Document N28bqbz27ZyX6zmRj94JY2GYg

FILE NAME Colonial Sugar Refinery CSR DATE 1974 DOC CSR058 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION Internal Report - Some Questions and Answers Concerning Bulletin Cover Story - Is There a Killer in Your Home - July 6 1974 Some Questions and Answers concerning Bulletin Cover Story Is there a killer in your home July 6 1974 Were Australian Blue Asbestos Pty Ltd. and C.S.K. aware that a direct relationship was proven between crocidolite or blue asbestos and a ruch rarer cancer called mesothelioma in the early 1960's up to the closure of Witterson in 19667 to 1960 The medical as the first literature to suggest refers to Wagner's paper in a relationship relationship between asbestos exposure and pleural mesothelioma At a meeting of the New York Academy of Science published in Decerter 1965 considerably more evidence emerged although there was still coms controversy It was not until 1969 that the first health regulatory authorities in the .. tightened up regulations governing the handling of asbestos Dio u labourer die of mesothelioma at Wittenoom in 19607 To in 1961. Pleural mesothelioma caused the death of a man who had worked in the mill from 1947 to 1949 The case was described by Dr. Mculty in the Nedical Journal of Australia in 1962 Did we know of this We have evidence at present that A. vere vid of this at the tine A search is being made of ... records which have been scored at Cottesloe Relinery Was Dr. McNulty alvays on the Coyle back It is probably fair to say that Mchulty was always on their backs with respect to the generally dusty conditions at Witteuoo However Ne^/ultyof the M.A. Department of concerned such as the Public dealth and the other groups and the State Covernment Insurance Office Mines Department were mainly concerned with improving the dust reducing within the generally accepted standards of that acasures tine with respect to asbestosis What were the contacts by these groups with Wittenoom There were periodic visits by various Department of Mines Inspectore introduced a From 1948 the system whereby W.A. each Department of Health new employee was medically examined and -rayed before being employed Every twelve months a mobile clinic visited the mine and every employee was rayed Any pneumoconiosis cases includes asbestosis and liability was vested vere advised by Health Department in the State Government Insurance Office a \ in i Did A.B.A. take notice of these recommendations ) of Yes there were continuing improvements during the cautse Wittenoom's history Dust collection systemas were installed in the old mill prior to its closure in the late 1950's and were built into the new mill which opened in 1959. However there were difficulties due to the abrasive nature of the dust and difficulties of maintenance | Were dust measurements made at Wittenoom Yes In early 1963 full time ventilations officer A. was appointed whose duties included this An expert from the School of Public Health Sydney also surveyed the mine and mill in 1964. This work did show high concentrations of asbestos dust in air in the will Respirators were issued to all employees at operating stations in the will although the heat limited their use ~~ meee oe. In what way do Mines Department files hardly support C.S.R.'a insistence that it did everything that was Sir? recommended Praie A search is being made of A.H.A's records for specific a wtn,eh correspondence on this However discussions with epe staff formerly employed at Wittenoon indicate that > . C.S.R. 7 that the uill and mine workcu urder close Coverament - . lew! Legtag and union inspections and that A.b.A. enforced the Mining . oy my Act and the controls under it to the limit ae a oy ~ Did the hives department Mr. Boyland threated to close the wise C.5.R. staff who formerly worked at Wittenoon believed that d if the mine did not accord with Covernment standards it could be shut down at any time A search of A.B.A's records should reveal any correspondence on this matter Frage hert es has C.S.K. rekiss in carrying on mining operatious at Wittenoom as Hall's article infers in the light of the eta of blue asbestos in causing Lesothelioma dangers a It is only in the last few years that the particular dangers of blue asbestos with respect to resothelioma are becoming generally accepted Even so there is still some controversy over the question of response and the types of asbestos responsible The matter is not as cut and dried as Hall's article suggests In the light of today's knowledge it would have been remiss but at the time both the company and the Government regulatory authorities vare endeavouring to work within limits set with respect to different from those which asbestosis would apply which today are vary with respect to mesothelioms WR 3 if de HO ongwe gant oP t. 3 SA R A IE Ce Bae ONS Met 2 c, 4 Is it true that of 41 men scan by sictiulty 16 in 1960 14 died of mesothelioma mesothelioma ( . ference No in the context of Hall's article it is grosely misleading The figures come from a paper presented by McNulty a few years ago Of a total of 103 men who worked at Wittenoon and who have developed pneumoconiosis 41 were mill workers who had not worked undergrounodr in other mines Of these 14 have died but only one from Resothelioma and one from another type of lung cancer What are the mesothelioma current facts with of people formerly respect to deaths from employed at Wittenoon A copy of a report written in 1973 by Dr. P. Maguire medical officer of the W.A. Mines Department says that there are 142 cases of asbestosis and anbestosis and six cases of mesothelioma amongst people who have worked at Wittenoon A total of 27 mer are known to have died including 5 from mesothelioms and 7 from other lung cancer Of the five known to have died from mesothelioma one was the case diagnosed in 1960 who died in 1961 The others have been diagnosed since 1969 The time interval from to blue asbestos and death was from 13 to 22 years exposure Are 10 to 15 at Wittenoom percent of the at one time or 20,000 people who another likely to worked contract mesothelioma as Hall suggests There is insufficiant knowledge for anyone to aven hazard a guess A 1973 