Document Z4Y9RogRMqop1vwBJyV0QeJQ0

FILE NAME: Shree Digvijay (SDV) DATE: 1983 July DOC#: SDV028 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Article from Counterfact Newsletter - Asbestos-The Dust that Kills asbestos the dust that kills C O U N T E RF AC T NO. 5 A CED HEALTH CELL FEATURE JULY 1983 The killer fibre had penetrated the very essence of his being. His cough was more painful than ever. Each successive breath was a harsher rasp than the previous one, "Death's clutch") asbestosis had gripped yet another victim. This time it was 5. Rajagopal, who joined Hi nd us ta n Ferado Limited (HFL) , as an op erator in the dust-prone breakl in in g and clutch facing depa rtment in 1961. Ten years later the disease struck. The diagnosis pronounced by the Employees 5tate Insurance (E.S.I.) medical team and private practioners was asthania or bronchitis. But a few months later another verdict was deli vered by the Sion Hospital authorities - asbestosis. His pleas to the ma na gement for a thorough medical ex am in ation went unheeded for a long time. Finally the management decided to refer him to Dr. G.G. Dave, medical inspector of factories, (Maharashtra). Dave's diagnosis was "acute bron chitis". Unsure of Dave's conclusion, he filed a petition to the Chairman of Turner and Newall (the transnational corporation link in Britain), for a prop er medical screening. In the meanwhile, his health deteriorated and the Sion Hospital au thorities adviced immediate treatment. But he resigned from HFL, to collect his gratuity. Why? His wife was ill. Rajagopal left the company but continued to fight. He filed a writ petition with the Bombay High Court, to sst up an ESI me dical board to examine him. The E5I board was co nstituted and the High Court suspended the writ petition. In a prelim in ar y me di ca l interview with Rajagopal, the newly formed ESI medical board (Coimbatore) consisting of the Dean of the Coimbatore Medical College, the superintendent of the ESI hospital and a cardiac therapy specialist flatly ru led out even the remotest possibility of asthama or bronchitis. There was no mention on their part of the nature of his a i l ment. Rajagopal goes on to say that he even signed the papers 22 Further developments have occurred after a letter was sent in recently by the union to the M a n a g e m e n t and Factory Ins pe ctor demanding a medical check up of the workers. The ma na g e m e n t has insisted on a medical check up. But no of f icial written reply has been received from the factory ins pector. What develops further remains to be seen. II 5h r e e D i o v i i a v A s b e s t o s Ce me nt Pl an t (A hm ed ab ad ) A c c o r d i n g to a s tudy c o n d u c t e d by J. Labour Institute Bombay and the annual Institute of Occupational Health 1980, 5hree Digvijay Asbestos Cement plant's tter. The studies revealed that*- Kumar of thB Central report of the National the Ahmedabad - based safety record is no b e 1. The fibre c o n c e n t r a t i o n s in the ya rn u n p a ck in g, m i x i n g , s p inning, weaving and rope divisions were 367 fibres per c.c., 418 fibres per c.c., 225 fibres per c.c., and 216 fibres per c.c., respectively. This is far above the statutory permissable level of 2 to 0.2 fibres per c.c. for different kinds of asbestos. 2. Out of 320 w o r k e r s s e l e c t e d at ra ndom, 6 .5% s u f f e r e d from asbestosis due to exposure. 3. The plant c o n t i n u e d to use c r o c i d o l i t e w h i c h c a u s e s m e s o t he li om a, P e rh ap s it sh ou ld be po i n t e d out here that m a n u facturers in the U.K. imposed a v o l u n t a r y ^ b a n on the import of crocidolite fibres in the early seventies. Another study of the same plant conducted by Barry Castleman, and published in the "New Scientist" said thati- 4. The road le ad in g to the unit was li n e d on both sides by ajbestos cement waste. 5. A hi gh wa ll s u r r o u n d e d the f a c t o r y and b e y o n d it u n t r e a t e d waste water was emptied into a trench and piled with solid a s b e s t o s wa s t e on e i t h e r side. C h i l d r e n pl ay ed on the w a ste around their homes. 6. 5ome of the h o us es w e r e ma d e from h u n k s of a s b e s t o s ce me nt pipes and scraps of corrugated asbestos waste sheets. Ill - H i n d u s t a n Fe ra do L i m i t ed (HFL) in Bo m b a y is a s u b s i d a r y c o n c er n "of the Br it is h A s b e s t o s C o m p a n y T u r n e r and Ne we ll . The Indian plant which opened in 1956 ma nufactures clutch linings and asbestos textiles. A collation of reports from the Times of India, India Today, Business India, New Scientist and Science Today paint a dismal picture of the health and safety c o n d i t i ons in the unit. The Company brazenly abuses the law in several ways:-