Document ZBYR4B8Rd37vG17EGQ3m8YYJV

FILE NAME: Owens Illinois (OWILL) DATE: 1935 Feb 27 DOC#: OWILL060 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Internal Report Vvf- ft $ ^ JfL. ASMTHO`!G T.'fTSO VI-:?. ??,Z5IDIXT With reference to our recaat ecnT eraetirn, I w ill endeavor to aiumArise the p re sen t s ta tu s of the dust question in industry and our re^ lation to i t . - *ri U, Tie trad broadly, the problen of duat in industry is the problem o f . "v; tu b ercu lo sis in in d u stry . Conversely, lb may bo sta te d th a t tile problea of tuberculosis l a th is country today ia aa in d u s tria l one. I t i s true th a t t h a - j S ^ death r a te iro n tu b e rc u lo sis in general hoa been s te a d ily f a ll Lug fo r a nuro- -- r- bar of y e a rs. I t is also tru * th a t the v i ta l s t a t i s t i c s in th is country and abroad thoir d e f in ite ly an in o rd in ate amount o f tu b ercu lo sis In s h a t might be suaaorisod as the dusty trades. '* r . `.i The s p e e ifio Action o f s i l i c a d o st i s w all known as i s th e f a c t th a t those exposed to s ilic a d u st have an extremely high tuberculosis death rate.--* In the l a s t few years th e re has boon ca extraordinary number o f djuisgo s u its ' brought by eaplcyees a g a in st eapicyers on th e b a sis o f exposure to s i l i c a dust' so th a t a t th e' present tin e i t i s estimated th a t these dosage su its are v e llj* 4 In excess of $100,000000. Bow"there i s a very airb ed tendency of employees who are expfcded to d u st o th e r than s i l i c a d u st to bring damage s u its e g a in s t'J th e ir earplqyerSf alle g in g pulsonary in ju ry and th is s ta te o f a f f a ir s bes p ro -' greased to a p o in t There hole in d u s trie s are in a tu r a o il, handicapped on 'the_T.s ouo bond by la d e o f d e fin ite knowledge o f the actio n of these duets on the lsmgaT^ sod on the o th er by the inadequacy of th e law to p ro te c t them. The M etropolitan h a sh e d a co-operative ag reesru t with the P ublic . Health Service (forsterly w ith the Bureau* .of. Mines) to carry oa dust s tu d ie s . la th e budget was o rig in a lly c a t up fo r.th e 'F ic h a r C lin ie , th e mine o p e r a to r s ^ (Croup policyholders) .contributed $16,000 0 y e a r, th e Gcvernaeat $S,0CO a y e a r; and the M etropolitan $3,000 a year", i n t e r a h .th e Picher C linic m s t u r n e d ^ over to the operators, o u r'relatio n sh ip with the' Public Health Service continue Both we and tho Public H ealth Service co n trib u te 0,OCO a year' fo r o -o p e ra tiv 'e j dust studies, " " ' --------- . . . . .Mm -!; >> Ke hays d s o contributed &5,0C0 a year f o r several ye*ra to tha Sarenoc Laboratory for the Study of Tuberculosis fo r atu iiee ca the yctinlcgic* uffeets of dusts.. Lost year, th is office m s inatruaental in getting both th e ' Association o f Stock Casualty Ccrojaiea and tho A ssociation of Mutual Ceaualtr. Comyonies each to co n trib u te $5,000 a y ear. The o b je ct o f theso stu d ies, p a rtic u la rly a t Seraaaa, baa boon to increase our knowledge o f the eetion c f s ilic a dust in the body, i t s r e la tio n ^ to tuborculoeiai cad tho determining o f methods o f prevention and c o n tro l of . tha s ilic a duet hazard. With respect ta the Public Health Service, we have beet mare concerned with formulating eccurste and spasdy totheds of determ ining hej any given duet i s harmful sad as a ratter* of fa c t, such a technique has been " (U| V SrHv Li. IIL . '\S>1' ? }i >* Hr. - Z iwYMr-cJ Vy Dr. Gayara <.! Ma socits. Ail kinds pT dust *.ve been U rtc ty th is issthod, including limestone, kaolinite, ce! ci te , trir.ol.1, jy.