report from South Africa the only| other country which has commercially produced blun asbestos shows 232 reported cases of mesothelioma 78 of these had exposure to blue asbestos from mining operations South Africa has been producing blue asbestos since 1919 and at a rate in excess of 30,000 tons per year since 1950 Compare Wittenoom's production rate of between 10,000 to 15,000 tons annually between 1968-1966 What is being done to find out how many people employed at Wittenoom might contract mesothelioma mesothelioma Professor Michael llobbs Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Social Medicine at the University of Western Australia is carrying out a survey on health problems associated with people working with asbestos in particular with respect to people who have worked at Wittenoom Hobbs has told us that C.S.R. through Mr. Leith in Perth Office had been most operative and helpful by making personnel records available Dr. Smythe C.S.R. Research is visiting Perth on 8th July to discuss our further support of Professor Hobbs work with him Is C.S.R. doing anything to assist employees who worked at Wittenoom who are now suffering or are likely to suffer from mesothelioma As a matter of course A.B.A. Pty Ltd. the operating company of the day has met its full legal obligatinns to any employees suffering as a proven result of service at Wittenoom Compensation is handled by the W.A. Government Insurance Office under W.A. law Whatever cases have come to our knowledge we have assisted in the course of events to help people obtain compensation The matter is of continuing concern to us because of the possibility of new cases arising We would certainly do whatever we could to assist people obtain compensation where a condition was clearly attributable to service at Wittenoom mine Is C.S.R. using asbestos today Ho blue asbestos is being used in any C.S.H. operations Luday Other asbestos mainly chrysotile and smaller quantities of amosite are being used in underlich factories for the production of asbestos coment and at Concord for the production of vinyl floor tiles and in small quantities for some jointing cements for Cyprock These types of asbestos are considered leas dangerous than crucidalite blue asicsLos wit 4 c..ce 10 resthaliona What precautions are being taken in these factorics to prote .. ~ ployeecu In the underlich factories there has been a continued liaison with the Lepartment of Labour and Industry and the Division of Occupational Occupational Health to improve dust extraction and control equipuent to casure that any asbestos fibre in the worl place is kept to au acceptable level in line with that now recommended by the National Health and Fedical Research Council of Australia Regular dust level determinations are arried out under the supervision of a staff officer who is responsible for advising on general industrial hygiene hygiene A similar situation prevails at Concord and a program for further improvements to dust control ucasures to underway Is there room for improvement in C.S.R's standards of occupational hygiene in its rany factories Yes although the company has always been concerned to operate its factories within the accepted standards of the day there is scope for the appointment of an Industrial Hygiene Officer to give advice and recommendations concerning our work place conditions in the wide range of operations C.S.R. is involved in today This matter is being currently pursued- / ( ( ( C FURTHER INFORMATIONINFORMATIOONN QUESTIONS RAISED BY THE CHAIRMAN refer earlier tote of 7.7.74 Q. When did my wife and I go to Wittenoom Was the extractor plant then operating A. Letter P No. 277 11.10.1965 indicates that the Board of Directors including Sir John Dunlop visited Wittenoom in October 1965. The extractor plant was operating at that time Q. Did McNulty inform us of the death of a former employee from mesothelioma in 1960 did he explain mesothelioma to the inquest and did he send us a copy of the Medical Journal A. We have not been able to locate correspondence from McNulty covering a copy of his article in Med J. Aust 1962 2 953. a copy of this is attached We did locate a letter P 26 24.6.1960 from the Manager A.B.A. Wittenoom to the Managing Director A.B.A. Sydney sending two copies of an extract from the British Medical Journal copy attached We also located in A.B.A. files correspondence between McNulty and various overseas experts relating to the use of asbestos tailings in school playgrounds and road construction These were dated November 1965 copies are attached In summary there is much evidence we can muster to show that it was not until 1965 after the New York Academy of Science Meeting that the possibility of mesothelioma being a problem at Wittenoom began to be appreciated Q. Was there a board of review at Wittenoom in 1959 What did it say A. There a was board of review at this time which found against the ad payment to some workers An outline of this is contained in the F .. dated 16.12.1959 copy attached oO Q. Did Mr. Boyland threaten to close the mine A. There is correspondence between June 1961 and July 1962 which clearly indicates that Mr. of dust conditions Boyland of the Mines Department was being very in the mill There was a threat letter P No. critical 164 30.11.1964 that Mr. Boyland may serve a notice that the Mine or Mill is unsafe In December 1961 the local Mines Inspector set down a restriction on throughput in an effort to improve conditions In letter P 16A 25.7.1962 the Manager A.B.A. Wittenoom writing to The The General Superintendent Perth stated We are rather tireodf his Mr. Boyland's constant threat to initiate prosecutions This is being done according to him to force the Company into carrying out every instruction We would suggest that this constant threat be investigated C The letter went on to say ... We do not stop in our efforts to control and collect dust in the mill Ne and we have men constantly on ventilation underground It is not easy to comply with every request the Inspectors make but we at least do our best to carry out their wishes Q. What do the minutes say A. A search of directors and general meeting minutes of A.B.A. show no comments on dust hazards