can generally better define and determine their own needs concerning medical examinations and the type of services required to obtain the optimum performance in preventing and solving health and safety problems. Here again we observe that the authors of the Bill have followed a straight and narrow path which is rigid and restrictive instead of fostering an open policy encouraging develop ment. in conjunction with the appropriate public organiza tions. of the best possible programs, designed and struc tured in accordance with the very needs of each industry. In the case of health and safety programs in the asbestos industry, it would be deplorable that the legislator block their scope by subjecting this industry to a general level ling process which would discourage all initiative. The occupational doctor As for the choice of occupational doctors in companies, we feel that the only criteria for hiring an occupational doc tor must be his professional competence and aptitude to best meet the duties to be performed. Recruiting should be cgrried out according to rigorous standards to obtain the highest degree of professionalism. In carrying out hts medical profession, the occupational doctor in a company should not, nor ever, be subjected to State authority, company authority or worker authority but must abide by the dictates of his professional corporation. This does not, however, prevent that mechanisms be de veloped so that doctors, Just like nurses, hygienists, toxi cologists and epidemiologists, work in close cooperation with health and safety committees and worker representa tives. In the same way we accept the monitoring mecha nisms of health services as provided for in the Bill, we favour that the Independence and Integrity of occupational doctors and all health professionals be guaranteed through the setting up of standards recognized by professional cor porations or the Occupational Health and Safety Commis sion. However, we feet it unacceptable that the choice of a doc tor be submitted to a vote by a parity committee in which the employer or union sympathies. obvious or assumed, are liable to weigh more heavily than professional competence. On the contrary, we feel that the hiring of an occupational doctor in a company should logically fall to the employer who is liable for the health ot all his workers and respon sible for the smooth management of all activities in his company including health services, it being understood that the professional independence, competence and integrity of the appointed doctor must conform to established norms. We therefore request that the Bill be revised in this re gard to take into account the imperatives inherent in pro viding health services in an industry such as ours, and to allow for free choice in the hiring of health professionals. Whether full-time occupational doctors or consultant-doc tors are involved, we (eel that we are justified in asking for the right to call upon the best elements of the profession without any consideration'Whether they belong to the private or public sector. 2. Health and safety committees On the other hand, if there is a field in which, more than any other, employer-employee cooperation, to be useful and efficient, must be accepted freely by the parties and com pletely absent of power plays, it Is surely the health and safety field. ** As defined in the Bill, health and safety committees, 'which may even be imposed by outside authority, 'would quickly be liable to become hotbeds of confrontation and conflict, thus making their very goals impractical. 2 Such committees inevitably risk deviating from their pri mary objectives if they truly do not convey the will of em ployers and employees to cooperate In finding solutions to problems of health and safety. The Bill, in this regard, paves the way for afl types of confrontations, even bargaining, to the detriment of the true objectives of health and safety. Inasmuch as the legislator above alt wants to see that this necessary cooperation becomes real and feasible, he pv should agree to reflect upon the very constitution and defi nition of these committees by making them voluntary and consultative, by more equitably redefining the responsibili ties of each and, above all, by avoiding that they become the extension of employer-union disputes on the respective rights and obligations of workers and employers. 