Document QMkEd2w1eNqbMwML587L8YVVR

'fo il February 2, 1954 D r. K ieffer D avis M edical D irector Phillips Petroleum Company B a r tle sv ille , Oklahoma D ear K ieffer: I should lik e to sit down and talk with you about a num ber of m atters that relate to the subject of your letter of January 25, and perhaps this can be done when you com e to the L aboratory to give a Saturday m orning sem in a r. I hope so. M eanwhile I shall/undertake to rep ly a s w ell as I can to your sp ecific questions. The standards w hich we apply to the selectio n of m en who engage in the operations for m ixing anitknock compounds with gasolin e are not capable of statem ent a s sp ecifica tio n s, sin ce they are le ft to the judgm ent of the m em b ers of the m ed ical staff of Ethyl C orporation who do the w ork in the fie ld . T hese a r e sound and exp erien ced m en, who undertake to ach ieve the general purposes of the M edical D epartm ent of the C orporation with the le a st in terferen ce w ith the p o licie s of the em ployer of th ese m en , and a lso with the le a st p o ssib le d islocation of the working relationship s of the m en them selves. F o r a tim e, in the e a rly period of th is rather unique program of m ed ical su p erv isio n , we w ere fa ir ly rigid in our req u irem en ts, sin ce anything that developed in a m an w as altogeth er too lik ely to be blam ed upon tetraethyl lead . A s the y ea rs p assed and we w ere able to dem on strate the com plete adequacy of the m ethods of protecting the m en again st the hazards of the w ork, we relaxed som ew hat, in order to conform to the b est canons of good industrial m ed ical p ra ctice, in that we excluded few people, and then only fo r the m o st obvious r e a so n s. In som e p la c e s few m en a re availab le fo r the job, and in other.s th ere a re good rea so n s, in te r m s of the person al relia b ility and resp on sib ility of a m an, for overlooking p h ysical handicaps of certa in typ es. On the sid e of age, we p refer in a ll in stan ces to avoid m in o rs, b ecau se of the strong flavor of prejudice relating to juvenile su scep tib ility to lead, a s w ell a s the gen eral feelin g that m in ors should not be engaged in unduly hazardous occupations. We prefer not to u se old m en, fo r a num ber of rea so n s, but som etim es an older man is the b est m an availab le in term s of h is intelligence, reliability and resppnsiveness to our instructions. D r, K ieffer D avis * (2) - F eb ru ary 2, 1954 The one thing we undertake to avoid is the ex isten ce or the likelihood of nervous involvem ent that m ay sim u late or be confused with the effects o f th e a b so r p tio n o f te tr a e th y l le a d . We don't w ant a lc o h o lic s , drug a d d ic ts o r psychotic people under any circu m stan ces, while the stigm ata of inadequately treated sy p h ilis, with its p oten tialities for the neurological m an ifestation s of this d ise a se , are alw ays a cause for rejection. O therw ise, we avoid p erson s with p r o g ressiv e d ise a se of a significan t type, w henever we can. H ow ever, in this group of m en who a re working at p resen t, are a few controlled d ia b etics, som e p erson s with evidence of hyp ertensive va scu la r d ise a se , and certain other persons whose states are far from ideal. These m en m ust work for a livin g, and they a re em ployed by petroleum com panies. We do not want to be resp on sib le for contributing to th eir lo s s of th eir job s. C onsequently we acquaint the resp o n sib le p h ysician (when th ere is one) with our findings, and carry along with them as w ell as we can. B y way of ju stific a tio n , I'd lik e to point out that w e have had no c a s e of lead poisoning among th ese people in the entire period of our a c tiv itie s, and only one claim for com pensation based on alleged lead absorption has com e to light in this period of tw enty-eight years sin ce we began in 1926 {the one claim w as obviously spurious and v/as denied). If you a re having any d ifficu lties on the sc o r e of th ese m en, te ll m e about them , and I'll do m y b est to help you out if there is anything we can do. I'd lik e to d isc u ss som e of the a sp ects of this m atter with you, for our own advantage, sin ce we have m ore trouble with som e of your people, in connection with so m e of your C om pany's p o licie s (or at le a st som e of its p ra ctices) than we do with a lm o st any ether group. D on't quote m e in this to y o u r p e o p le , fo r I d on 't want to m ak e m o r e tr o u b le , but it 13 m e r e ly an indication that it m ight be w ell if we w ere to find com m on ground together in som e of th ese m atters. Sincerely yours, RAK ef Robert A. Kehoe, M. D. M ED ICAL D EPARTM EN T K I E F F E R O A V l S . M. O. MEDICAL DISECTOR CAMP 5. HUNTINGTON. M. D A M T . MEOlCAL DISECTOR PHILLIPS PETROLEUM COMPANY BARTLESVILLE. OKLAHOMA January 25, 1954 A L B E R T M . M E R Y . M. D. ASSOCIATE PHYSICIAN L U C IA N E. R E N E S INDUSTRIAL HYGIENIST '), nv r IM*`` i IfV*. ps. h - M .. te Dr. Robert A. Kehoe The Kettering Laboratory University of Cincinnati Eden Avenue Cincinnati 19, Ohio Dear Bob: Recently we have received questions from a number of our departments regarding the physical requirements of employees working in or handling lead in the ethylization of our products as well as the final products themselves. One in particular brought up the question of age limitation. Would you be so kind as to send me, at your convenience, a copy of these standards or a brief resume of the high points? I had intended to visit with you personally about this matter last week, either before or following the meeting that was held in your office. However, the weather was such that it was impossible for me to attend. With kindest personal regards, I remain Respectfully yours, Kieffgr avis, M.D. Medical Director