-siis, cc;.i,stcr.e, carborundum, enthrncite coal, tituM ncus co^l, - r e e ia ita tc r .rh.*u i c , foundry iu s t , T ullsre o a rth , feld sp ar, accostes, sn-J others wo avucerous ta i i t - + ifn, Hit a l i rep re se n tin g dusti- te te Ccund in various p la n ts of our Croup - policyholders. ' '. Our In d u s tria l fyglaae Section la being continually consulted on tha * technical aspects o f wording o f proposed laws, reg u latio n s, and cedes dealing :* with the> d u st problem. fo r several y e ars, th is Section has been engaged in y f ie ld fltudicc designed to d a te w in e the ecope, eevorily, and th e hasard fren l i f j ce dust and o th e r1dust9 in in d u s tria l p la n ts , kost of those stu d ie s have teen re s tr ic te d to th e plants of Croup policyholders la accordons* with our declared p o lic y . uteere stu d ie s have keen cade ca *a industry wide b a sis, they baTe in -, eluded p la n ts s a t covered.by Group Insurance. I n ig h t s ta tio n , fa r Instance, tha study o f th e foundries In TTiseonein end the prelim inary asbestos study. Th In d u s trie l l-giane S ection i s now engaged in completing tbs f in a l study ca es- bostos sad s i l l th en tsJce up th e eersalc in d u stry in Rev York s t a t e . This l a t t e r j B study w ill i n elude seas of. .our .in p o rtsa t Group policyholders each as th e General -p * Eels C trl c ' Company, th e Carborundum Company, the Corning C lass Company* sad otheroj^ . w; :,./**y?V ' "T . ' *- ' So ia p o r ts a t has t h i s .su b ject heoons and so g re a t i s the I n te r e s t take l a I t t h a t in J anuary o f t h i s y e a r, a conference was held a t th e Mellon In stitu te d l P ittsb u rg h , to which were in v ite d representatives of eig h ty -fiv e in d u strie s v" and esonfacturing p la n ts , f o r tb s puxposa o f ecoaiderlxg what n ig h t be dene in .tbejjH way o f concerted a c tio n d ealin g with research in to tha K sdicel aspects of b **. dust problem, engineering methods fo r the control of .dust hasards, and leg al pro-^*2 ceduxes e ith re fe re n ce to law s, codas, and reg u latio n s. Atout two hundred re w e - . ^5 sen ta tlv e s o f vario u s in d u s trie s ra re p rs c m t a t th is te s tin g and a Temporary .C o a ^ ^ s i t t c e was formed, c o n sis tin g 'e f ona rep resen tativ e each Iron the follow ing i n - ' `fgg dustrio s: 13Asbestos, Cork and ucn-eetallic} n C hcaical, Abrasive, Alley and non-ferrous m etals; Foundries; G lass Sand, Ground Sand and Glass L'osufacturers; ( 5) Iro n , S te e l end Iron Cra (G). Limestone, Ceccnt end Gypsua (7) R e fra c to ris , Ceramics and Clqrs ?fce Chairman of th is Comnittss i s Mr. Roger A. E itchinc, President c f.th e j America R efracto ries I n s t i t u t e , and the orgonisatioa work was la rg e ly done by " !ir. A. W, Sherwood, Vice P resid en t nC the Owens-Illinois Class Conpany, ad hwi: ing up the g la ss send, and ground g&ad and g lass n en u fao tu rtrs. 4 L ast week, Mr. Shartrood and Hr. Hitehins spent on aftordoon with tie, lin in g th e ir piano and endeavoring to formulate th e ir p-oaotfuxs It,, was madn per^j feo tly p l^ ia to m e.'both by th is two gantlcmoa and ethers th a t th e',ih d u e trla ^ Tr. (.ru'.stiong - c ronrsSiO t fife looking to tho K atro p elitaa fo r advice or.d lendershi. Ln '.his t."dcrvor u> a c t up A co-ordinating cgancy to deal with duet rroVJcoro. Hr. to la so th a t ho hod received c l e t t e r Tree Ur. G sniholls, Ccuasci f zr i>.a netubi Stool Company, eta ting th a t h is Coapoyy would not bo in te re sted in -h Is " itts iu r j j.lsjl Unless 1 vero associated with i t ; also th a t he had rsceired a lette:- to sin: 1^? e ffe c t fro a Mr. . 