3. Inspection At another level, the Association des mines d'amlante du Qudbec questions the pertinence of unifying all the health and safety inspection sendees as the Bill proposes. Again, the authors appear to have given free rein to a generality in which the specifics of an industry such as the asbestos mining industry are cast aside. Indeed, the mining sector has a special character which is its very own due to the particularities and complexities of mining operations. An inspector responsible for over seeing adherence to safety norms, and in a general way, of ensuring the application of laws and regulations, would not be able to suitably cany out his job if he did not have the proper training and if he were not familiar in every way possible with the full details and circumstances of mining, whether in the pit or in the processing plant. There.Js no doubt in our minds that supervision of the health and safety conditions of mining workers in general, and asbestos mining workers In particular, can be more effectively ensured by specialists working for a government department directly in contact with the mining activity. In this regard, the Service de I'inspectlon des mines, which enforces application of the Mining Act appears to be the ideal body to carry out inspection in all mining facilities, even under the new plan. In any case, even if inspection of the mines shouid be the responsibility of a government body other than the Minlstbre des richesses naturelles, which would appear to be rather odd, the task should necessarily be assigned to professionals well familiar with mining operations for obvious reasons of efficiency and the smooth operation of the inspecting process. 4. The exercise of the right to refusal Regarding the rights and obligations of the worker, we recognize the right of a worker to refuse to carry out a job if he has reasonable motives to believe that performing this Job will expose him to risks for his health, safety or physi cal well-being or could have the effect ol exposing another person to similar risk. The concept of good or bad faith to which this chapter of the Bill refers may lead to abuses, misunderstandings and useless litigation and does not have a place in the articles regarding the rights of a worker to refuse to carry out a Job. We therefore feel that the concept of reasonable motives, stated in the Bill, must be the only one kept as It ensures more efficiently the objective'application of the rights of the employer and employee. 5, The prevention representative The section of the Bill dealing with the appointment of prevention representatives leads to confusion as written. In one instance, it is stipulated that workers choose "one or more people to carry out the duties or prevention repre sentatives". In another, reference is made to "one preven tion representative". The time a prevention representative can devote towards his duties, at his employer's expense, could be substantial. In addition, he can take, without salary toss, as much leave of absence as needed to participate in training programs, the content and length of which are approved by the Com mission. Consequently, simple common sense should incite the legislator to limit prevention representation. We feel that one prevention representative per company is enough, except perhaps in the larger companies in which case the Bill can establish or determine the method of set ting the number of representatives in accordance with the size of the enterprise and the number of employees. 6. Medical diagnosis Concerning transitory provisions, and especially article 279, we have noted an extremely important omission. The proposed modification alms at replacing a sub-para graph of Bill 52,1975. by a new text which has the effect of eliminating the concept of positive diagnosis in the case of disability resulting from silicosis and asbestosis, by only mentioning "silicosis and asbestosis medically determined through diagnosis...". The Association des mines d'amiante du Quebec opposes this change which would have the effect of undermining the concept of positive diagnosis. We had the opportunity, when hearings on Bill 52 were held a few years ago, of showing the inadequacy of the term "medical diagnosis" without any other precision, and the misleading interpretations It led to. At the time, we proved, to the satisfaction of the legisla tor, the necessity of introducing the concept of positive diagnosis, the only way to ensure that diagnoses are based on medical and scientific data', free from any partiality. Our request does not have any other goal than to prevent a return to arbitrary and subjective rule in matters of med ical diagnosis, thus compromising, on a crucial point, the Just and equitable application of legislation on occupational health and safety. 3 i ! g. ?>: !< ' f t .<4 ;? !.! C`` BEtflIRfflHI Asbestos-cemei a combination of elegance an( Asbestos applications are so nu merous and varied that it would be difficult to draw up an exhaustive list, especially as these applica tions are evolving according to the changing pace of consumer needs and tastes. Several products con taining asbestos, in order to make use of the unique characteristics of the fibre, are therefore constantly being developed to satisfy the new requirements of the market. Thus, during the last few years, a new use was developed for fibrocement in the construction field, namely, asbestos-cement finished sheets, a decorative material which lends itself particularly well to ex terior and interior architectural facings. Sophisticated products Finished sheets can be found in curtain walls, edging, balcony sur facing, soffite ceiliings. tympanum, or partition waits in various types of buildings: multiple apartment dwellings, hotels, hospitals, office buildings, schools, community cen tres, etc. Contrary to traditional corrugat ed or flat sheets, used primarily for functional^ purposes for the cladding of 'industrial buildings, coloured or textured asbestos-ce ment finished sheets are more spe cialized and sophisticated products which are used for cladding com mercial, public, institutional or residential buildings whose aes thetic appearance is a major con cern of architects. Manufacturing process Made of a mixture of Portland type cement and asbestos fibres (12 to 15% content), generally grade 4, the finished sheets, like all fibrocement products, do not present any risk to the health of users due to the fact that the fibre is com pletely interlocked in the mixture. Coloured sheets are formed by a compression process into flat panels which are then polished and covered by a pastel or bright col oured coating. The finished product has a smooth, semi-mat and uni formly coloured surface. The pa nels are produced in various thick nesses and sizes. Textured sheets have a roughfinish surface and are generally white, grey, sand or earth colour ed. Their manufacturing process varies according to producers. The mixture can be dyed before being compressed and then molded into the desired texture or shape or again, dyed and molded without going through the compression stage. In certain cases, the texture is obtained through sanding. In other cases, the mixture is not dyed so that the finished sheet has the natural grey colour of asbes tos-cement. Characteristics and advantages The large variety of available shades for coloured sheets and the numerous finishes which can be There is a great variety of applications tor finlsht in the construction of a mansard roof. Right the with colouredasbestos-cement sheets. Lett: an aged stone effect has been given to a text a cafeteria have been covered with cotouredsheet. 4 it finished sheets solidity, of safety and economy J I given to textured sheets make the products very appealing to archi tects who wish to create new and original effects in exterior and in terior facings of the buildings they design, and who must, at the same time, take into account safety stan dards which are becoming more and more severe and respect the concerns of contractors about sav ings and costs. The asbestos-cement finished sheet does meet all these require ments. Other than its aesthetic qualities, it has characteristics which often give it advantages over certain competitive materials, such as concrete, brick, etc. Thus, all the while providing ex cellent resistance to pressure, due to the reinforcement properties of the asbestos fibre, it is relatively light, much more so than concrete for example. This allows builders to use lighter structures which are more economical, and simpler in stallation methods which are faster and less expensive, in addition, like alt products combining asbestos and cement, the finished sheet is noncombustible thus providing a protection guarantee against fire spreading and smoke emissions. It also can withstand humidity and sharp drops or rises in tempera ture, and its low lineary heat ex pansion coefficient gives it' con siderable dimensional stability. Interesting potential - Coloured sheets are quite popu lar in Western Europe where all their productionis centered. Eternit-Belgique manufactures, among other things, high quality coloured sheets marketed in Europe under the trade name Glazal. However, the use of coloured sheets in North America Is still not very wide spread as architects and builders are not familiar with the range of possibilities the product can offer. Textured sheets are better known on this continent. Two large pro ducers of fibrocement products, Johns-Manville in the United States and Atlas Turner in Canada, are already involved in the production of textured sheets which are mar keted under various trade names. In addition, the natural finish and rugged appearance of the sheets better correspond to North Ameri can tastes, at least as far as ex terior facings are concerned. Japan and other highly industri alized countries represent inter esting potential markets for asbes tos-cement finished sheets which are high quality sophisticated prod ucts. With the increase in cost of tra ditional materials, and the quest for new shapes and lines in modem architecture, finished sheets are destined to take a greater and greater share of the decorative ma terial market. Indeed, they possess a combination of qualities which is almost unequalled by other pro ducts, ail the while being economi cally competitive. 