Document KxR43ZxvLEYZ4a79DMj0roL2

FILE NAME: Shell (SHEL) DATE: 1970 Oct 8 DOC#: SHEL015 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Turner Bros Asbestos Co. Memo RE Asbestos and Health - Shell 1 ->< Orljln TURNER BROTHERS ASBESTOS COMPANY LTD. To London Dr. S. Holmes Health Physics Koohdale Dept. EAE/SMJ KBO C o p y : SH Inf: SM/DFR Your Ref:- "r, .. ., 8th October 1970 Aabestoa and Health: Shell We had a word on the telephone following receipt of your letter of 25th September and aa a result I made an ap p o i n t m e n t to see Mr. Hawkins and indeed met him yesterday. Mr. Hawkins is tho Secretary of the Shell International Safety Committee which, amongst other things, would be responsible for recommendations to the various Shell companies including Shell Tanker and the refineries regarding asbestos and possible substitutes. Mr, Hawkins was at some yains to explain to me that the Committee only made recommendations and would not instruct anybody to take a course of action, but he agreed that as the teobnlcal people in The Hague would have agreed the recommendations, moot units would accept them. The impetus for the alterations to the Shell HESC document came from the Medical Section of Shell in London and at first was rejected by the technical people at The Hague. However, about this timo there was some adverse publicity in the Dutch press on the subject of asbestos and health, and one of the medical people at The Hague supported the London recommendation, with the result that alternatives were sought. The procedure la that the a l t e r n a t i v e s have to have the approval of the technical people in Tho Hague and I gather that most of the front running in findlhg alternatives was in point-of-fact again done by the medical people. o o n t / d , .,, 1 i l ; .. 'W< ,Vv5 4*-.`-/TVVy;--A:7'uV*,?rx . . V V; , . J y IER BROTHERS ASBESTOS CO. LTD. xiAii/SKJ EDO Copy: 3H Inf: HK/DFK CONTINUATION 2 date a . 1 0 .7 0 . He: Asbestos & Health : Shell X ' 1JOC, 1 explained to Hr. Hawkins our concern that an International company ouch as Shell in effect issued a document uu^;ctin/.' that asbestos cloth, for example, created a health hazard, and I told him how this could quite unfairly complicate situations for us, not only in home markets but in overooaa markets as well. He gave me a most understanding and sympathetic hearing, parti cularly when I described to him the virtues of dustsuppression and of "Fortex" products, although 1 was anxious at this stage to make the object of the visit one of principle rather than one of selling our products. Aa a result of this talk Hr. Hawkins will have die cuoaions with a Dr. Learaon and a Dr. Blackraore in London (they were not available yesterday) and will then suggest a further meeting whdn we will be given the opportunity to explain yet a gain our situation. Hr. hawkina is also going to The Hague next week and oiay possibly mention the subject thore, but ho expects the procedure to be: i) that ve should meet the medical people in London, and if that is reasonably ouccessful, ii) we should visit the technical people at The Hague. I might say at thin stage I have not offered any defence in favour of rope lagging and millboard, but have rather directed my discussions towards cloth which I think in all markets could be the major problem. In so far as the comment .. `out further replacement materials is concerned, Mr. Hawkins gave me an assurance that they have nothing in mind concerning compressed asbestos fibre jointing or indeed greased and graphited jo in tings. To the b e s t of his r e c o l l e c t i o n , a g a i n s t these items the Safety Committee listed the comment, "These products carry only minimal risk". Whilst even this io not as definite as we would like, in Hr. Hawkins' cont/d, , ' 1t " 0 " v;i' V /T --v.V*.' ' - /-/ . ;v \::k BROTHERS ASBESTOS CO. LTD. KBG ' Copy: Sli Inf: 3K/i)?H CONTINUATION jj DATE 0 . 1 0 . 7 0 . He: Asbestos & Health : Shell Bind It in e q u i v a l e n t to saying "don't worry, you can use these products without difficulty". The next 3tep is for Lie to await a telephone call from either Hr. Hawkins or Dr. L e a m o n . k. k cionds 'j*+ : 0 rp;:^yty^p- " ' H i . T- Z 'y S & m p y :zyy',-y ?>.., - . ri-Jj,.: -