0. Jones cn behalf c f the ^aticr.al fcur-dcri AsecMiictic.r.. I te l Kr. Kitflhins Rad Mr. Shervroed th a t I would be glad tr bo of tr.y 'cssi'tle help la tha my of edvico aod co n su ltstica but th a t I could net .r te r n s t z y s ^ ; in th is undertaking io any fiore activ e ttsjt. ^ . N aturally, i t in our la rg o Group policyholders who have the s c a t v ttc l i n t e r e s t l a th is whole d u st problem, auch as th e General Eie e t i l e Cccjmcy, the Hestingheuso d a c t r l s Company, Jones and Lacchiin , Fickans-Vethor, General Motors ClorBland C liff s Ire n Company, Colon Csrbldo sad Carbon C orporation, the gypsum and censnt companies. Since tiiip ting, I have been consulted by re p re se a tstiv of both tb s Republic Stool.Company end tb s American c a r sod Foandry Company, both in c id e n ta lly , very a c tiv e prospects fo r Croup insurance. Appended to th is 'n s s e rs s d u s i f a l i s t of tho various persons who par tic: pated l a th e Mellon In ftitu to ^B S o tin g . I mention a l l th is to shew how w id e -srre t and a c tiv e i s tb s in te r e s t o f these la rg e saauf&cturlng companies, cony of rhea a; numbered among our Group policyholders. In a paper presented before tbs N ational Tuberculosis A sso ciatici i-.c y e ars ago, la n ca sad Vane a s tlo n ts d on a conservative bonis th a t there re re ever h a lf a. m illio n 'in d u s tria l vrorkers exposed to s il i c a dust and th a t lb a orotic c or_ family ia f e c tio a due to in c id e n t tub ercu lo sis In nary in sta n e es i s a serious one.'; '* . I do not know whether t h i n e f f o r t to s e t up a co-ordinating agency to >ri deal w ith d st problema in ic d n stry H I be successful o r n o t. Z am in c lin e d 'to ' think th a t th ere ore possibly too ssny divergent In te re sts p re sen to d In tho group th a t .was brought to g e th e r a t Pittsburgh to g e t concerted actio n from th o c .'j' But th e re i s n'.queetlo ln ay mini th a t m ay o f th o 'la r g e s t in d u strie s in the / Country n ro :looking to the M etropolitan .as the one placa where they eoa g et accur ate end impersonal guidance in dealing with the problem th a t a t present la A e e rie menace to them from on economic standpoint. This i s tru e also of tho casually in surance companies with whose rep resen tativ es both Dr. McConnell and I Save had w ; conferences in the past two y e ars. As you well know,- we have been axtreoely c arefu l to V.eep tm y froo a l l ; l i t i g a t i v a and le g is la tiv e m atters and there i s a p re tty general re a liz a tio n now * in in d u stry th a t we cannot bo approached on those two phaseo of the subject- Tha e ffe c t o f th is has been, I th in k , to strengthen our p o sitio n ; thcro is *. genoral fe e lin g th a t we have no soe to grind end th a t our aotlves are in accord with cur general p o lic y o f being w illin g to-kelp as fa r as p ra c tic a b le , in any ualcrinking ^ th a t has to do with the conservation of huaan l i f e . ` ' - --'N***- . -i? ^ Dr, <-i'!-stronk' - -4 Tilth r3icet to our r e la tlc a s h lp with the Public Health e.-vica, I cun q u i t e u n d aretan d t h a t I t may n o t be expedient to continue fu rth e r our p ro a e n t r e l u t tv a s W p . I do tlUjifc t h a t wo should have sons i n t e r e s t in re~ cc*rch work in -th e g en eral f ie l d o f duet diaeasea. F a b ru aiy 2 7 , 1.93)5 ir,-. .. A. J ,.I 5 ji5S, M.C. t-V X -'-^ a- s.i..a..t.a..a..ts. Uedic&l CJrector , * ; .* * *i * * ^;*r /"v. - ' ':/>* v \ , ':yr^*v s-