5 r ad^a i cr m AAH AAAC Statement of the international asbestos industry For some years now the effect of asbestos on human health has been the subject of steadily increasing controversy. While there has been considerable scientific Investigation into this subject, the state of knowledge Is far from complete. At the same time the discussion Is becoming increasingly emotional and this Is conducive neither to the adoption of good and reasonable regulation nor to providing a background for the improvement of scientific knowledge. *'" In these circumstances, the asbestos Industries will continue to co-operate with ail of those concerned, and In particular: the workers and their representative organisations; the medical and scientific professions: national and international authorities, in order to achieve the following: defining and establishing measures for worker protection; encouraging and/or undertaking all the requisite technical, scientific and medical studies for gaining improved knowledge of the pathology of asbestos-related disease, a large number of features of which still remain obscure; comparing and discussing together the conclusions that can be drawn from the present state of knowledge. In this context, the asbestos industry, represented by the Asbestos International Association, wishes to state its position as follows: 1 The health hazards associated with asbestos are due to the inhalation of fine asbestos dust. It Is known that excessive exposure to uncontrolled concentrations of as bestos dust can result In the onset of asbestosis, cancers of the lung and mesothelioma. 2- These occupational diseases normally show up only after a period of 15 to 40, or more, years after the ex posure. This indicates that the cases presently occurring are the result of working conditions that were very dif ferent from those encountered today -- the dust levels at that time were 100 or even 1000 times higher than at present. It also follows that the cases of asbestos-related disease which will occur in the near future will also have had their origins in past conditions. 3- A dust level not exceeding 2 fibres per cc is consider ed by the industry as the basic necessary requirement, and the industry considers that regulation to achieve this is both' necessary and useful. The overall objective is to reduce the fibrous dust content of the air as far below two fibres per cc as Is possible, and wherever possible, at the earliest opportunity. 4* The industry considers that the dust level of work places should be regularly monitored. The-'workers concerned and their representatives should be kept ad vised of the results, as are factory doctors and official health Inspectors. 5- Uses of asbestos In which adequate dust control can not be achieved (such as spraying) should be abandoned. 6. industry is continuously striving to improve the qua lity of its products, and is actively investigating the de velopment and application of alternative materials. In this connection, however, it is emphasised that such ma terials must meet three basic requirements: (a) they must present less hazard to health than the asbestos product; (b) they must offer equivalent technical properties, notably In the way ot lire protection and in terms of thermal and chemical resistance and mechanical strength; (c) they must be economically satisfactory. .1 r 7. The policy of the industry is to give adequate infor mation to users of asbestos-containing products in order to ensure that these are used safely. Scientific data on the*'asbestos and health problem are still insufficient. The industry considers that new research must be urgently undertaken and is prepared to help in organising this and to co-ordinate the work in different countries. In such studies, which require close international collaboration between researchers, priority should be given to the following: the-epidemiology of asbestosis. lung cancer and mesothe lioma; the effects of tobacco and other carcinogenic co-factors; the possible relationship between ingested asbestos and di sease. 9* In the present state of scientific knowledge, there is no evidence that the proper use of asbestos products involves any health risks to the public at large. 6 %t t Standardization of dust measuring methods The Panel The Oust Measurement Advfsory Panel of the Asbestos International Association (AIA), which includes experts from several countries, has finalized development of a referen ce method for the determination of airborne asbestos fibre concentra tions at workplaces by light micros copy. To this end the members of the Panel met during the last week of June at Bromont. Quebec, where they were the guests of the Asso ciation des mines d'amiante du Que bec. The meeting, the fourth since formation of the Panel, also provid ed an opportunity for the members to visit, at Asbestos, the JohnsManviile Canada facilities and, at Mont Saint-Hilaire. the laboratory ofthe Occupational Safety and Health Centre of McGill University, headed by Dr. G.W. Gibbs. 18 months of work The reference method adopted at Bromont establishes a standardized procedure to be used to measure fibre concentrations through mem brane filtering, it is the result of work carried out over the last year and-a-haif by the. members of the Panel who applied themselves during this period in evaluating the tech niques and equipment in use through out the world and in selecting the best elements in order to arrive at a unique and uniform method which would facilitate, particularly for epidemiological purposes, measure ment comparisons on an interna tional scale. it was at the first international symposium on dust measurement, held in August, 1977, at Warmensteinach. West Germany, that spe cialists emphasized the lack of uni formity in the use and understanding of the membrane filter method. In fact, the interpretation of the method by the various laboratories is such that it leads to almost as many methods as there are laboratories. This is due, in part, to variables which occur at various steps in the process: collection of air samples, preparation of the slide, counting criteria, etc. The members of the Dust Mea surement Advisory Panel and authors of the document are: Dr. Klaus Robock, of the Asbestos institute for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health (Germany), Chair man of the Panel; Daniel Bouige, of the Laboratoire d'hygiene et de contrdle des fibres mlnerales (Pran ce); Dr. Gerald R. Chase, of Johns- Manville Sales Corporation (United States); Geoffrey Pickford, of the Research and Engineering Centre of James Hardie & Coy Pty. Ltd. (Aus tralia); Dr. Harrison B. Rhodes, of the Metal Division of Union Carbide Corporation (United States); Antho ny L Rickards, of the Asbestos Fi bre Laboratory of Turner & Newall Ltd. (United Kingdom); Uiricht Telchert, of the Asbestos Institute for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health (Germany), acting Secretary of the Panel; and Marc Trudeau, Technical Advisor of the Association des mines d'amiante du Quebec. Mr. R. Sykes of the Asbes tos Research Council (United King dom), formerly member of the Pa nel, also played an active role in the development of the reference me thod. The Dust Measurement Advisory Standard procedure Panel, created by the AIA in 1977, meets at least three times a year. Aware of the necessity of reme dying such a situation, the Dust Measurement Advisory Panel of the Its main assignment is to standar dize the methods used to measure asbestos dust. AIA therefore undertook development of a reference method allowing the Current proj'ects procedure to be internationalized. A The reference method for the first draft was presented in Washing determination of airborne asbestos ton in October, 1978, during the fibre concentrations in workplaces second symposium on dust mea is only the first step in the program surement. it was favourably received by the interested scientific and government organizations whose numerous comments, often very per tinent, led the Panel to make certain changes and to improve the project before giving it its final form at the Bromont meeting. which the Panel has" set for itself. Members have already undertaken two new projects with regard, re spectively. to the measurement of asbestos dust emitted into the en vironment and to the measurement of dust emitted from chimneys in the asbestos industry. .7 1: i 1 i i RJ-v Adoption of an international symbol t for labelling of asbestos bags Canadian asbestos fibre producers have all accepted a proposal sub mitted by the Asbestos International Association (AIA) which recommend ed that a graphic symbol be added to the caution warnings on asbestos fibre bags shipped from their res pective processing plants. The chosen symbol is currently in use in the United Kingdom and cer tain other countries and highlights the letter "a" meaning both asbes tos and attention. The logo is com posed of a stylized "a" on a black background surrounded by a red border thereby making the symbol very distinctive. avoid creating dust and that breathing asbestos dust could be detrimental to health. During the last two years, several producers took it upon themselves to make the text more explicit and, in certain cases, have even included Labelling For several years now, producers have been labelling bags with a writ ten warning in accordance with re quirements of organizations respon sible for ensuring the health of work ers, such OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) of the United States. The text cautions eventual users that the bags contain asbestos fibres, that`they should a warning to the effect that smoking considerably increases the risks to health. According to the new labelling policy adopted by Canadian produc ers, each company will continue to have its own warning printed on the bags, but the "a" logo will be used by all. International symbol It is anticipated that the "a" will eventually become the international caution symbol in the asbestos in dustry. in fact, in the manufacturing sector, it is already used on the packaging of asbestos-containing, products in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and will shortly be applied in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germa ny, Holland, Luxemburg and South Africa. On the other hand, most fibre producing members of the AIA will follow the example of Canadian pro ducers so that the logo will be used in all the major asbestos producing and consuming countries. Btfunffiai------------ This BULLETIN Is published by TAssociation des mines d'amiante du Quebec, 1130 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 410, Montreal H3A ZM8. The Post Office Department in Ottawa has authorizedpostage paid in cash and forwarding of the pub lication by third class mail. MR- A.I.. /?!<jjvff Sit. ViC* `lyi ^ I'.o. /,), *t. Bl RM! av. AIA. 11 7* PCoatntMttft /j trtpeyr Bulk Ennombre third trots&me class classe F-264 Montreal, P.Q. --r G.M. - CAPCO r' a n r*r\ ictki nni nonq